Anyone Remember The Eggspress???

I had this Estes Rocket back in the Eighties, and like my 80's Vintage D-Region Tomahawk, it was one of my "Frequent Flyers".
As a Kid, I found it amusing that it not only could loft an Egg, but Smelled like Rotten Eggs. I got many Flights out of it, and infact, it never got Treed, simply lost somewhere in my Teenage Wasteland.
Anyhow, I painted mine Gloss Light Blue instead of White.
The Design was unique. I confess to never having "Lofted an Egg" in it. It flew great without one.
I never see anyone reference this Rocket, so I wonder if anyone else here had one???

This was the only Pic' I could find online:

I sort of remember the kit, but I know more about the nose cone/egg capsule. It had the Enerjet Eggcrate nose cone - big 2-inch diameter plastic thing. I think I still have a few of those egg capsules stashed away somewhere. I bought them as spare parts from Estes when they had a close out on old parts in the 90's.

-Wolf

astronwolf said:

I sort of remember the kit, but I know more about the nose cone/egg capsule. It had the Enerjet Eggcrate nose cone - big 2-inch diameter plastic thing. I think I still have a few of those egg capsules stashed away somewhere. I bought them as spare parts from Estes when they had a close out on old parts in the 90's.

-Wolf

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If you would ever be interested in parting with one of those "Egg Capsules" please PM me, as this would be one of those Rockets from my Childhood that I would be glad to re-unite with. If I remember correctly, the Molded Plastic is Yellow, and requires no Painting.
Finding that Nose Cone Assembly would be what I consider a challenge. The center of it is just a Coupler or Section of Body Tube.
It would be awesome to resurrect an Eggspress.
Astron, if you have one you might part with, I'm your Buyer.
Thanks for just remembering this Rocket, as it seems to be an Obscurity. I think I got mine in 1987 or 88'.

You can look at the instructions and fin templates at www.oldrocketplans.com/estes/est1996/est1996.htm

I think I had one I got in a lot purchased on ebay. There were several egg lofters. I think I gave them to my brother to fly with his kids since they were good rockets for them. Big, slowish takeoff, soft landing.

There is one available on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-Estes-Eggspress-Flying-Model-Rocket-Kit-Unopened-/151221465929

Gus said:

There is one available on ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Very-Rare-Estes-Eggspress-Flying-Model-Rocket-Kit-Unopened-/151221465929

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Thank You. that sounds like a Fair Price.

I'm not positive but I think this kit was originally used to launch the Canroc (camera).

bradycros said:

You can look at the instructions and fin templates at www.oldrocketplans.com/estes/est1996/est1996.htm

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Lousy "plans." No dimensional data. This thread should help: https://www.rocketryforumarchive.com/showthread.php?t=49725

The Eggspress might even be an Eggcrate. Fins look a lot alike, but I never compared them. I know the capsule is "all Centuri," in that you need ST-13 (or BT-56) and ST-20 tubing to make it all fit. Been meaning to build a bunch of vintage egglofters - got a couple Semroc kits and pieces/parts for old plans in the build queue:

Scrambler
Centuri Eggcrate
Enerjet Eggcrate
Roc Egglofter from the NAR plans site (which I got started 12 or so years back)

The Eggspress is sort of underpowered IMHO - it would crawl off the pad on a B, and kinda sorta get up there on a C motor. D motor would be perfect for most flying, but its originally designed for E/F power. Of course, they enjoyed larger fields back in those days. I'd build it with a 24mm mount.

-Wolf
(I like egglofters)

I owned one... I wish I could remember what happened to it. I'm hoping that it'll show up someday, as I thought it was kinda interesting.

majordude said:

I'm not positive but I think this kit was originally used to launch the Canroc (camera).

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I think you're mistaken. IINM, the Camroc uses a BT-50 body tube that transitions to a BT-60 diameter. whereas the Eggspress was a BT-56 that went to a 2"ish diameter payload section.

[Edited]

majordude said:

I'm not positive but I think this kit was originally used to launch the Canroc (camera).

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K'Tesh said:

I think you're mistaken. IINM, the Camroc uses a BT-50 body tube that transitions to a BT-60 diameter. whereas the Eggspress was a BT-56 that went to a 1.8"ish (maybe) diameter payload section.

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Your both mistaken. I looked up the the dimenions.

The Eggspress uses a BT-55 (O.D. 1.325") and transistions to a ST-20 (2.040").

Brady is correct:
I still have one in my flying fleet from back in the day. Still a nice entry level Egg lofter.

Estes Scrambler is pretty much the same kit re-issued in the early to mid 90's.

bradycros said:

Your both mistaken. I looked up the the dimenions.

The Eggspress uses a BT-55 (O.D. 1.325") and transistions to a ST-20 (2.040").

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I don't believe that this is correct. I'd be interested in seeing what your data source is. I have the capsule, and its BT-56 to an ST-20.

-Wolf

You can get this capsule from Estes as part of the TARC Small Parts Assortment:


It comes with one 2.08 IN diameter 10 IN Body Tube for egg capsule and two 18 IN BT 56 Body Tubes.

kj

astronwolf said:

I don't believe that this is correct. I'd be interested in seeing what your data source is. I have the capsule, and its BT-56 to an ST-20.

