There are actually two propellant formulations. The E30 and F42 both use the Aerotech "Blue Thunder" propellant formulation, while the F20 uses the Aerotech "White Lightning" propellant formulation.

Blue Thunder has a pale-blue flame, and a loud crackling sound, like the tearing of canvas cloth. It has the highest energy-per-pound of any of the Aerotech propellant formulations, which means it is the most efficient. It is also very clean burning, with hardly any smoke.

The White Lightning was designed for a more visual effect, and when you use it, you'll definitely get noticed at your next model rocket launch! It sports a wicked roar, an intense white flame, and billowing black smoke that is very hard to miss. When you launch it, you'll get people to turn their heads and pay attention to your rocket.

While the White Lightning is a little bit less efficient than the Blue Thunder formulation, it is still immensely more powerful than black powder propellant.

These motors have many advantages. Serious modelers love them because:

• The high thrust gives you the extra oomph to get those big rockets into the air.
  
  
• Small size - when used in smaller models, they really scream out of sight.
  
  
• Brilliantly colored flame color, and loud roar make them a crowd pleaser when you launch them.
  
  
• Anyone can use them. They are legal in all 50 states and USA Territories!
  
  
• No Federal nor State Explosive Permits needed to possess or transport these motors.
  
  
• No "explosive storage magazine" required to store these motors in your house. Before I finally got my rocketry stuff organized, I used to store rocket motors in a shoe-box in my bedroom closet.
  
  
• We can ship them via the US Postal Service: That means there are NO expensive ($20) HAZMAT shipping fees!

Need to convert your kit to fit a smaller diameter motor?
Check out all of the Apogee Motor Mount Kits!

There are actually three propellant formulations. The E30 and F42 both use the Aerotech "Blue Thunder" propellant formulation, and the F20 uses the Aerotech "White Lightning" propellant formulation. The G77 uses the "Redline" propellant formulation.

Blue Thunder has a pale-blue flame, and a loud crackling sound, like the tearing of canvas cloth. It has the highest energy-per-pound of any of the Aerotech propellant formulations, which means it is the most efficient. It is also very clean burning, with hardly any smoke.

The White Lightning was designed for a more visual effect, and when you use it, you'll definitely get noticed at your next model rocket launch! It sports a wicked roar, an intense white flame, and billowing black smoke that is very hard to miss. When you launch it, you'll get people to turn their heads and pay attention to your rocket.

While the White Lightning is a little bit less efficient than the Blue Thunder formulation, it is still immensely more powerful than black powder propellant.

The Redline propellant produces a brilliant red flame at lift-off, and is one of the more recent and popular formulations Aerotech has released.

All the composite motors have many advantages. Serious modelers love them because:

• The high thrust gives you the extra oomph to get those big rockets into the air.
  
  
• Small size - when used in smaller models, they really scream out of sight.
  
  
• Brilliantly colored flame color, and loud roar make them a crowd pleaser when you launch them.
  
  
• Anyone can use them. They are legal in all 50 states and USA Territories!
  
  
• No Federal nor State Explosive Permits needed to possess or transport these motors.
  
  
• No "explosive storage magazine" required to store these motors in your house. Before I finally got my rocketry stuff organized, I used to store rocket motors in a shoe-box in my bedroom closet.
  
  
• We can ship them via the US Postal Service: That means there are NO expensive ($20) HAZMAT shipping fees!

How do the sizes of these motors compare to the Estes D12? That is a common question.

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

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, add 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 F20 and 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 at: www.ApogeeRockets.com/body_tubes.asp. You want the tube with Part Number 10110.

If you need help designing and building engine mounts, see our e-zine newsletter #104.

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 go 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

A. We recommend the Pratt Hobbies GO-BOX Controller.
Click Here for more information.

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 Quest and Estes Motors?

A. We recommend the Quest "Q2" ingiters.
Click Here for more information.

Q. Which igniters should I buy for The Apogee "Medalist" or the smaller Aerotech Econojet Motors 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.