Below is some information about the motors listed above that you may find helpful when picking a single-use rocket motor for your project. If you have any additional questions, please give us a call at 719-535-9335 or send us an email.

What are the advantages of single-use motors?

1. They are simple and reliable. Just put the motor into the rocket and launch it. There is no assembly required on most of them, so you do not need to be a rocket scientist to use them.
   
   
2. They offer the fastest turn-around times between flights of the same rocket. If you are on a mission to launch a lot of rockets in the same day, single-use motors are great.
   
   
3. They lower the risk of losing a rocket. If you plan on flying to extreme altitudes and there is a great chance of never seeing the rocket again, then you may want to use a single-use motor because of the risk of losing the expensive reloadable casing. If you lose your reloadable casing, then it would have been much cheaper to use a single-use motor.
   
   
4. Safer to use with younger children. In most single-use motors, all the propellant is sealed inside the casing and cannot be removed by children. I'm sure you have great kids of your own, but do you completely trust their friends to be responsible and also not lose the small parts?

What is the disadvantage of single-use motors?

1. The are a bit more expensive per flight than a reloadable-motor.

You have to weigh the advantages versus the extra cost. We believe that there are a lot of cases where it makes sense to use them, which is why we carry so many different ones.

How do the sizes of these motors compare to the Estes D12? That is a common question, and you're smart to ask. It doesn't make sense to pick a size that doesn't fit your rocket, as that would be a waste of money.

As you can see from the picture above, the sizes are as follows:

Aerotech D10 and D21: The D10 and D21 are smaller than the Estes D12 motor. Actually, they are the same saze as the Estes C6 motor (also shown in the above photo). The Aerotech D motors are "FULL power," meaning that they are really close to the maximum 20 N-seconds of power allowed for D motors by the National Association of Rocketry. That makes them twice as powerful as the C6, and actually even more powerful than the D12.

Aerotech E15 and E30: Exactly the same size. They WILL fit into your kits that use the Estes D12 motors. The difference is that they will now fly higher and faster! You'll really freak people out when they expect a D motor, and all of a sudden the rocket screams out of sight on a large pillar of smoke. "That was no D motor!" they'll scream.

Aerotech F32: This motor is the same size diameter as the Estes D12 motor, but it is a little longer. It will work in most kits that use th D12, but you'll need a longer engine hook (Estes E-Size), or you can let the motor hang out the back end of the rocket a little bit. This does work, but may require a few grams of nose weight on rockets that are marginally stable.

Aerotech F20 and F27, F42: These motors are larger in diameter than the Estes D12 motor. So they won't fit into kits that have D12 motor mounts. If you want to fly them in those kits, you'll need to change the engine mount tube so that it accepts 29mm diameter motors. You can find 29mm engine mount tubes on our body tube web page. You want the tube with Part Number 10110.

Aerotech G71 and G78: These motors are the same diameter as the F20, F27 and F42, but are longer. You'd expect that, since they are G-size motors, and therefore have more power then the F motors.

If you need help designing and building engine mounts, see our e-zine newsletter #104, or check out our motor mount kits.

But to get this extra power and higher efficiency, the ingredients that make up the propellant are more expensive than black powder. Not only that, but the case that holds the propellant has to be much stronger to contain the higher pressure the gases create as the propellant burns. So there is also the expense of this extra-strong case to hold it all together. You wouldn't want your motor to burst open because of a flimsy case, would you?

I know what your thinking. You don't care about high-efficiency. You just want a cheap motor. Since black powder propellant is cheaper, why not use it to make big motors to save money? That is a great observation, and shows you're thinking like a true rocket scientist. But unfortunately, there are two problems: technical and economic.

On the technical side, black powder when pressed into a rocket motor is very very brittle. In other words, it cracks easily. The bigger the motor, the worse the problem becomes. So if you dropped a large black powder motor on the ground, or it got really jiggled during shipping, it could easily get a hairline crack in it. That means when you launch it, the motor will burst open, and cause the model to crash and break. Would you want your bigger, and more expensive rockets to be destroyed on their first flight?

This is the main reason you don't often see black powder rocket motors larger than a D or E size. Bigger than this, and the failure rate increases to the point where you destroy too many good rocket models.

By contrast, composite propellant is actually rubbery. It has the consistency of a pencil eraser. It doesn't crack or break like black powder propellant. So it can take a lot of abuse that the shipping companies usually seem to subject packages to. Your success rate increases exponentially. This is the reason that it is actually cheaper to use composite motors on mid-size and larger rockets. You won't be replacing the rockets because the motor burst open.

On the economic side, the bigger the black powder motor, the more difficult it is to make. The machinery is bigger and more exensive. Whereas, in composite motors, the production equipment doesn't change between smaller motors and bigger ones. So it becomes cheaper to make big composite propellant motors than making an equivalent size black powder motor.