-Wolf

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You are mistaken in beliving I am incorrect.

You can look it up yourself by going to www.rocketshoppe.com/tips.htm
Find "Estes Body Tube/Kit Referance v3.1", by John R. Brohm. Then scroll down to page 18 and look at the given dimenions for kit #1996.

Astron and KJohnson have it -
It was at Centuri ST-13 tube (1.34" diameter), now an Estes BT-56 at the bottom
and a ST-20 (2.040" diameter) between the two piece egg capsule at the top.

Centuri had great fin units and nose cones in the ST-13 tube size.
Estes kept the plastic parts and added the BT-56 (ST-13) tube to their parts.

https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/tarc/002281-tarc-small-parts-assortment

Hans is absolutely correct. Centuri/Enerjet parts origin. Of course, Centuri owned Estes on paper, so all Centuri parts are actually Estes parts!

Micromeister said:

Brady is correct:
I still have one in my flying fleet from back in the day. Still a nice entry level Egg lofter.

Estes Scrambler is pretty much the same kit re-issued in the early to mid 90's.

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Micromeister says I'm right, that alone is enough reason to satisfy anyone. :grin:

I had one as a kid and loved it. It has been one of the kits I have wanted to get since I have been back in rocketry. I lofted many eggs in it back in the day. I remember doing a demonstration in my 8th grade science class!

If my memory is correct it was great on a C5-3 engine. The C5 had a little more punch off the pad than a C6 and was needed when you had an egg payload.

BT-56 main body tube in 2014.
https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/tarc/002281-tarc-small-parts-assortment

https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/enerjet72/72ejet10.html
ST-13 main body tube in 1972 = BT-56 main body tube in modern era.


BT-56 is larger than BT-55 by a teeny bit. Payload capsule reducer shoulder will not fit into a BT-55.

shreadvector said:

https://www.estesrockets.com/rockets/tarc/002281-tarc-small-parts-assortment

Hans is absolutely correct. Centuri/Enerjet parts origin. Of course, Centuri owned Estes on paper, so all Centuri parts are actually Estes parts!

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shreadvector said:

https://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/catalogs/enerjet72/72ejet10.html

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This link is for a Enerjet 'Egg Crate'.

Correct.
The plastic parts for the capsule originated with Enerjet which was part of Centuri. The plastic parts were molded for the Centuri ST-13 main body tube and the ST-20 payload tube.

Estes used the Centuri molded parts when they started to make more items with palstic parts and they were phasing out the retail use of the Centuri "line". They retained the corporate name of Centuri.

Anyway, Estes used many ST-13 parts and this tube became BT-56. BT-56 is larger than BT-55 and parts molded to fit into a BT-56 will *NOT* fit into a BT-55. Many, many models have used the BT-56 in recent decades. Cosmic Cobra type models and the Eliminator are just a couple. The Eliminator uses the Centuri Enerjet fin can which would be too loose on a BT-55.

https://www.estesrockets.com/001950-eliminatortm

bradycros said:

This link is for a Enerjet 'Egg Crate'.

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There is .381 mm differance in the diameter of the two tubes. We're talking card board tubes here, not machinined metal tubes.

I'll bet I can make the nose cone will fit either tube.

Have you ever actually tried?

I have.

Many times over decades. BT-56 parts will not fit into BT-55 tubes without splitting the BT-55 tube.

bradycros said:

There is .381 mm differance in the diameter of the two tubes. We're talking card board tubes here, not machinined metal tubes.

I'll bet I can make the nose cone will fit either tube.

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Yes Fred:
My daughter crashed my eggspress in the mid 90's. I replaced the crimped and burned off body tube with a standard BT-55 1.325" OD and reused the salvaged motor mount as well. I do not recall having to do any unusual shaving to get the transition to fit or the used centering rings either.

I know it was a BT-55 because I do NOT Stock BT-56 or ST whatever size tubes.

bradycros said:

There is .381 mm differance in the diameter of the two tubes. We're talking card board tubes here, not machinined metal tubes.

I'll bet I can make the nose cone will fit either tube.

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Sure you can. I can make a Fat Boy nose cone "fit" on a Big Bertha too - Just need a few cuts and some duct tape. BTW - John Brohm's kit reference list has errors. John is one hell of a great guy, but even giants among mere men can make errors like that. It's OK to be wrong sometimes, especially about minutia like the difference between a BT-55 and BT-56. Even for Micromeister...:wink:

Besides...it's about really serious stuff, like launching eggs in a rocket. The Eggspress is a versatile vehicle for that job.

-Wolf

A real nice alternative if you must have a lofter:

https://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KV-39

Well made with interchangable motor mounts provided. Centuri only produced it for a year. The Centuri/Enerjet Egg Crate replaced it (the one under discussion).

Semroc also made a run of the Estes Scrambler, which you'll have to go looking for as it's not currently in the line-up.

bradycros said:

You are the clever one, aren't you.

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I do like flying egglofters. They are fun. I hope anyone reading this likes them too.











-Wolf

Just built my first one. The Semroc Retro-Repro of that Centuri Egg Crate you posted up (that is original, isn't it?). Nice work on it and all of 'em. I'll see if I can fly an egg this Spring. I kind 'a like that whole "astronaut" concept.

Hmm. I may have to go looking for some more.