C A T O
Dean C. Pilato
(incl. meself) use the term Cato. I always thought it meant
CATastrOphic failure, or something like that. Would some rocket
scientist out there give me the straight stuff on this?
Dean's Rule #13: Nothing hurts like pain.
jack hagerty
>Ya know, I've been flying since '70, and I've heard lots of people
>(incl. meself) use the term Cato. I always thought it meant
>CATastrOphic failure, or something like that. Would some rocket
>scientist out there give me the straight stuff on this?
OK, here's the entry from the r.m.r glossary (which gets longer
every time someone asks this question :-)
- Jack
CATO A motor failure, generally explosive, where all the propellant
is burned in a much shorter time than planned. This can be
a nozzle blow-out (loud, but basically harmless), an end-cap
blow-out (where all of the pyrotechnic force blows FORWARD
which usually does a pretty good job of removing any internal
structure including the recovery system) or a casing rupture
which has unpredictable, but usually devastating, effects.
Another form of CATO is an ejection failure caused by either
the delay train failing to burn or the ejection charge not
firing, but the result is the same: the model prangs.
A CATO does not necessarily burn all of the fuel in a rocket
motor (especially true for composite fuels, which do not burn
well when not under pressure). For this reason you should be
especially careful when approaching a CATO.
Opinions on the meaning of the acronym range widely. Some
say it's not an acronym at all, but simply a contraction of
'catastrophic' and should be pronounced 'Cat-o' (which sounds
better than 'cata' over PA systems :-). Others maintain that
it is an acronym but disagree on the meaning, offering a
broad spectrum of 'CAtastrophic Take Off,' 'Catastrophically
Aborted Take Off,' 'Catastrophe At Take Off' and the self
referential 'CATO At Take Off.' All of these are pronounced
'Kay-Tow', like the Green Hornet's side kick. It has been
pointed out, though, that all of the above are 'post-hoc'
definitions since LCO's were using the term over range PA
systems long before any formal acronym was established.
Opinions on the origins say that it is either from the
military rocket programs of WWII, the post war development
era, or even a modroc-only term which originated with the
MESS (Malfunctioning Engine Statistical Survey) performed
by NAR's Standards and Testing committee. This is given some
validity by those who claim that it started with the Boston
Rocket Club and that the spelling has evolved over the years.
It supposedly started out as 'KATO' which, of course, stood
for KABOOM At Take Off!