Decline of Estes, again.

[neil_w]

Thanks for that video link, although I realize why he turn the comments off because he is likely getting tired of most everybody making a comment questioning why he doesn't go out and buy a $10 tripod instead of trying to do everything with only one hand. I will never understand people who make YouTube videos and why they do that.

Boy you really jump to some conclusions.

"He" is me, and as far as I can tell the reason comments are disabled is because I selected the "made for kids" option on that one, and Youtube automatically disables comments for kids' videos (probably a smart policy if I am understanding correctly).

I have no tripod because my Youtube channel could literally not be any more half-assed. If you are looking for highly produced videos then by all means go elsewhere.

 

[lakeroadster]

Boy you really jump to some conclusions.

"He" is me, and as far as I can tell the reason comments are disabled is because I selected the "made for kids" option on that one, and Youtube automatically disables comments for kids' videos (probably a smart policy if I am understanding correctly).

I have no tripod because my Youtube channel could literally not be any more half-assed. If you are looking for highly produced videos then by all means go elsewhere.

Nice video @neil_w ...

As to the peanut gallery.... hater's gonna hate

 

[Hobie1dog]

I have no tripod because my Youtube channel could literally not be any more half-assed. If you are looking for highly produced videos then by all means go elsewhere.

now I'm curious as to why you want things "half-assed" in your life? and there's nowhere else to go as 95% of every video is on YouTube.

 

[Pappy]

i've made some really crappy music videos, so i blame myself.

 

[neil_w]

now I'm curious as to why you want things "half-assed" in your life? and there's nowhere else to go as 95% of every video is on YouTube.

Read one of my build threads and ask again.

 

[lakeroadster]

now I'm curious as to why you want things "half-assed" in your life? and there's nowhere else to go as 95% of every video is on YouTube.

Not my quote, you're quoting @neil_w and somehow associated it to me?
It appears you "half-assed" the simple process of quoting a member......

 

[smstachwick]

I'm curious about what line of work you're in that gives you time to post so much on social media.

With all the current remote online work options and employee shortages I sure hope you're not sucking on the government disability tit.

It’s entirely possible and legal for eligible SSI recipients to collect their benefits while holding a job. In fact, this is encouraged; they subtract $0.75 from the base amount of the recipient’s benefits for every $1 the recipient earns in wages, meaning that working is in the recipient’s best interest.

The base amount is so small compared to living costs that unless the recipient has other means of support like generous family members or a special-needs trust or both, boosting income in this manner is almost always very necessary.

Anyway, getting off the soapbox now. Back to rocket stuff!

 

[Pappy]

this post will at some point resolve to the original topic of discussion:

been thinking of places to escape to in advance of catastrophic climate upheaval in various forms, and Colorado is one of the places where one might live without by necessity becoming kevin costner in waterworld. Good elevation, farm land, fly fishing, all the cool pro sports covered (at least until the only sport is water polo, which is significantly lacking in coolness), lots of room to launch model rockets without risking roofing one on karen's house... oh yeah... Estes Industries is in Co.

Realizing this, i did a quick looksee at the careers section of Estes' page to see if one might procure some honest employment with a minimum of responsibility in deciding the fates of others. They have many such opportunities, i was pleased to note, and proceeded to do a little more 'research'.

Some folks on this thread have indicated that the 'new' Estes owners are taking the company in a good direction, so i became curious as to who that was. I thought it was hobbico, but some simple reading showed that company declared chapter 11 some years ago and auctioned off their assets, one of which was Estes Industries. The winner of the auction, bidding 7M, was The Langford Group. My guy at Google kept showing me all kinds of unrelated results on them (he means well but sometimes he's a mayo sandwich) so i just clicked on the name that i recognized as the ginger dude in the catalog with the van dyke (NOT a goatee... a goatee has no muzzie. your welcome.) and landed on his linked-in page. Apparently, the president of The Langford Group is an employee of the company his company owns, that he's not the president of. He's also an aerospace designer educated at MIT, which i've read good things about. probably a pretty good school.

so why does an aerospace engineer buy a company that sells cardboard tubes and balsa wood for 20 bucks a pop? only thing i can come up with is dude loves model rockets, and he bought hisself the coolest birthday present ever. I have a feeling that Estes is in good hands.

