Finally! Hobby Lobby has the Estes E and F motors in stock!

[eedetail]

I Scored a pack of F16-6 at Billings, mt HL. Not sure which rocket will get them yet.
They had a few others in stock as well but wasnt gonna pay asking price for more.

 

[JDcluster]

I stopped in a HL up in Middletown, NY (off of 211 and Carpenter ave) on my way to a race because we were running early.
They had 2 of the "Pro Series" kits, I don't recall which 2.
They did have the E BP motors but, couldn't tell what diameter they were though?


JD

 

[Winston]

I have the remains of the Majestic model which was displayed/flown at NSL 2013.
John Boren told me he painted the nose cone and fins of the model with silver paint as they were test/pre-product parts molded in black. The production parts were planned to be chrome plated.

Possibly then they test fitted the fin tab/centering ring slot parts in the prototype without the chrome plate present and the extra thickness of that made a difference in the fit of the production run. Perhaps an oversight.

Here's a nice build page for the Majestic:

https://rocketdungeon.blogspot.com/search/label/My Projects: Estes E2X Majestic

Excerpt:

"The fin fit is very snug - any tighter would be too tight. I quickly found that I had done a poor job cleaning out the Epoxy from the slots in the upper centering ring. When the fins were installed, there was a noticeable gap between the upper part of the fin root and the body tube. I started clearing the slots with a Dremel grinder but decided that it would be easier to grind the leading corner of the plastic fin tabs."

I dry fitted mine and it was far too tight even before the rings were epoxied in place on the motor tube. My fix was to gradually enlarge the slots in the centering rings with an aggressive diamond grit jeweler file. I was also careful about not getting epoxy in the slots. I painted my Majestic's body matte aluminum but left the fins and nose cone chrome. Reminds me of a boosted dart. After I lose that one, I think I'll paint the next one matte copper or bronze.

 

[Winston]

I have the remains of the Majestic model which was displayed/flown at NSL 2013.

I saw a two-stage flight of a Majestic there with the top stage never being seen on chute. Looks like it nosed in from the looks of your nose cone image. Do you have any idea about the cause of the recovery failure?

 

[BEC]

I saw a two-stage flight of a Majestic there with the top stage never being seen on chute. Looks like it nosed in from the looks of your nose cone image. Do you have any idea about the cause of the recovery failure?

I talked with John a bit before he launched it. It was an experiment in staging to a composite motor. The sustainer didn't light.

 

[Winston]

I talked with John a bit before he launched it. It was an experiment in staging to a composite motor. The sustainer didn't light.

Ah, that's not the one I saw that was also lost. Too bad that didn't work. The one I saw was an F15-0 to a BP E16 or F15.

 

[rstaff3]

Possibly then they test fitted the fin tab/centering ring slot parts in the prototype without the chrome plate present and the extra thickness of that made a difference in the fit of the production run. Perhaps an oversight.

Here's a nice build page for the Majestic:

https://rocketdungeon.blogspot.com/search/label/My Projects: Estes E2X Majestic

Excerpt:

"The fin fit is very snug - any tighter would be too tight. I quickly found that I had done a poor job cleaning out the Epoxy from the slots in the upper centering ring. When the fins were installed, there was a noticeable gap between the upper part of the fin root and the body tube. I started clearing the slots with a Dremel grinder but decided that it would be easier to grind the leading corner of the plastic fin tabs."

I dry fitted mine and it was far too tight even before the rings were epoxied in place on the motor tube. My fix was to gradually enlarge the slots in the centering rings with an aggressive diamond grit jeweler file. I was also careful about not getting epoxy in the slots. I painted my Majestic's body matte aluminum but left the fins and nose cone chrome. Reminds me of a boosted dart. After I lose that one, I think I'll paint the next one matte copper or bronze.

Thanks for the plug for my blog. Do you have a photo of you all-chrome version? I'd love to see it.

While I was very excited to get the new motors, I initially wasn't too excited about "easy to build" kits. However, after building one, I ended up really liking it! I may get another with another HL coupon.

It will fly tomorrow assuming the range head isn't located such that the wind vector is into the corn fields.