That looks pretty cool, Russ. Gonna stick an FS Mini up inside S-IVB?
I used a Jolly Logic 1Hmmmmmm....so maybe if I get to the D16 with mine (they’re supposed to be here tomorrow) I’ll want the -6.
What altimeter did you use, just out of curiosity?
Launched one of mine yesterday with first the recommended c6-3 Estes motor then the Q-jet c12-4 planned to follow up with the Q-jet d16-4.
Clear day ambient temperature 81 degrees, humidity 61% light winds.
1. Estes C6-4 Alt 175’ (per onboard altimeter) slight roll off pad. Ejection appeared to come after apogee recovered 25’ from launch site.
2 Q-jet c-12-4 Alt 585 slim roll off pad tracked to south. Ejection before apogee recovered down wind 200 yards from pad.
Did not attempt d-16 as winds picked up and didn’t feel like losing rocket on first day .
I got my two from AC Supply today.
I can't see reworking the motor mount (there is no tube, per se, just the aft sleeve for the screw-on retainer which also holds on the flight fin unit on and a boss or ring that the forward end of the motor fits into), motor retention and clear fin unit to get a C11 or D12 in it. MUCH simpler to just get some Q-Jet Cs or Ds.
I checked - Q-Jet Cs/Ds fit with no issues. The Aerotech D10/D21 fit snugly....but based on prior experience flying these in a model with a plastic motor mount you might only get one flight before the motor mount is damaged as their cases are really hot post-flight. An 18/20 RMS case fits also, but the screw-on retainer can't quite snug down enough to hold the fin unit tightly. Not sure about trying that either.
I'll be flying mine primarily on Q-Jets as I expected, though I may try the recommended Estes C6-3 once.
Mine came today. I think it’s a pretty cool model and probably the nicest RTF rocket I’ve ever seen. The shock cord is the wimpy Estes rubber band, and it comes with a standard Estes purple and white plastic chute. I’d like to upgrade both of those.
I’m surprised the C12-4 went so much higher than the C6-3 — more than 3 times as high. I’m not really sure I want this model going all that high, but the C6-3 seems too low. I have some D10-5 motors, and I’m wondering now if that’s a bit more impulse than I really want.
Do you really think the D10 would damage the plastic motor mount? I bought some D10-5 motors specifically to use with this model, but I’ve never flown one before, and I don’t want to damage the rocket. Do they really get hot enough to cause damage?
Mine (at least the one I’ve opened) has the blue/white ‘chute (15 inches? - or do I have that backward and the blue/white is 18 and the purple/white is 15?). I’ll use the regular shock cord at least for now. I agree that it’s the nicest RTF I’ve ever seen - by a large margin.
While I have seen satisfying performance improvements in models using Q-Jet C12s in place of Estes C6s those numbers don’t seem right to me either, even though the Q-Jet comes to a pretty good thrust level very quickly and it increases as the burn goes on. But the RTF S-V is heavier than most things I’ve flown on Q-Jet Cs so far so maybe it just coasts well. Based on my current Q-Jet experience I would’ve expected more like 250-300 feet if the C6-3 takes it to 175 (which is a very plausible value).
That’s partly why I asked what altimeter he used. I’m looking at the model and trying to figure out what I will do for static ports to fly some kind of altimeter or if I’m just going to hope that since the upper section doesn’t fit tightly that there will be enough leakage to get a reasonable apogee reading.
I don’t have a lot of experience here but I did fly an RTF Sizzler on a D10 a few years ago. This is a short BT-60-based RTF that uses the twist-on fin unit for motor retention (also seen on the Estes crayon rockets among other things). After the flight the tabs that retained the fin unit and the cylindrical section through which the motor passed were melted enough to where I had to do some work with a heat gun to return the model to flight status. The 2160 Saturn V has mostly air around the motor, with just that fairly small ring at the forward end that the top of the motor fits into (snugly in the case of a D10) and the portion that includes the screw-on retainer. I would be worried about melting there based on that one experience, yes.
A D10 is a full D (very close to 20 N-s) but Q-Jet D16 is about 13 N-s, for whatever that’s worth. A Q-Jet C is about 1 N-s more than an Estes C6, but the energy is delivered much more quickly.
Sticking the altimeter in there may be a bit of a burden for the C6-3. As noted above, it's a heavy model.
I think Estes REALLY needs something to compete with the Qjet c and D motors. Something like the old Cox D8-3.I was surprised the q jet made this much difffernence as well.
Really didn’t expect that much of a difference. Did not try the c6 again as it just seemed it struggled
I think Estes REALLY needs something to compete with the Qjet c and D motors. Something like the old Cox D8-3.
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