 

[user 35280]

careers section of Estes' page

Check out their other website too,
https://estesenergetics.com/

 

[James Duffy]

so why does an aerospace engineer buy a company that sells cardboard tubes and balsa wood for 20 bucks a pop? only thing i can come up with is dude loves model rockets, and he bought hisself the coolest birthday present ever. I have a feeling that Estes is in good hands.

That's probably a pretty accurate guess. You can hear him hold forth on such matters later this month, as John Langford will be delivering one of the keynote presentations at Virtual NARCON.

https://www.nar.org/narcon-2022/

 

[ArthurAstroCam]

Estes is in very good hands. Langford is a bit of a showman, but with Mr. Stine at the helm, essentially, I believe Estes was saved. And for those grumbling about plastics? Ever see the prices of raw balsa wood lately? And, if not, watch The Graduate. No one seems to understand this, Additionally, read up on supply chain issues. You will have enough reading to last until infinity, and beyond.

"Ben, I have one word for you. Plastics,"

 

[Buzzard]

As a retired Master Sergeant, I always loved to see the young troops do well John Langford from1971 and Bill Stine from the late '70s.

Chas

 

[gldknght]

Just curious as to what other ignitor/motor manufacturers you mean. Since this is the Low Power forum the only other low power rocket motors available in the US that I know of are Quest Q-Jets with their worthy First Fìre Micro initiators.

Is that one company the "most other" you mention, or are there others that I have missed? I've been on the sidelines for a bit and have missed some things.

Aerotech, Quest, CTI, Apogee Medalist (ships with AT firstfirst fire starters) just to name a few. I admit I was referring to rocket motors in general shipping with reliable starters, not just low power, but Aerotech does ship low power motors with highly reliable starters.

If theses other companies have figured it out, why can't Estes?

Again, I also can't speak about the "new" igniters shipping with Estes motors, because the last time I bought Estes motors off the shelf, they still had the almost non-functional corn starch igniters. That was summer of 2021.

It also should be noted, my launch system connects to my car battery for power, so don't try to tell me I don't have a strong enough power supply! I clean and polish my clips regularly, so that's not an issue either

 

[gldknght]

Challenger II (1980-1985) is an interesting one. I would like to have seen it reissued with the digital Astrocam. I consider it very popular when including everything from the 1972 Enerjet 1340 to the 2016 Estes Eliminator. In fact, if we get through 2022 without a reissue or new model, we'll be entering the longest gap (since 1972) without any 1340 fin unit rocket in production. That seems crazy, particularly when we're in an era of pre-fab plastic.

I've built some clones of the Challenger series rockets. The Challenger I was my very first rocket. The clone started life as the E2X, got a slightly different nose cone and new markings. All the markings on these rockets came from StickerShock. He does amazing work!

 

[Initiator001]

Aerotech, Quest, CTI, Apogee Medalist (ships with AT firstfirst fire starters) just to name a few. I admit I was referring to rocket motors in general shipping with reliable starters, not just low power, but Aerotech does ship low power motors with highly reliable starters.

If theses other companies have figured it out, why can't Estes?

Apogee Medalist motors are produced by AeroTech. That's why they include 'FirstFire' igniters/starters.

I was part of one of the two tour groups who were able to visit Estes during NARAM-60.
The machine that produces the Solar Igniters/StarTec Starters is one of the most amazing machines I have ever seen.
It would fit on a card table and is competely automatic except for turning on/off the power and reloading the nicrome wire and paper tape.
I watched it for over five minutes doing it's thing and was just in awe of it. It makes the igniters in pairs.
Estes makes it's igniters in-house while other companies need to get their igniters/starters from another manufacturer which makes them more expensive.

 

[viney266]

As to the weaker ignitors discussion right before Christmas. I didn't see it mentioned, but I am sure others here are doing it.
A light coat of nitrocellulose nail polish does wonders for the reliability of the ignitors. Nothing dangerous or risky, just a simple flame producer does wonders to improve these.

note, I don't blame estes for these at all, just another gubment organization making us "safer"*

 

[Fishhead]

I've built some clones of the Challenger series rockets. The Challenger I was my very first rocket. The clone started life as the E2X, got a slightly different nose cone and new markings. All the markings on these rockets came from StickerShock. He does amazing work!

I have both Challengers AND it looks like the same carpet. I made my own decals, except on the original Challenger II. It has "patina", (which I think might be like pink eye.)

