Maufacturing a CATO:

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note to newbs... this shit is dangerous don't try it

So recently I have been thinking of ways to create a condition in which a rocket pops without a flash break.

with my KNSu rockets I :

pour the mix in the casing and place a dowel wrapped in a single layer of saran in the casing as a core mold.

place in a warm oven to allow air pockets to settle out. allow to cool.

upon removal of the dowel I ram a pebble down the core about a cm off the top of the rocket and continue manufacture as normal.


understandably this could create a "hardhat" condition with the pebble flying at high speed towards the ground :D

with my coffee filter rockets I vary the amount of composition at the top of the rocket so it burns faster than the bottom.

so have any of you tried to manufacture catos? what were your experiences/ techniques?

[warweed12]

good way to create a upper engine cato is to have air pocket at the top of the fuel grain or to have small bits of slag in the cop to plug the nozzle while burning this is usally the most common reasons for a cato along with cracked solid fuel grains (aka air pockets) and cold tempratures were fuel grains srink in there casing and create air pockets along the inside walls of the enigne

[Sentinel]

I bet if you rammed some loose corned BP in lightly before you rammed the rest of it it would CATO at the top. Basically intentionally doing a BAD job ramming it. The reason you are supposed to put a bit of powder in, then ram, then put a little bit more in, then ram, etc, is because if you put all of it in and ram, you get a high density near the top, but you dont' compress the bottom enough.

I thought this thread was titled "Manufacturing a CAT :O" when I saw it

[Ljudska]

I always thought CATO meant 'catastrophic at take off,' as in, explodes on the launch pad.

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Catastrophe After/At/Around Take Off