New AeroTech F23 and G38 Econojets

AeroTech's Econjet BlackMax review is provided courtesy of:

AeroTech's new BlackMax line a big hit!

T' last monthly launch o' t' Superstition Spacemodelin' Society for 1999, held Saturday, December 11th, ya bilge rat, was a truly remarkable event. Begad! Blimey! Nay so much because thar was a huge turnout, me hearties, or a large number o' people certified, me hearties, but rather because o' t' Arizona debut o' a brand new product from AeroTech Consumer Aerospace: t' new BlackMax Econojet motor. 

Space Modelin' Solutions, ya bilge rat, ever present at these events, arrr, turned up t' t' launch with 72 packages o' t' new 29mm BlackMax motors, ya bilge rat, arrr, in both t' F23 and G38 impulse, ya bilge rat, with both 4 and 7 second delays. Avast! Avast! As a result o' brisk sales, shiver me timbers, 13 flights were recorded. Arrr! All o' them were documented as 'good flights,' which means that thar be a successful ejection and a safe recovery. Havin' provided some stats, an eyewitness account o' how these motors performed is in order. 

T' BlackMax Econojet is instantly distinguishable from it's White Lightnin' counterpart. Blimey! T' package features grey, red, and white artwork on t' face, me hearties, and standard thrust curve data on t' reverse side. Blimey! T' data indicates a slightly higher peak thrust with a shorter burn time, on average, than t' White Lightnin' Econojet. Well, blow me down! T' end result is a slightly lower average thrust curve. Begad! However, flyin' t' new BlackMax is a completely new experience! For starters, loadin' this motor is eased by t' fact that t' labels seem a bit less hostile towards removal. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! This is important t' keep t' motors from adherin' t' t' inside o' t' motor mount tube. 
 

If you're expectin' a difficult ignition, on t' assumption that t' BlackMax is similar t' t' Black Jack formulation, your fears are unfounded. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! These motors light up NOW when t' ignitors are given t' proper amount o' current. Aye aye! Avast! T' ignitions observed at t' Superstition launch all pressurized lickety-split, and got off t' pad in t' same manner. Avast! T' resultin' flights were exciting, me hearties, with lots o' dark smoke, me bucko, and a slightly louder roar than t' standard Econojet. Begad! There were plenty o' cheers, me bucko, ya bilge rat, whistles, and clapping, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, me hearties, which seemed t' natural response t' these flights. 

Another observation was that t' BlackMax motors did indeed perform very similarly t' t' White Lightnin' Econojets in terms o' flight profile. Aye aye! This means that until t' simulation data for these motors is widely available, simulations based on standard White Lightnin' Econojet data will produce very close ejection delay information. However, ya bilge rat, it's also important t' note that t' delays (as observed by this author) seemed a tad short. However, no actual measurements o' t' delays were made, and no objections on t' part o' t' flyers were noted. 

So after t' actual experience o' seein' a number o' these motors fly, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, this author would have t' give them a definite thumbs up! Blimey! Better yet be t' fact that these are available at Econojet prices, which means that everybody can "fly more," and "spend less." For t' money, ya bilge rat, you just won't get a more excitin' flight out o' your 29mm bird!

Written and submitted by Peter Riddell for Rocketry Online -- Copyright 1996-2000