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

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jhein

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Just happened to visit by local HL and lo and behold: IMG_0028[1].jpgIMG_0027[1].jpg

Sadly I need the F15-4 which were not in stock or somebody beat me to them.
FYI: Hobby Lobby restocks their rocket inventory on Wednesdays (at least in Northern Colorado that is when they get their warehouse deliveries)

So doing the math $24.99-40%=14.99 for two (2) F motors...not to shabby!!

Jim
 
Hmmm...I know what I'm doing at lunchtime tomorrow!
 
Me, too. In fact, I might just run over to HL right now (there's not one within easy striking distance at lunch for me anyway).....

Estes doesn't even show the motors in stock.

added later: I just called the nearest HL to me....they don't have 'em yet. I'll try again next week. But this bodes well for flying my SLS Aero Dart on an F15-6 again at BMR's Rolling Thunder in four weeks (after the one flight at NSL).

added still later: they are starting to show up as available on the Estes web site now....
 
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Just happened to visit by local HL and lo and behold:View attachment 143817View attachment 143818

Sadly I need the F15-4 which were not in stock or somebody beat me to them.
FYI: Hobby Lobby restocks their rocket inventory on Wednesdays (at least in Northern Colorado that is when they get their warehouse deliveries)

So doing the math $24.99-40%=14.99 for two (2) F motors...not to shabby!!

Jim

Looking at the Estes recommended motors for these new PSII rockets they are now stocking, the 4 second delay is not listed, only the 6 second delay. My bet is HL will only carry the 6 second delay. Too bad, I was looking forward to trying a F15-4 in my Leviathan.
 
Anyone have tech info on these (thrust curves, etc) and Rocksim files for these new motors?
 
Anyone have tech info on these (thrust curves, etc) and Rocksim files for these new motors?

Found them on the NAR website: https://www.nar.org/SandT/NARenglist.shtml

The F15 has a peak thrust of 25 N/s and a 3.5 sec burn. Unfortunately it takes 0.5 sec of almost linear increase to get to that peak thrust point, so I'm worried about coming off the rod too slow while the motor is still building thrust. I really wanted to fly my LOC Iris on this, but it tips the scales at 20 oz, which is 4.5x peak thrust to weight...fine on a calm day if the peak was almost instant like with the composite motors, but I think very dangerous given the slow build.

I'm a bit concerned about this actually. There are going to be a lot of rockets that would fly just fine on a composite F20 because it hits peak thrust in less than 0.1 sec, but are going to be really squirly on an F15 as they will clear the rod well before peak thrust and have time to lean before they really get going. In any event it's clear that there will be really different flight profiles between the big BP and composite Es and Fs, which will be really nice once we get some experience with them.
 
Went by at lunch and they didn't hve any of the new kits or motors on the shelf. I then noticed one of the girls tossing stuff in a box to stock the shelves with. Walked down there and picked up a pack of F15-6's! $17.97 after the 40% off. So $9 for an F motor. Not sure how many of these I will buy in the long run, but I gotta they the new stuff out. AP motors are cheaper in the long run...at least with reloads.
 
I Rocksim'd an F15 in my Leviathan.....16.8 mph off the rod.....

That's roughly 25 feet per second. Thrustcurve recommends 50fps for a safe launch speed. 0.5 seconds to reach peak thrust seems a little odd (and long). I looked at other black powder motors, and they reach peak thrust in half that time.
 
Win! I'll be snagging a few of these.... and Possibly a kit to go with it!
 
If you run a sim on a heavy rocket it shows how it deals with the slow thrust build-up: it doesn't move for about .3 sec.
Thrust is still quite low, however. Looking forward to reports or seeing someone else go first.

Looking at the Estes recommended motors for these new PSII rockets they are now stocking, the 4 second delay is not listed, only the 6 second delay. My bet is HL will only carry the 6 second delay. Too bad, I was looking forward to trying a F15-4 in my Leviathan.

