Summary: Best rocket currently in my fleet. Can’t get enough of flying it.
Pretty simple construction. The kit comes without a motor block, so you can use third-party motors longer than the ones Estes offers, even in a stock configuration.
When I outfitted mine with a Jolly Logic Altimeter Three, it clocked ~800ft on E16-4s and E16-6s, and close to 1300 ft on F15-4s and F15-6s. It always flew straight as an arrow, absolutely no roll at all. Flight prep and recovery are easy. Perfect performance on 8 flights.
Modifications to my airframe: Wood glue swapped out in favor of J-B Weld 24-hour epoxy rated to 5020 psi. Fins strengthened with thick printer paper tacked on with Gorilla brand aerosol glue. Aft launch lug epoxied to fin/body tube joint instead of solely to the body tube, forward launch lug moved to align correctly. Motor mount recessed so that the aft end of the body tube is flush with the end of the motor mount tube instead of the aft centering ring. Unpainted and un-decaled for test flights. Estes wadding swapped out for fireproof paper-based household insulation, commonly called “dog barf”.
Recommended modification: Swap the stock coupler out for a much longer one extending all the way to the forward centering ring of the installed motor mount. Mine suffered a compression failure along the spiral seam, just aft of the forward launch lug, and I’ve seen others whose rockets have had similar damage. Strengthening the tube with a longer coupler should prevent this.
Good design overall, this one will become a regular flyer at my launches.
