I'm curious...

Just sitting her taking account of my older rockets, how "old" they are, which ones are safe to fly, and which ones either need a bit of repair, or retired altogether. What I was curious about is are there other major rocket kits other that Estes.. Don't get me wrong, I've flown Estes rockets for six decades and the quality is great... Just looking for something a bit different and options... Thanks so much... Dave <>< >>>------->

Forgive me if I miss anyone........

Fliskits
Sirius
Squirrel Works
Rocketarium
Odd'l Rockets
Quest
Mad Cow
The Launch Pad
New Way
Pemberton
Starlight
Sunward
Rocket warehouse
Wildman
LOC
PML


That should give you a few options......... :wink::wink::wink:

les said:

Forgive me if I miss anyone........

Fliskits
Sirius
Squirrel Works
Rocketarium
Odd'l Rockets
Quest
Mad Cow
The Launch Pad
New Way
Pemberton
Starlight
Sunward
Rocket warehouse
Wildman
LOC
PML


That should give you a few options......... :wink::wink::wink:

Click to expand...

No way! I had no idea there were that many others... Thanks so much. Dave

Apogee
ModelRockets.us
Dynastar

Estes is great, and they have surprisingly good MPR now, but its also great to have options. Fliskits has some of the best oddrocs, as does Odd'l. LOC and Madcow make really tough Midpower and Highpower.

I'm also going to mention Polecat Aerospace (mostly high power and mid power), which has lots of fiberglass kits. Also, Aerotech kits are great and have some very cool features. They build with just CA and accelerator, and are surprisingly tough. You do need to not use the stock motor retainer and use Estes/Aeropack though.

I've only been flying for about a year or so, but I have been very impressed with the two SemRoc kits that I have built. My usual build is an Estes Rocket a month though...

Areotech is great quality, very rugged, and fairly inexpensive. My favorite non estes for an every day launch rocket. My only complaint is their CP mostly favors the upper end of engines which makes them over stable for a small field on light motors. Never had much of a problem with wind clock but always worry when launching payloads. Fly to your conditions right?

But if you want skill lvl 4+ or fiber, look at the long list above.

Haven't built it yet but because I won certificates at LDRS, I will throw ASP-Rocketry in the mix. Very quick response with the order and kit looks to be of high quality.


Sent from my iPhone using Rocketry Forum

Binder Design
Sun (available from Apogee)
Semroc

Everyone knows Estes because you can pick them up in Walmart and Hobby Lobby. But much of the rocketry industry consists of people who sell online and/or at launch events.

You can get a lot of Aerotech, PML, Quest and LOC kits on eBay.

I didn't see anyone mention Rocketry Warehouse, Blastcap, or Red River Rocketry.

Also, it depends on what you fly (or are willing to try). For LPR, yes, Estes is by far the biggest manufacturer. I really like the Pemberton LPRs--The Kraken, Little Bucky, and Jr Space Ark are a lot of fun, and something of a retro departure from the 3fnc. Fliskits has some spectacular offerings as well, particularly in the oddroc realm. Getting into HPR, well... there are a LOT of cool rockets (although, they tend to redirect back toward 3fnc)... really depends on how big of a check you're willing to cut.


Later!

--Coop

You could always scratch build

Dr Zooch

tomrcast said:

Dr Zooch

Click to expand...

Love Dr. Zooch kits, Quest, Semroc, and Estes for low power kits. Apogee has a few low power, but not many. Sunward has some good kits too. Then there is always scratch building which I do from time to time. A good place to start would be Jonrocket.com they carry low power kits from many different companies. Visiting that site will give you an idea of what is out there.

David

Bay Area Rocketry now makes a kit for the popular Crayon bank conversion, so they technically make kits. I've seen quite a few fly at moffet and they always fly great. They are also very tough.

Just checking my bookmarks...

Fliskits
Art AppleWhite
Quest
Odd'l Rockets
NewWay
Dr. Zooch
Rocketarium
Dyna Star
Balsa Machining (School Rocket)
Squirrel Works
Pemberton
Sunward
Apogee (makes some of their own kits)
ModelRockets.us
Aerospace Specialty Products
Edmonds Aerospace (rocket-boosted gliders)
Excelsior Rocketry
Flight Systems, Inc. (starting up again)
Leading Edge
Semroc (Still has some kits available, I think)
Sirius
SpaceX

Giant Leap
Aerotech
Public Missiles
Wildman
Rocketry Warehouse
The Launch pad
ProLine
LOC Precision
Sheri's Hot Rockets
Gary T. Designs
Carolina Composites
Polecat
Binder Design
Madcow
Smokin' Rockets (Performance Hobbies)
Hawk Mountain
3D Rocketry
Mercury Engineering
North Coast

I fly all Estes still but I want to start getting others soon.

US Rockets

Don't forget Mad Cow.