Deja vu. I couldn't use the composites they carried either, because of the long delays. BUT, they just finished selling kits that need the F15-4, minimum. They don't seem to understand how the rocket biz works.

I see they corrected the RASP file in the NAR document. However it still might be easier to copy and paste mine:
EDIT: I see thrustcurve now has one. It does seem to have a bit more peak to it. I'll leave this up for now.

; Estes F15 Rasp file, copied and completely redone by eyeballing from NAR PDF by me
; (NAR file has since been corrected, may be better)
F15 29 114 0-4-6-8 .0600 .10300 Estes
0.000 0.000
0.080 2.171
0.170 4.500
0.202 8.05
0.280 13.474
0.368 21.544
0.400 25.260
0.408 24.661
0.490 22.20
0.620 18.019
0.890 16.132
1.220 14.814
1.396 15.000
1.569 15.382
1.627 14.825
1.995 14.777
2.360 14.000
2.700 13.494
2.920 13.494
3.220 13.494
3.340 13.000
3.420 7.100
3.450 0.000
;
 
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Just checked my local HL earlier. Nothing yet but all the tags are in place so it's just a matter of time before they show up.

I'll be checking back sometime next week.
 
They're out in Texas, Allen to be exact, 75 and McDermott for the locals. Same two kits as jhein saw in Colorado, Majestic and Ascender; same list price, 47.99. One each of the E16-6,8 and the F15-6,8. (I got the F15-6, I guess they have more in the storeroom). List price 27.99, 3 bucks more than Colorado.

Some interesting info inside:

DSC01770.jpgDSC01772 (1024x683).jpg

So I'm seeing basically the same peak thrust as a D12, reached fractions of a second later, and 35 grams heavier. Oh... a 3.4 second burn. Wow, very interesting. Dear Estes, thanks for the new motors. Please make more... A10-6 ?
 
I Rocksim'd an F15 in my Leviathan.....16.8 mph off the rod.....

What rod did you use in the sim?

I always use a six foot long steel rod 1/4" diameter. And most of the rod is usable. Mantis pads eat approx. 9" of rod and the effective usable rod is way short for heavy rockets using low thrust motors.
 
Went to the HL in Latham, NY...they had the racks placed for the new models and the new motors, but no kits or 29mm BP motors.

The racks were full of composite motors though, 2x F26J, 1x F50T, and 2x G40W's. I picked up a G40W with my 40% off coupon. Seeing as the store is pretty far out of my way, not sure I will take another shot to see if they have them or not.
 
The racks were full of composite motors though, 2x F26J, 1x F50T, and 2x G40W's. I picked up a G40W with my 40% off coupon. Seeing as the store is pretty far out of my way, not sure I will take another shot to see if they have them or not.

They weren't discounted? The last time my HL's had composites, they were all discounted down to $15....I grabbed all three....
 
My Leviathan fly's great on the F15.. the 4 is a tick to early however.. The 6 seems a better choice in light winds.

Grim
 
They weren't discounted? The last time my HL's had composites, they were all discounted down to $15....I grabbed all three....

Nope, $27.99 for the G's, $24.99 for the F's. I poked around for a clearance rack to see if the Leviathan or others were still on hand, but I could not find anything.

Paid $18 for the G40 more or less to make my trip worth it. Wish it was closer, I'd buy them out.
 
I needed some small Testors paints for an Apollo CM/SM model I'm building, so stopped in to the HL south of me....empty hooks for the new BP motors, no new E2X Pro II's, and 1 Ventris marked down to $35. Sadly, the Ventris has a small hole torn in the bottom of the bag....don't know what, if anything, is missing. Probably why it hasn't sold.
 
Picked up Majestic and a pack of F15-8 motors at one HL.

Went to another 20ish miles away (on my way home), and their truck was being unloaded but the shipping papers indicated that nothing was sent on this weeks truck to that store.

