Brief:
The Hot Shot igniters are low current igniters. Used on the ground for black powder clusters or any other black powder applications. It has 12" leads that will reliably ignite clusters of black powder motors using the output of your launch control. The entire Hot Shot has been redesigned. They now have smaller lead wire and a smaller head. This means they will easily fit into the 13mm, 18mm, and 24mm black powder motors.

Construction:
The Hot Shot consists of a small, highly flammable "match head" at the end of 12" yellow coated double lead wires. To assist in preventing wiring mistakes when preparing for your model rocket's launch, there is a thin red line that runs the length along one side of the lead wires.

When preparing to install these, you'll need an X-Acto knife, some good quality masking tape and even the Estes regular igniter plugs (black for the 24mm, red or pink for the 18mm) that can be used to secure the Hot Shot in the nozzle. For all of my testing, I've used the black Estes plug for the D12s and just a short piece of masking tape to hold them to the 18mm motors. The regular Estes plugs for the 18mm seems to fit too tight, but I guess one could make them fit with some work. I used the Estes 18mm plugs only once in my most recent (and final) test launch of my Saturn IV/Astrocam at JSC on May 21, 2005.

Finishing:
Before installing in the motor, use the X-Acto knife (or any other very sharp knife) to carefully split the end of the lead wire and split it long enough so that the appropriate wires can be twisted together without any pulling. Then splice off about 1/4" off of each end of the lead wires to expose the bare wire. Insert the lead wire match head first into the nozzle of the motor all the way until it stops, then use either the piece of masking tape or appropriate Estes plastic plug to securely hold the lead wire in place so that it doesn't move. Once all of the required motors of your cluster is wired, carefully twist the bare wires together, with the all yellow lead in one bundle, and the thin red line lead in another bundle. You might have to use needle nose pliers to do the job, but I've done well just using my fingers. Because of the nice long length of the lead wires, you'll have plenty of room to work with once your model rocket is positioned on the launch pad to attach the micro-clips. The real beauty of using Hot Shots is it totally eliminates the need to use cluster clip whips when launching clustered model rockets, thereby reducing the chance of one or more motors misfiring.

Flight:
The Hot Shot can be easily used on 13mm, 18mm, and 24mm black powder motors. Since 2004, I've launched a total of 14 clustered flights using the Estes Solar Igniters (all of my clustered flights in 2004) and QuickBurst Hot Shots (in 2005). See my flight logs below of all my clustered flights and then you can draw your own conclusions on what is the best way to go for launching clustered models is.

Recovery:
For 2004, when I used only Estes Solar Igniters 21 ignited successfully out of 23 motors used for a 91.3% success rate. Those two failures were costly however... My prized Centuri 1/45 scaled Apollo Little Joe - II could have met a more disastrous result and the one failure of my Proton/Saturn - IV Cineroc totally destroyed my rocket and payload.

In contrast, I've flown more clustered flights already in 2005 with 24 motors used and 24 ignited successfully using QuickBurst's Hot Shots. 100% success. The Hot Shot may cost a little more, but if you want reliability they're the way to go. Wished I had used them for my Cineroc flight attempt of June 12, 2004. I'd very likely still have my Cineroc today.

Summary:
What more can I add? David Bachelder of QuickBurst has always stood for quality products and dependable service. Having already used his NOVA Launch Controller and 18" Rocket Rack and experienced his brand of service, he's always there on top of things when you need him. I was honored and delighted that he'd ask me personally to test the new Hot Shot and post the results here at EMRR.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Editor's Note: There is more information on Quick Burst Hot Shots here