Kleaklejok
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- Oct 2, 2011
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Is the Executuioner from Estes a rocket worth buying? My rocket club instructor has one. My friends and I all think its very cool in general... So is it worth buying?..
I ordered mine from hobbylinc. The fins were badly warped, and the body dinged up.
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Warped fins and fin slots seem to be a common problem with this kit. Estes makes the kit, Hobbylinc only sells the kit at a sizable discount.
Put Executioner into search to read about the problems and the solutions people have come up with.
I ordered mine from hobbylinc. The fins were badly warped, and the body dinged up. Hobbylinc said they'd talk to the warehouse manager about it, but provided no further help. I could have emailed Estes, but I decided to fix the issues myself since they were more annoying than catastrophic.....
It was a fun build, good solid kit. On my second flight, the parachute failed to eject due to my poor packing. Hit the ground at 40 MPH. I cut off 6" of body tube, and threw her right back on the pad. Flew great. I'm going to order/buy another one. This time I'll pay more and get it locally so I can check it out.
Some shots and video of mine: https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?t=26673
I would suggest a few mods to it, however:
1) add an ejection baffle to it - that BT-80 takes a lot of wadding to fill and gives you a good chance for blow-by. A baffle eliminates both of those problems.
2) replace the shock cord with something a bit more stout - I'd use a couple feet or so of either braided nylon or kevlar. You can use either 1/4" elastic or the 1/4" rubber as a bungee section if you like, but at least add a couple feet of nylon or kevlar to that. I usually attach a kevlar bridle to the baffle for attachment rather than using an Estes paper mount on the BT wall.
3) replace the plastic parachute with a nylon chute. I you decide to fly it with either 24mm reloads or with SU composite motors, you stand a really good chance of pulling those shroud line off that plastic parachute. A nylon chute will be a lot tougher.
Everything else can be built stock, even flying with E or F composites. The orange motor spacer that comes with the kit will adapt AT motors just fine (if you are at all worried about clearance, you can always peal a layer from the inside before you use it, but it really isn't necessary). Except maybe for epoxy fin fillets, you can use yellow glue for the build - it will be plenty strong for E and F motors without over-building.
I launched my teachers executioner today at rocket club and it was amazing I'm going to get one now
What motor did you fly it on?
Also, check out Aerotech's E30T engine for it. Awesome.
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