BT60 Booster for my kids' Estes Rookie

So my 9 year old son is all about how high his rocket can go. We've done a bunch of C6-5 launches on his Rookie, but he wants to go higher. I've never fired a 2-stage rocket, but I do see that Estes offers a BT60 Booster that fits the Rookie. Is this worth getting?

If so, are there cheaper places to stock up on a couple? It costs 6 to 8 dollars apiece, without tax and shipping, which is almost as much as the rocket itself lol. That wouldn't be so bad if there was a reasonable chance of recovery- but I can see these being used once and never found again.

Thanks for any advice!

You can make your own. I use other 2 stage rockets to inspire my motor mounts for my boosters. A couple of 2 stage BT-60 kits to look up are the Estes Omega (gap staging (and you'll probably want to vent the ejection charge, preventing a pop and no go staging event (lawn dart))), and the Estes Magnum Payloader.

I'd try to give you more resources (google the kit's instructions) but it's after 12:30am here in China, and I've got work tomorrow.

https://www.hobbylinc.com/estes-bt60-model-rocket-booster-stage-2256

Though right now, you might want to just go ahead and order directly from Estes. All orders ship free until the 31st for their spring sale.

And I'm just mentioning this since you say you have never flown a 2-stager before - ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS use a motor in the booster that ends in -0. Otherwise your rocket is very likely to lawn dart or, worse, fire its second stage while pointed at the ground. Sorry if you knew that, but I've seen people who didn't know what they were doing make the mistake of putting motors with delays in their booster stages.

You may also want to use a longer delay in the upper stage, but this isn't essential.

Those boosters were on clearance at Hobby Lobby a while back and were sold for like 99 cents. Too late.

Note that not just the booster, but the rocket also becomes tough to recover when you send them up very high. Personally I'd be more inclined to get a new inexpensive two-stage rocket; something like the Mongoose is pretty cheap and will fly out of sight.

neil_w said:

Those boosters were on clearance at Hobby Lobby a while back and were sold for like 99 cents. Too late.

Note that not just the booster, but the rocket also becomes tough to recover when you send them up very high. Personally I'd be more inclined to get a new inexpensive two-stage rocket; something like the Mongoose is pretty cheap and will fly out of sight.

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I second the Mongoose. It was my first two-stage kit 20 years ago and I still have a couple of them because they are so fun to fly.

The Rookie is big and heavy. Even with a D12-0 in the Booster-60 it won't go as high as the suggested Mongoose would go probably C6-0 to B6-6. But being bigger it is easier to see and therefore recover.

If you really do want to go high the recently released Sterling Silver (or from Hobby Lobby the same model with different livery - the Epic II) will certainly scratch that itch. The package claims 2600 feet C6-0 to C6-7. It probably won't quite do that, but I have had one to over 1700 feet B6 to B6. Being streamer recovery, it drifts a bit less than it would on a 'chute.

Alternately, and perhaps to get some practice at smaller models going higher, build an Alpha or Alpha III and stick a C6-5 in that. A reasonably straight one will touch 1100 feet on that motor and challenge your eyes and recovery skills .

All that said, the Booster-60 on a Rookie will certainly add a new dimension to your flying.

My two cents on the Mongoose: be mindful of the tubes used. I don't know if the current version has them, but the one I had circa 2002 had the same thin walled tubes as the Skywriter. Because of that, the body tube on the booster got crumpled after a few flights, and they whole rocket felt flimsy to me. As an alternative, maybe look into the Boosted Bertha. It can be flown as a regular Big Bertha or in the two-stage configuration. Since the Big Bertha is a traditionally low-and-slow flier anyhow, flying it two-stage shouldn't be an issue. It'll still go high enough that you may want to consider bigger flying fields, but that's the only other real concern besides keeping an eye on the booster stage as it falls off.

I have never actually flown a Mongoose but have seen them flown. The other thing is the booster sometimes streamlines in rather than tumbling as it should, which would lead to the crumpling mentioned above.

