Estes Spirit (2492)

[smstachwick]

Not the most glorious end to the Estes Spirit, going OOP this year. I didn’t do a build thread for it, for one simple reason: there isn’t much to build.

I don’t dislike this kit, nor do I think there is anything special about it. Its features can be found on other Estes rockets of various other sizes. If they’re doing a neck-down, this is a good one to cut.

Why did I buy it, then? Well, it’s an inexpensive LPR rocket that will stay low on C6-3 and C6-5 motors. I originally wanted to fly it on their rough equivalent from AeroTech, the Q-Jet C12-4FJ, but HobbyTown in Santee only had the -6s, so it will likely fly on one of those this weekend. Its suitability to these motors, combined with its low price and recent OOP status, meant that I threw it in an order with two other kits.

The self-stick decals are prone to static cling, and the wraps on the ends of the body tube are different sizes but not clearly differentiated on the decal sheet. As a result, I initially placed them in the wrong spots and peeled off some of the body tube finish when I tried to fix them. I really wish that they would have just moved the launch lug forward and made the stripe decals the same. Putting a warning in the instructions that this might happen would have been another good solution. Maybe one of these days I’ll get around to fixing the tear in the outer coating that you can see at the joint with the fin can.

Or maybe I’ll give it to a kid.

 

[tjkopena]

Storytime in memorial to the Spirit, for which I'll always have a soft spot---

We had a club launch the week after my daughter's 6th birthday. When we got there, one of the guys gave her an Estes Spirit kit. She immediately sat down and started building. Obviously she knew better than the instructions, me, and @smstachwick about where the decals are supposed to go...




So we launch the thing. It has a great ascent, perfect ejection, coming down well, ... oh god... ohgodohgod NOOOO---it lands deep in the corn rows. Obviously my launch is over as I spend the rest of the afternoon walking up & down and circling around in the corn looking for this rocket. A whole bunch of people help out but to no avail. When I call off the search & rescue effort there are some tears but her first flight loss is a good lesson for the junior rocketeer that they don't always come back, and she handles it pretty well.

Fast forward through a month of summer rain and sun. At the next launch we're hanging around, somebody goes into the corn looking for their rocket, and comes out with two---it's the Spirit! The body tube, shock cord, and parachute have been completely destroyed by the elements, but the unexpected recovery is still very exciting, especially as everything else is plastic. So we take it home, dearest Dad gets to scrape, chisel, and sand away the superglued tube remnants, and we rebuild it. Next month we've got a renewed Spirit ready for launch and it has a great second flight.



Since then we've had one close call with a fortunately not-too-tall tree but this Spirit still sees regular action. The junior rocketeer though is adamant that when the corn is up we only launch Dad's rockets...

 

[hobie1dog]

Storytime in memorial to the Spirit, for which I'll always have a soft spot---

We had a club launch the week after my daughter's 6th birthday. When we got there, one of the guys gave her an Estes Spirit kit. She immediately sat down and started building. Obviously she knew better than the instructions, me, and @smstachwick about where the decals are supposed to go...

View attachment 559924


So we launch the thing. It has a great ascent, perfect ejection, coming down well, ... oh god... ohgodohgod NOOOO---it lands deep in the corn rows. Obviously my launch is over as I spend the rest of the afternoon walking up & down and circling around in the corn looking for this rocket. A whole bunch of people help out but to no avail. When I call off the search & rescue effort there are some tears but her first flight loss is a good lesson for the junior rocketeer that they don't always come back, and she handles it pretty well.

Fast forward through a month of summer rain and sun. At the next launch we're hanging around, somebody goes into the corn looking for their rocket, and comes out with two---it's the Spirit! The body tube, shock cord, and parachute have been completely destroyed by the elements, but the unexpected recovery is still very exciting, especially as everything else is plastic. So we take it home, dearest Dad gets to scrape, chisel, and sand away the superglued tube remnants, and we rebuild it. Next month we've got a renewed Spirit ready for launch and it has a great second flight.

View attachment 559926

what a great picture of her building it on site.