D21 - This engine has the same physical size as the Estes C6 motor. But it has twice the total power and more than three times the initial kick. That means this motor has a lot of gitty-up-and-go to it. It is perfect for very heavy rockets that use the 18mm diameter motor. Candidate rockets include models like egg-lofters, a rocket that has a heavy payload, or alien landers that are also big and heavy. In a small, lightweight, minimum diameter rocket, like the Apogee Blue Streak, this motor will almost put it to supersonic speeds. You'll never see it go; all you'll see is the smoke trail.

E15 - A great alternative to the Estes D12 motor. It is the same physical size. But it has twice the power, so it will send your rockets about two-times as high. But this motor will still will give the rocket a nice slow lift-off. It puts out a very large and spectactular white flame, just like the real rockets that NASA launches. If you have a scale model, this would be a good choice to use.

E30 - When your rocket is too heavy for the Estes D12 motor, use the E30. It is the same physical size. It also has a bigtime initial kick to get the rocket moving, and it has twice the power, so it will send your rockets about two-times as high. The higher initial thrust means the rocket will come off the pad really quickly. This feature makes it great for breezy days to keep the rocket going straight instead of weathercocking over. This is the best motor to use for heavy and draggy rockets that have 24mm diameter engine mounts because it will get it up to speed in the shortest amount of time.

F32 - This motor will make kits that can use the Estes D12 just SCREAM into the air! They will go so high and fast that your neck is going to get whip-lash trying to follow it into the sky. The motor is a little longer than the Estes D12, but is the same length as the Estes E9 (which is a bit whimpy, even compared to the D12). Rock and roll with this one!

F20 - This is a mid-range thrust motor. That means the thrust isn't too high, nor is it too low. This makes it a nice motor for light-weight rockets that use a 29mm motor mount. It will push them to really high altitudes. But if the rocket is heavy, or wants to weathercock into the wind, then use the F42 rocket as an alternative. Like the E15, this motor puts out a bright white flame that is super impressive. That makes it a great motor for scale models.

F27 - This is another mid-range thrust motor. It puts out a bright red flame that is sure to get your rocket noticed. Because the chemicals used to make the red flame are more expensive, we carry the loadable variety to save you some money. But this also means you'll need to put it together prior to flight.

F42 - This would be classified as a high thrust motor. These are used on bigger rockets that need a bigger kick to get the rocket moving quickly off the launch pad. Otherwise, the rocket will arc over and be a safety hazzard. The F42 will definately turn heads at your next launch, because it has great "gitty-up-and-go!" Spectators can't help but notice the loud roar of the motor as it takes off.

G77 - This is a high thrust motor good for really heavy or really big rockets. In a small rocket, like the Apogee Aspire, it will push it to supersonic speeds. It puts out a bright red flame that is sure to get your rocket noticed. Because the chemicals used to make the red flame are more expensive, we carry the loadable variety to save you some money. But this also means you'll need to put it together prior to flight.

G78 - This is a high thrust motor good for really heavy or really big rockets. In a small rocket, like the Apogee Aspire, it will push it to supersonic speeds. Of all the single-use motors, the G78 has the most power, meaning your rocket will go the highest and the fastest with this motor. The motor also puts out a earie green flame that shows off its mach diamonds in the plume. Because the chemicals used to make the green flame are more expensive, we carry the loadable variety to save you some money. But this also means you'll need to put it together prior to flight.

Q. Which launch controller is recommended for the First Fire Jr.™ and Copperhead™ Igniters?

A. We offer two different controllers that can be used for these igniters. The Aerotech Interlock and the Pratt Hobbies GO-BOX Controller.

Q. What is Recovery Wadding, and why do I need it?

A. Click Here for more information about Recovery Wadding.

Q. Which igniters should I buy for the D10, D21, E15, and E30 Motors?

A. We recommend the Quest "Q2G2" ingiters.
Click Here for more information.

Q. Which igniters should I buy for the F-Engines shown above?

A. Get the Copperhead ingiters. Click Here for more information.

Q. Which igniters should I buy for these larger composite propellant motors like the G77-10R/L?

A. Get the First Fire Jr.™ igniters. Click Here for more information.

Q. How do you stage composite propellant motors?

A. You need some extra equipment in the rocket. We call them staging electronics.

My package arrived...and everything was GREAT!!.. I SURE APPRECIATE the level of customer care that you have given me in processing my order and the FOLLOW UP email's!!  GOOD customer service ...I find is hard to come by in a lot of respects today. 
There are many companies that SHOULD take lesson's from you on customer care!!
 
I WILL MOST DEFINITELY use your company again as soon as I need more supplies (which is generally often) so you will be hearing from me in the future!!
 
Thanks Again!!
Brad Burtnick