THEN out of the back room walks a local club member that we have not seen in a few months!
He works in their big warehouse and is working six days a week,14 hours a day supporting the massive expansion throughout this state. He visits stores and does not just stay at the warehouse. He's tried ordering the new items for this newest store and they just don't get shipped so he's looking into it in case they are simply low and the established stores sucked them all up.

AND he says the Estes products will expand to cover much more shelf space.

Oh my!
 
The shelf tag did indeed indicate they will carry the PSII booster in a box. That goes nice with the booster motors that the empty peg will soon hold.
 
Ooooh - good news.

I have just picked up a the pack of E16-6s from my nearest HL....so now 3/4 of their first 29mm BP motor shipment is now on my workbench, as is half the kits (the Majestic). The young lady I spoke with on Tuesday said they are only putting one of each item out at a time at this particular store.

There are two more HLs in the greater Seattle area, but both are a long ways north and so far I haven't had an excuse to get to either one. I am already planning to stop at the one in Pasco, WA on the way to a launch the weekend of the 20th-22nd, though. That's where I got both my Ventris and my Leviathan (with 40% off coupons) on previous trips - this was before the one opened within a reasonable distance of where I live and work.
 
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FYI: Hobby Lobby restocks their rocket inventory on Wednesdays (at least in Northern Colorado that is when they get their warehouse deliveries)

So doing the math $24.99-40%=14.99 for two (2) F motors...not to shabby!!

Jim
Each store varies. There are three here, two restock on Thursdays, one on Tuesday. Strange on that $24.99 price because my HL F15s are marked $27.99.
 
so now 3/4 of their first 29mm BP motor shipment is now on my workbench, as is half the kits (the Majestic)
The fin slots in the plastic centering rings on my Majestic were far too tight for the fin tabs. Thus, the wisdom of always dry fitting. I would have crushed the airframe tubing upon attempted installation if I hadn't filed them out. Not really an acceptable fit (actually a non-fit) for what is supposed to be an E2X kit. The box cover art shows the matte nickel fin and nose cone color that I saw on the Majestic samples at the 2013 NSL, but my nose cone and fins are mirror chrome like the Estes Metalizer. It could be that the metalized finish is thicker than the originally planned matte finish which could then explain the terrible centering ring/fin tab fit.

The plans specify the need for CA and epoxy, but never specify the use of the CA. I believe this is because in the instructions for the assembly of the clever shock cord mount, epoxy is specified after the mount/shock cord mating step whereas the use of CA was stated in my 2013 NSL discussion at the Estes booth. Just to be safe, I used both CA and epoxy. I used water thin CA first and after it cured fully I used epoxy

Also, while the only specified rough-up sanding was for the plastic motor retainer, I rough-up sanded all plastic mating surfaces just for good measure.
 
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They're out in Texas, Allen to be exact, 75 and McDermott for the locals. Same two kits as jhein saw in Colorado, Majestic and Ascender; same list price, 47.99.
$49.99 here. Same $27.99 motor pack price.
 
I have just picked up a the pack of E16-6s from my nearest HL....so now 3/4 of their first 29mm BP motor shipment is now on my workbench, as is half the kits (the Majestic). The young lady I spoke with on Tuesday said they are only putting one of each item out at a time at this particular store.
If you look at the big tag behind each hook you'll see the normal stocking level. I believe it was one for each E2X Pro Series II kit and two for each of the 29mm BP motor packs. Could vary from store to store.
 
The box cover art shows the matte nickel fin and nose cone color that I saw on the Majestic samples at the 2013 NSL, but my nose cone and fins are mirror chrome like the Estes Metalizer. It could be that the metalized finish is thicker than the originally planned matte finish which could then explain the terrible centering ring/fin tab fit.

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.

M006 Majestic Nose Cone side.jpg
 
FYI,

The Temecula, California, Hobby Lobbby store is currently out of stock of Estes Majestic kits, E16-6 and F15-6 motors. :wink:
 
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