 

[Fishhead]

As a retired Master Sergeant, I always loved to see the young troops do well John Langford from1971 and Bill Stine from the late '70s.

Chas

What is that John Langford is flying? Looks like an SPEV with alternate fins.

 

[Tramper Al]

I've built some clones of the Challenger series rockets. The Challenger I was my very first rocket. The clone started life as the E2X, got a slightly different nose cone and new markings. All the markings on these rockets came from StickerShock. He does amazing work!

Very nice!

I've been thinking lately that I ought to put together a Challenger 1 model as if designed especially to carry the current Astrocam (2?) as I think the BT size matches up. A red plastic fin can, if I can find one. #2076 Pegasus maybe?

 

[Gerald]

Look at this company in Europe, they use good reliable FUSE to launch rockets.

 

[Buzzard]

Bill inquired: "What is that John Langford is flying? Looks like an SPEV with alternate fins."

It was a SPEV modified as a cluster. I do not recall what motors. John Langford was an early proponent of flashbulb clusters using AG-1 flashbulbs and the wick from the Centuri Sure-Shot igniters. I flew many clusters using flashbulbs and still have three of them wire up, ready to go.

Chas

 

[Fishhead]

Bill inquired: "What is that John Langford is flying? Looks like an SPEV with alternate fins."

It was a SPEV modified as a cluster. I do not recall what motors. John Langford was an early proponent of flashbulb clusters using AG-1 flashbulbs and the wick from the Centuri Sure-Shot igniters. I flew many clusters using flashbulbs and still have three of them wire up, ready to go.

Chas

I modified one to fly on 24mm power. The Ohio earth modified it into a question mark when the D12-5 didn't bother with an ejection charge.

 

[Stewman]

The answer to that is yes.

John Lyngdal
NAR Standards & Testing Chairman
NFPA Committee member

Hey John,

How in the world are you doing?
Stew

 

[ewomack]

I will admit that I was a little taken aback upon discovering, after 20 years away from rocketry, that the Mosquito had become an "intermediate" kit.

But I get it, too. "Ready mades" have become a way to get people into hobbies. They create low risk, easy entry points for people who "just want to try something." Some of them will try it and leave, some will stick with it.

 

[Initiator001]

Look at this company in Europe, they use good reliable FUSE to launch rockets.

The laws/regulations in Germany are a bit different than those here in the United States.

These Klima motors now come with electrical igniters/starters in addition to the fuse.

 

[Grog6]

Most people have no skills, lol. They are supporting all markets.
I had a guy assigned to help me fab some stuff at work, and as I returned to the lab with some more stuff. he has a piece of fr4 in his palm, drilling into it with s large cordless drill. I kinda wanted to see which way it went bad, but it would have been my fault, I'm sure.

 

[ArthurAstroCam]

Based on what I am experiencing on some of the other forums, there are many who look down on those of us that build and fly Estes rockets, as opposed to Medium Powered and High Powered rockets. As I have told them, my love of Estes rockets is out of nostalgia building and flying them with my late father. For me, this is not a "hot rod" hobby, and I am not looking to move up into larger, more powerful rockets. I am not sure what, if anything, is wrong with this. I love Estes as a brand, and I love their products.

 

[neil_w]

Based on what I am experiencing on some of the other forums, there are many who look down on those of us that build and fly Estes rockets, as opposed to Medium Powered and High Powered rockets. As I have told them, my love of Estes rockets is out of nostalgia building and flying them with my late father. For me, this is not a "hot rod" hobby, and I am not looking to move up into larger, more powerful rockets. I am not sure what, if anything, is wrong with this. I love Estes as a brand, and I love their products.

I fly LPR almost exclusively and have experienced none of this here, nor on YORF (although I have other issues with YORF which is why I don't really visit there anymore). There is nothing wrong with focusing on low powered and/or Estes rockets as you desire.

 

[dr wogz]

Well said Neil.. I totally agree

 

[ArthurAstroCam]

I fly LPR almost exclusively and have experienced none of this here, nor on YORF (although I have other issues with YORF which is why I don't really visit there anymore). There is nothing wrong with focusing on low powered and/or Estes rockets as you desire.

Nowhere in my post did I say I experienced it here, or on YORF, They are not the only forums, But yes, I have experienced it,