Where's the best place to buy engines?

I was wondering where the best place to get engines from are? Like lowest cost.
Amazon, I can get 24pk of C6-5 for around $58. Much cheaper than $10 for a 3pk. But where else can I go?

Also, are Estes "THE" engine? or are there others that can be used instead, better or worse?

There's AC Supply. Orders over $100 ship free:
https://www.acsupplyco.com/estes/engines.htm

also HobbyLinc:
https://www.hobbylinc.com/

If you have a local Michaels' that sells rockets, the Blast Off Flight pack has a decent price when using a 40% off coupon.

I'm sure there are others.

BobH48 said:

If you have a local Michaels' that sells rockets, the Blast Off Flight pack has a decent price when using a 40% off coupon.

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Hobby Lobby has the same deal--the coupon is available on their website.

If you are a member of a club, buy from your local vendor. It keeps them coming back.

Looks like ACsupply has the 24pk for $51.
How do those "other" brand engines stack up to the estes?

Benzee1 said:

Looks like ACsupply has the 24pk for $51.
How do those "other" brand engines stack up to the estes?

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AFAIK ACsupply sells only the Estes motors.

rharshberger said:

AFAIK ACsupply sells only the Estes motors.

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Sorry, the other ones are at Hobbylinc.

Benzee1 said:

How do those "other" brand engines stack up to the estes?

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Quest motors, (across the board, and especially their C6) have longer burn times and lower actual average thrusts. Take a look at the graphs
here: https://www.rocketreviews.com/compare-motors-488316.html and play around with the site- it's a treasure trove of data. The Quest motors also have a louder "roar" and thicker, blacker smoke. But, their ejection charges are weaker (see "flee-fart") and gunkier. ALSO, some of them burn much hotter, and, it has been reported, can damage motor tubes and plastic parts as a result. I've flown a couple and had good experiences- long burn and louder with higher altitudes! As an added bonus, they come with the Q2G2s, which are better than gold nowadays.

The other option is Aerotech reloads or single use composites. They're Ds the size of Cs! Such fun! They just about teleport anything off the pad, and the smoke and flame is a nice change from the everyday estes motor. Just a note, they do tend to put things out of visual and sometimes recoverable range...

Nate

The Estes and Quest engines are virtually interchangeable for low power rockets (if you prepare for the smaller ejection charge of the Quests). Hobbylinc sells both at a discount and you earn points for future order discounts. The bulk packs, or education packs, are going to be the cheapest way to go, but your choices of delays are more limited. The good news is that the delays offered in the bulk packs tend to be the more popular ones, so they are the ones you may use the most.

The igniters (now called starters) from Quest are the go to starters for any cluster models you may fly. Use your Estes starters for both the Estes and Quest motors and save the Quest Q2G2 starters for your clusters (when you get around to trying that). ACSupply is a good source, as others have mentioned. The prices are similar. You can save a little by comparing your order with each one, including shipping charges, if any.

This topic gets asked occasionally and I don't recall anyone ever mentioning a source significantly cheaper than these options.

One other option, if you belong to a club, sometimes you can get a great deal from someone getting out of the hobby or just cleaning out accumulated personal stock of motors.

Don

Thanks all!
a D that fits like a C. I may have to try that.
I can't wait to try clusters. It's on my plans for a future build. I like to experiment.

For Composite Single Use, Amazon is always worth a look, because some of the Vendors there are not "Rocketry Specific", and could care less about Rocket Motors. I once scored a 2 Pack of E-20s for $13+$4 Shipping.
I always go to amazon first.

I'm a bit partial to Countyline hobbies. Quest normally 20% off AT 15-20% (only sells none hazmat online) plus Estes discounted. And discounts will be more during the tax refund sale the last weekend of Feb.
Mr. Bob
Countyline Hobbies
Grovertown, IN.
574-540-1123
[email protected]
www.countylinehobbies.com

Most of the Estes and Quest motors are interchangeable. But, not the C6s.

The C6s from Quest have a higher initial thrust, but after that the thrust is lower than the Estes C6 produces. Heavier or draggier rockets that fly well on the Estes C6 often hit the ground before the ejection charge fires when flying on Quest C6 motors. As posted earlier, see:

https://www.rocketreviews.com/compare-motors-488316.html

-- Roger