Rocketry Planet

CEDAR CITY, Utah USA — AeroTech has created ValueRockets.com™, a webstore dedicated to the sale of low and mid-power composite propellant rocket motors, kits and parts at wholesale prices.

"The goal of ValueRockets.com is to bring entry-level composite propellant rocketry to consumers at the lowest possible cost and with minimal impact to our traditional distribution channels," stated AeroTech/RCS President Gary Rosenfield. "After soliciting our customers' advice and opinions, we carefully selected those AeroTech products for the webstore that we felt would benefit most from rock-bottom low prices and national exposure through a targeted advertising campaign."

And the prices are rock-bottom indeed. 18mm D10W and D21T single-use motors will be sold in 3-packs for $15.90, and 24mm E15W and E30T motors will be sold for $18.90 per 3-pack. This compares with the significantly lower-performance 24mm black powder "D" and "E" motors that currently retail for $14.49 and $19.99 per 3-pack respectively. In addition, each single-use motor will ship with a FirstFire Jr.™ 2-lead igniter.

18mm reloadable motor pricing is equally aggressive. RMS-18/20 motor hardware sets will be sold for $29.90 each along with D13W and D24T reload kit 3-packs priced at $7.90 each.

Other initial offerings for the webstore will include a complete ValueRocket mid-power starter set for $99.90 and a ready-to-fly ValueRocket 1.9™ mid-power rocket for $39.90.

A prototype of the website is now up and running at http://www.valuerockets.com, and customers can download an order form in Excel or PDF format and email, fax or mail it to AeroTech. The webstore is expected to be complete with full online ordering and payment capability within 60 days.

No products requiring "hazmat" shipping are included on the site. Motors and reload kits will be shipped via U.S. Mail Parcel Post. There is no minimum order but an $8.00 shipping and handling charge will apply to all orders under $100, with free shipping for orders exceeding $100.

AeroTech believes that exposing more entry-level rocket customers to the benefits and high performance of composite propellant rocketry at dramatically lower cost and with easier availability, will result in increased sales by dealers and distributors of the larger AeroTech products, including high-power rocket motors, and will expand participation in the hobby as a whole. Ads for ValueRockets.com will soon appear in major rocketry publications including LAUNCH, Sport Rocketry and Extreme Rocketry magazines.

In difficult economic times, AeroTech is working to make affordable composite propellant rocketry a reality.

AeroTech Consumer Aerospace is a division of RCS Rocket Motor Components (RCS), Inc., Cedar City, UT. ValueRockets.com is a trademark of RCS.

Reader comments:

#1 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

Anyone have any photos of this "ValueRocket" kit? Not that I am in the market to buy yet ANOTHER rocket but it does interest me a bit.

DAllen on 12-15-2008 04:49 PM

#2 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

Since it's a 1.9 diam, my guess would be the Aero-Spike [I think it was called>. A T used to sell this kit with 2 F [?> motors at a very reasonable price to stir up interest in rocketry and 12 packs for schools.
It was basically a Mustang kit without decals. Guess we will have to wait and see!

blackjack2564 on 12-15-2008 07:35 PM

#3 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

Not to shabby a price on the 18mm hardware either Hey, at least they are trying something.

tbrogan on 12-15-2008 07:42 PM

#4 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

Good news for sure.

cwbullet on 12-15-2008 07:49 PM

#5 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

[Previous comment about this being o.k. deleted>. While this may not undercut the dealers who are focused on bringing HPR motors to local launches, it could really hurt the dealers and hobby shops who get a significant part of their income from the smaller motors.

Adrian A on 12-15-2008 09:03 PM

#6 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

In the late 90s and early 00s, almost ready to fly (ARF) and now in the late 00s ready to fly (RTF) R/C airplanes and helicopters saved the R/C industry from the slump they had in the late 80s and early 90s when airplane kits were boxes of sticks that took a year to build for a busy person.

The Ready to Fly big model rocket Aertotech is offering will help bring more into the hobby.

Remember, the free time of 28-47 year old persons is very tight; and this is the demographic we need to be recruting into the hobby to help keep things alive and vendors providing product to us.

That demographic (28-47) will bring in the younger folks as well; as they bring their children and other youngsters along with them.

Art Upton on 12-15-2008 09:05 PM

#7 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

I'm not a BAR.. I've mentioned this before feel free to tune this out if you have heard it before. I was always interested in rockets but somehow never got to play with them. Passing through Hobby Lobby one day I noticed a starter set from Estes (NSA Starship) that was Ready to Fly. Having almost no model background and no rocket background at all I jumped at the chance and asked my wife to get it for me for "Christmas" (in October). In a couple of weeks I talked her into letting me open it and found a local club.

3 years later I'm a moderator on a Rocket Web site, I have friends in multiple cities due to a common hobby, I'm VP of my club, Level 2 in two national rocket organizations, and recently I've been nominated to be President of the club (only due to the current president stepping down for non-rocket related reasons).

Ready to Fly can draw in people - I agree with Art completely on this one.

UncleVanya on 12-15-2008 09:12 PM

#8 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

This has got to be one of the best ideas from a manufacturer for getting mid-power rocketry out there to more people. I hope that there will be some advertising in magazines like Popular Science or Popular Mechanics to get the word out to the general public. I have met several high power flyers who found out about our hobby from PML adds in those magazines. Having more people getting involved in the hobby will be great for everyone. We have to remember that right now people need to come looking for us to find info about the hobby since most all the advertising is concentrated in rocketry-based media. Gary should be given a lot of credit for putting this out there.

Thanks,

Mark Miller

VARocketflyer on 12-16-2008 07:15 AM

#9 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

This is wonderful thanks and add more products asap

Blkbart46 on 12-16-2008 07:30 AM

#10 Re: Article: AeroTech announces creation of ValueRockets.com webstore

Great idea!

I've seen a lot of creative thinking from manufacturers and vendors lately. The economy certainly has something to do with it I'm sure.

But the creativity is all good for rocketry!

Hotrod Lincoln on 12-16-2008 08:50 AM

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