Options to Estes E2X

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RickGr4

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Rocketry Friends,

I have a pretty good selection of Estes rockets (roughly 60) but as I posted in an earlier thread I do not have a large field anywhere near close to me. So I lean towards lower powered E2X rockets because like most people I don't want to be losing rockets that are expensive or took a great deal of time to build.

I am looking for new rockets outside of the Estes brand but I am not finding a clear answer. Last night I spent an hour on erockets.com and I did not come up with an answer.

Is there another brand (or brands) that offers rockets similar to Estes E2X?

TIA
RG
 
Quest has there Quick Kits, which has plastic fin cans.
If you have a small field, you might try building and flying Mini Engine rockets.
The challenge is a little greater than E2X and usually fly up 500', depending on engine selection.
Custom also has a selection of easy builds.
You might also check into the Micro Maxx by Quest and FlisKits.
All of these are available at eRockets.
On the main page, scroll down the left side and browse by manufacture.
Estes has a good size selection of mini's the past few years.
You can also get Estes Engine Adapters where you can put a smaller engine than what the rocket was built to use to keep your altitude lower.
Good Luck, and Have Fun.
 
Woody mentioned the Estes Engine adapters, they are cool. There's a video on youtube where a person used a 13mm to 18mm adapter and launched his standard sized rockets with the mini A10 engines and was getting nice almost as high A8-3 flights. There are so many level one kits that you could adapt for low level flying. But it comes down to do you like balsa fins you have to glue and rocket bodies you have to paint? A couple minis I built fast were the Mini Der Red Max, Mini Honest John and a Mini Fatboy. They are in primer, but were very simple to build. Just used Elmer's glue all. I enjoy the E2X kits also, and they are cheap and fun to fly, I try not to lose them either.
 
Quest has there Quick Kits, which has plastic fin cans.
If you have a small field, you might try building and flying Mini Engine rockets.
The challenge is a little greater than E2X and usually fly up 500', depending on engine selection.
Custom also has a selection of easy builds.
You might also check into the Micro Maxx by Quest and FlisKits.
All of these are available at eRockets.
On the main page, scroll down the left side and browse by manufacture.
Estes has a good size selection of mini's the past few years.
You can also get Estes Engine Adapters where you can put a smaller engine than what the rocket was built to use to keep your altitude lower.
Good Luck, and Have Fun.


Quest has rockets I am interested in. I really appreciate the tip.

Last weekend (it was rather windy all weekend) showed me there is a place for small rockets with small engines. I just ordered a box of A83 engines along with some mini engines and some smaller rockets. I just built an Estes Humdinger (mini engines) and I think it is cool. I am looking forward to flying them.

Thanks gents.
 
Check out the Semroc kits at eRockets. I think they have over 100 different kits now.
 
Check out the Semroc kits at eRockets. I think they have over 100 different kits now.


I just ordered Quest and MPC rockets from eRockets. Semroc will be the next batch.

I decided to stop guessing and count my current fleet. 40 rockets built and ready to fly. 15 more spare rockets brand new in the package. At least 12 more on the way.

I have officially lost my mind... But I love it...!!!
 
Pretty soon you will be more worried about where you are going to keep them all. You can NEVER have too many.


I currently have them divided into four batches: small, small/mid, mid and large. I decide which batch to fly depending upon the wind that day and my mood. I expect I will have another batch when my Quest and MPC rockets arrive...

I am working on a storage system...
 
I am working on a storage system...

Old Log Cabin Coat Rack works real good.
Put up a couple shelf brackets, lay a 2x4 across them that has been drilled and doweled to engine size and fin spacing.
Or put up a shelf and buy the Estes stands. There are some laser cut wood ones out there now too. But these can tip over.
 
Pretty soon you will be more worried about where you are going to keep them all. You can NEVER have too many.

I am pretty sure my apartment is less than 400 sq ft. Even one rocket is too many. The kitchen counter is my workbench. The model trolley layout gets leaned up against the wall when not working on it. Rocket stuff gets placed in a clear plastic tote that gets stored in the laundry room which is secure as I am the only tenant.

Part of joy of this hobby is putting together the rockets yourself. If you stick with LPR you can put most kits together in 1 -3 days. A single day if you don't apply primer and paint as some people do. I started building model buildings for my model trolley layout(s) which led to me rediscovering rockets in my early 50's after a hiatus of 40 years. I am thrilled to beat the band when my projects come out nice. I am but a novice and I anticipate that my modelling skills will only improve over time.
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[/URL]Rocky's Tavern by Petworth Traction Co., on Flickr[/IMG]
 
More new rockets for 2017. My "fleet" is now around 70 rockets.

The two rockets on the left are MPC (erockets.com is currently selling them for $5.00 each so I bought more) and the six on the right are Quest.

Both brands build roughly similar to Estes E2X. They both require us to assemble the parachute cords. Both use a different plastic (softer) for the parachutes that compresses better than Estes but I wonder how they will hold up.

I like the MPC rockets however the supplied shock cords are much too short (I replaced them) and the fins seem flimsy.

The Quest rockets are very nice with a couple of exceptions... The supplied decals don't stay adhered on the rockets that come with body tubes that have no coating on them (Bright Hawk and Penetrator) and the ejection system on Triton-X looks very questionable. Also, they do not have launch lugs above the fin can which concerns me. I do like their Kevlar shock cords.

I hope to fly all of the newbies tomorrow.

More addtions for 2017v2.jpg

More addtions for 2017v1.jpg
 
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