How long before they become unusable?

never....

If they were, say, 30 years old they might develop cracks in the grain, and explode when you launched them.... but new estes rockets have very well pressed grains, so I don't see this being a problem. Skylighter just did a dissection in their most recent news letter.

yeah but millions of things would cause stress cracks so you can not really relate that to shelf life if properly stored you should have not problems

if properly stored you should have not problems
Define "properly stored".

in a area that is not humid that is cool and dark and usally remains a constant temprature or at the very least change temprature very slowly

Good, they are in my basement which is meets 90% of your specifications.

how long do you plan on storeing for ?

i have had d class engines for about 10 years with not problems ....

oh and if there areotech motors IE composite propellents then yeah i have stored them for many years in many atmosperes with no problems

never....

this.

true, pop them in a vacu-sealed baggie and they'll outlast you. They do degrade from extreme temperatures and getting bumped about, but not from just sitting somewhere dark.

Never,

its just bp, i will store indefinatley,


to make some:

make some bp, very very fine grade, mix up a little dextrose and water, mix with this.

get a film cannister, a g clamp a pencil, and this mixture.

pour in mixture, put in pencil, put in g clam, tighten pretty tight and leave over night out side,

Never,

its just bp, i will store indefinatley,


to make some:

make some bp, very very fine grade, mix up a little dextrose and water, mix with this.

get a film cannister, a g clamp a pencil, and this mixture.

pour in mixture, put in pencil, put in g clam, tighten pretty tight and leave over night out side,

Just a note... the estes are end-burners not core-burners, and you need a nozzle (easily added to your construction though, just grab some epoxy / water putty)

I seriously doubt that that film can design would develop enough thrust for much of anything.

Basic black powder rockets haven't changed much in design in hundreds of years... and beyond that the changes really weren't that great either. Its simple to make and works. There are countless tutorials on it all over the net and in reputable pyrotechnic publications.

Strong tube + rammer + hammer. Clay, BP/charcoal, any delay mix, more clay optional, header, then very carefully carving an exhaust hole with an ID between 1/4th and 1/3rd of the ID of the tube that its in in the plug and to a depth 1/4" less than the depth at which the motors cato... using a drill bit and rotating it between your fingers carefully...

Or... The same, but using a preformed spindel and hollow rammers instead of having to drill into the core... This is what 99% of hobbiests do. Rocket tooling is relativly cheap and available online, as are superb quality paper tubes... Or it can be turned on a lathe, there are schematics online... somewhere.

Or... The old way of doing chocked rocket nozzels... which is basically using a spindel, but deforming the paper into the shape of the nozzel and tying it inplace with strong string and glue, instead of using clay.

I seriously doubt that that film can design would develop enough thrust for much of anything.

Basic black powder rockets haven't changed much in design in hundreds of years... and beyond that the changes really weren't that great either. Its simple to make and works. There are countless tutorials on it all over the net and in reputable pyrotechnic publications.

Strong tube + rammer + hammer. Clay, BP/charcoal, any delay mix, more clay optional, header, then very carefully carving an exhaust hole with an ID between 1/4th and 1/3rd of the ID of the tube that its in in the plug and to a depth 1/4" less than the depth at which the motors cato... using a drill bit and rotating it between your fingers carefully...

Or... The same, but using a preformed spindel and hollow rammers instead of having to drill into the core... This is what 99% of hobbiests do. Rocket tooling is relativly cheap and available online, as are superb quality paper tubes... Or it can be turned on a lathe, there are schematics online... somewhere.

Or... The old way of doing chocked rocket nozzels... which is basically using a spindel, but deforming the paper into the shape of the nozzel and tying it inplace with strong string and glue, instead of using clay.

Crude, but it will have thrust, even on its own.

you can make a rocket engin from sugar and kn03

Crude, but it will have thrust, even on its own.

you can make a rocket engin from sugar and kn03

I just wanted to point out that you spelled saltpetre kay-en-zero-three.

Everybody does that from time to time, from the naive and stupid to the experts.