disapointed after opening estes phoenix !!

[William]

my wife came home with the phoenix, when i opened it i found one sheet of fins has a split through it making the fins unusable !! outher then that I like the kit, a little pricey as far as I am concernd , but should make a good looking rocket .. so buyer BEWARE !!

 

[huxley]

Call Estes - it shold be under warrenty?

Or Michaels has sheets of balsa stock?

good luck!
Pat

 

[Stymye]

thats unfortunate but thank goodness it's not a problem to fix .Just use a thin film of wood glue to rejoin the pieces wipe any excess with a damp towel and the joint will be stronger than the wood itself.

 

[William]

ya i think i will try that repare !! and see how it turns out,, it's just a real bummer!! also I did not know that estes has a warrenty !! if i call then let then know what happened,, will they make it right ??

 

[Stymye]

estes is usually very good about fixing problems.
but if your anxious to get started building ,the glue fix should do the trick .

 

[powderburner]

Estes says that it will stand by its kits for something like a year. I don't have it in front of me at the moment but I think they do indeed warrant against defects in materials. Give 'em a call, it doesn't hurt to ask.

I have to agree with stymye though---glue the original balsa sheet back together and (once it is painted) you will never know it ever cracked.

 

[Rocket Flier VB]

I would only use the balsa fins as a pattern for 1/8 plywood. That way I could put in the 29mm moter mount

 

[Jerry Irvine]

Originally posted by william
my wife came home with the phoenix, when i opened it i found one sheet of fins has a split through it making the fins unusable !! outher then that I like the kit, a little pricey as far as I am concernd , but should make a good looking rocket .. so buyer BEWARE !!

My kid experienced the same thing. He glued them back together, but it was disappointing.

Jerry

 

[Donaldsrockets]

Originally posted by powderburner
Estes says that it will stand by its kits for something like a year. I don't have it in front of me at the moment but I think they do indeed warrant against defects in materials. Give 'em a call, it doesn't hurt to ask.

I think Estes has discontinued the Phoenix so I believe you might have only two options I can think of:

1. Call Estes and see if they have any left.

Or!!!

2. Go to your local hobby shop, get a sheet of 1/8 inch balsa, use one lower and upper fin as a template and cut out some new fins.

I have literally built hundereds of Estes kits and have never received one with damaged fin stock like you described.

Hope this helps, good luck.

 

[William]

I like that idea Rocket Flyer !! 1/8 " ply for fins and 29mm mount !! But what do you think about the surface mount fins ?? or sould I slot the body ?? will surface mount be good enought ??

 

[Stymye]

It makes a nice 29mm rocket, I made one with thru the wall fins from basswood and inserted a coupler in the back end to make the rear fin mounting area more ridged.

I made a few mistakes tho, I flew it on a somewhat windy day and it slowly wind cocked, by the time it reached apogee it was aproaching horizontal, second mistake was using a long burn G-33, (It went far away),, third mistake was using the reload case on it's first flight.. it landed in the woods never to be found again.

turned out to be an expensive flight

 

[Stones]

Originally posted by stymye
...
second mistake was using a long burn G-33, (It went far away),,
...

I know it cruises perty far (stock), on an E9. I can just imagine on a 3 sec burn G!

 

[loopy]

Ditch the balsa. I used basswood on mine - much lighter grained and stronger, not that much heavier. I fly mine on 24mm AT reloads, and the fins hold up fine. Had to add more nose weight, but the stronger engines more than make up for it. Also, this thing has a motor mount that is recessed fairly deep into the body tube...if you're going to use AP motors, you'll need to coat the inside of the rear BT with something to take the heat. I used a thin layer of epoxy - seems fine so far.

Loopy

 

[William]

THANKS loopy I was woundering about that the motor mount dose sit way in there and wasent shore if i sould have built it differently or not !!

 

[TheRadiator]

Had the same problem with AMRAAMs bought from Michael's. I'll throw in a vote for ditch the balsa, use basswood (or plywood) and really crank it with a hot AP motor!

 

[Rocket Guy 1317]

Samething happened to me when I bought an Estes Patriot one set of fin were broken in half. So I got out some stock sheet balse wood and cut two new fins.

 

Originally posted by Rocket Flier VB
I would only use the balsa fins as a pattern for 1/8 plywood. That way I could put in the 29mm moter mount

Yep, I agree 100%. Ditch the balsa, go with a 29MM mount, and go with thru-wall fins - at least on the lower set. I had an Estes Phenoix many years ago, that I built stock. The stock parachute was a bit too small, IMO and the first thing that happened is that all the lower fins busted off.

Good luck!

 

[blackjack2564]

Another way to fix your problem is use super glue [or elmers] and attach card stock to both sides of your fins, after glueing them back together[card stock meaning something like file folders or 3x5 index cards] lay the fin on the paper ,trace, cut and glue....it will add little weight at all....eliminates the need for fillers to get a great paint job...and add quite a bit of strenght to you fins...it is like miniture lamination.....and the pheonix needs it.... it is very common to crack or break fins from landing impact on this particular model. If you want really srong fins,cover the entire fin and enlarlge the slots in the airframe tubes with some folded over sandpaper, it will make a big difference in how long your rocket lasts with out damage!

 

[Stymye]

it really helps to add a coupler to the aft end..the rear fins extend beyond the motor tube..so there isn't much there to make them "thru the wall"

 

[hokkyokusei]

Originally posted by Loopy
Ditch the balsa. I used basswood on mine - much lighter grained and stronger, not that much heavier. I fly mine on 24mm AT reloads, and the fins hold up fine. Had to add more nose weight, but the stronger engines more than make up for it. Also, this thing has a motor mount that is recessed fairly deep into the body tube...if you're going to use AP motors, you'll need to coat the inside of the rear BT with something to take the heat. I used a thin layer of epoxy - seems fine so far.

It's not necessary to ditch the balsa in order to fly on 24mm AP. Mine has a touch more nose weight, very small epoxy fillets on the fin roots and a section of coupler inserted into the tail. Flies just fine on everything from a D12 to E30 and F39.