We wanted a rocket for level one certification. One that didn't go "sub-orbital", we wanted "Low and SLow", and after some serious research, decided on the Minnie-Mag. Kinda spendy, but wow!
It sat for a couple of weeks, and even today I am _still_ amazed at the shear size of this monster! It's 5 1/2 inches in diameter, and just north of 3 feet tall.
Construction was really very simple, _much_ simpler than some of our other Estes rockets in fact! I used 15 and 5 minute epoxy for everything. We did change a few things...I added Positive Motor Retention, (didn't like the idea of "friction" fitting a very expensive RMS), I also added an eye hook in the top centering ring to accomodate the 18 feet of Tubular Nylon I bought for it. Instead of recovery wadding, (can you imagine how much of _that_ stuff we'd have needed???), we installed a Kevlar shock cord protector, and a rather large Nomax blanket. As for the fins, we also added a large interior filet to the fins...(actually, I epoxied the _heck_ out of the interior probably overkill) The LOC nosecones are very tough to get paint to stick to, in fact, after we got back from the club launch, I peeled the entire 5 layers of primer, and two layers of paint off it in about 45 minutes. I then sanded the nosecone with 220 grit sandpaper, roughed it up real good, and after three more coats of primer, sanding between coats, and two more coats of paint, I _think_ it's blue for good now.
Overall, construction gets a 4.5 out of 5, with a half point drop for the durn nosecone!
We drove from South Dakota to Colorado, nearest club launch, to certify with this monster. With the help of some very knowledgable "old-timers", we threw an H-123 M in her. We had some problems earlier in the day with our AT Copperheads not igniting our Mustang, and then there was a major malfunction with the rocket on the pad before ours. That along with the hour late starting time had me sweating bullets. But, the RSO/LCO hit the button...and...nothing. Just a slight puff of smoke. Just as I was about to cus and swear and scream....BOOM!!!! The Minnie-Mag we named Blue Streak did just that! Streaked to around 1,000 feet! The medium delay was more than I liked, as she came down for what seemed like forever before the chute popped! But, my modified recovery system did it's job, and we certified Level one with this beast.
Flight and recovery, with our mods, gets a 5 out of 5 ranking.
All in all a very nice show stopper, and I highly recommend this bird for Level One cert flights.....now on to Level Two....if only the wife would cut me some slack! HEHEHE
It sat for a couple of weeks, and even today I am _still_ amazed at the shear size of this monster! It's 5 1/2 inches in diameter, and just north of 3 feet tall.
Construction was really very simple, _much_ simpler than some of our other Estes rockets in fact! I used 15 and 5 minute epoxy for everything. We did change a few things...I added Positive Motor Retention, (didn't like the idea of "friction" fitting a very expensive RMS), I also added an eye hook in the top centering ring to accomodate the 18 feet of Tubular Nylon I bought for it. Instead of recovery wadding, (can you imagine how much of _that_ stuff we'd have needed???), we installed a Kevlar shock cord protector, and a rather large Nomax blanket. As for the fins, we also added a large interior filet to the fins...(actually, I epoxied the _heck_ out of the interior probably overkill) The LOC nosecones are very tough to get paint to stick to, in fact, after we got back from the club launch, I peeled the entire 5 layers of primer, and two layers of paint off it in about 45 minutes. I then sanded the nosecone with 220 grit sandpaper, roughed it up real good, and after three more coats of primer, sanding between coats, and two more coats of paint, I _think_ it's blue for good now.
Overall, construction gets a 4.5 out of 5, with a half point drop for the durn nosecone!
We drove from South Dakota to Colorado, nearest club launch, to certify with this monster. With the help of some very knowledgable "old-timers", we threw an H-123 M in her. We had some problems earlier in the day with our AT Copperheads not igniting our Mustang, and then there was a major malfunction with the rocket on the pad before ours. That along with the hour late starting time had me sweating bullets. But, the RSO/LCO hit the button...and...nothing. Just a slight puff of smoke. Just as I was about to cus and swear and scream....BOOM!!!! The Minnie-Mag we named Blue Streak did just that! Streaked to around 1,000 feet! The medium delay was more than I liked, as she came down for what seemed like forever before the chute popped! But, my modified recovery system did it's job, and we certified Level one with this beast.
Flight and recovery, with our mods, gets a 5 out of 5 ranking.
All in all a very nice show stopper, and I highly recommend this bird for Level One cert flights.....now on to Level Two....if only the wife would cut me some slack! HEHEHE
I've never seen this one advertised. Where can I see it/purchase online?