Boosted Bertha is a neat model and works very well. It struggles a little C6-0 to C6-5 - needs a calm day for that - but if it goes straight up will get to about 700 feet, or about twice as high as your Rookie would go on a C6. Beware of the fit between the stage coupler in the top of the booster and the base of the sustainer. You will need to clean/sand it after each flight for the first few to keep it from getting too tight.

Another "go higher" thing you can try with the Rookie is a Q-Jet C12-6. In my experience these will take a heavy model like the Rookie (or the MAV or the 1/200 RTF Saturn V) almost twice as high as a C6, even though it only has about 12% more total impulse.

Personally, I like a D12-0 to C6 combination because the added weight compared to a C6-0 booster makes the whole rocket go not a whole lot faster, but you get a whole lot more sound and smoke during the booster phase. Case in point, my Charlie Brown (Estes Longshot #2128 with my own paint job) flies fantastic on a D12-0 to C6-7, and I am making final tweaks to a home-made version of a Boosted Bertha with a gap-staged booster that flies on a D12-0 to a C6-5.

That two-stage Bertha looks interesting....but I'd be concerned that that booster configuration will want to streamline in. Hopefully it won't.

The booster fins on the kitted Boosted Bertha are considerably larger than the sustainer's (which are essentially identical to the regular Big Bertha fins) and its booster tumbles quite well, so it falls near the pad and quite safely.

ygbsm said:

So my 9 year old son is all about how high his rocket can go. We've done a bunch of C6-5 launches on his Rookie, but he wants to go higher. I've never fired a 2-stage rocket, but I do see that Estes offers a BT60 Booster that fits the Rookie. Is this worth getting?

If so, are there cheaper places to stock up on a couple? It costs 6 to 8 dollars apiece, without tax and shipping, which is almost as much as the rocket itself lol. That wouldn't be so bad if there was a reasonable chance of recovery- but I can see these being used once and never found again.

Thanks for any advice!

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I’ve flown a Rookie over the Estes booster a few times - works very well. As far as recovering the booster that’s not been a problem, my only suggestion might be shooting it with some safety yellow or orange paint if you’re concerned. I’ve never put an altimeter in a boosted Rookie but yeah, it gets up there - if you want it back I’d suggest having plenty of recovery area, launch on a still day, and swap out the chute for a streamer. Have fun!

BEC said:

I'd be concerned that that booster configuration will want to streamline in. Hopefully it won't.

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Not to worry, the booster stage isn't tumble recovery on mine. I designed this one initially with a streamer, but I think I'll go just a bit crazier and include attached side boosters so the first stage is a three motor cluster with twin streamers coming out of the side pods.

Cool. I’d love to see that in action!

I like long, slow rockets with draggy fins for multiple stages. Here is a 3 stage rocket we fly D12 to B6 to B4, with short gap staging sections. Even with 3 motors, it doesn't go very high, which is perfect. You get to see the staging, and easy enough to recover.



And skip to 4:30 for the launch:

mbeels said:

I like long, slow rockets with draggy fins for multiple stages. Here is a 3 stage rocket we fly D12 to B6 to B4, with short gap staging sections. Even with 3 motors, it doesn't go very high, which is perfect. You get to see the staging, and easy enough to recover.

View attachment 410509

And skip to 4:30 for the launch:

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The flippin’ Tree Rocket (and “flippin’” is NOT meant as a euphemism for bad word, in this case) at the 4:00 mark was pretty cool too!

Great three stage demo, BTW, good design and motor choices to keep all the excitement in plain view and be able to get sustainer back (I am assuming) without a tracker.

ebruce1361 said:

Personally, I like a D12-0 to C6 combination because the added weight compared to a C6-0 booster makes the whole rocket go not a whole lot faster, but you get a whole lot more sound and smoke during the booster phase. Case in point, my Charlie Brown (Estes Longshot #2128 with my own paint job) flies fantastic on a D12-0 to C6-7, and I am making final tweaks to a home-made version of a Boosted Bertha with a gap-staged booster that flies on a D12-0 to a C6-5.

View attachment 410451 View attachment 410452

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How heavy is Charlie Brown that with a D12-0, it still was a slow lift off. I would cut down on the parachute...too slow a descent, luckily you had no wind???