Hey there,
I'm new to the forums and had a question for ya'll. I flew basic rockets from Estes when I was younger but now that I'm getting back into it, I was thinking about picking up the Estes Pro Series 11 Prowler. I wanted a rocket that goes high, and it advertises 3,000 ft with the booster.
My question is,
1: I plan on using a F15-8 engine alongside the EX2 Booster, also from Estes. Is the booster a one time use or can you reuse it?
2: Is the F15-8 the most powerful engine that will go with the Prowler?
If anybody also has any advice for me, I would appreciate it.
Thanks for your time!
https://www.estesrockets.com/009710-pro-series-iitm-e2x-prowlertm-launch-set
https://www.estesrockets.com/009752-pro-series-iitm-e2x-booster
Hi Ryanator -- welcome back to the hobby.
Non-technical responses are tricky. It is, after all, rocket science.
1) The E2X booster stage is basically a motor mount with fins. As others have said, it is re-usuable, but easy to lose. You load a booster engine (an F15-0 or an E16-0) into the booster stage. The booster motor doesn't have an ejection charge or a delay. When the propellant burns through hot gasses blow out the forward end to ignite the motor in the Prowler. The exhaust from the sustainer (the engine in the Prowler) will push the two stages apart and the booster will fall away.
This kind of staging
only works with black powder motors -- the kind of motors that Estes sells.
2) "Powerful" is a slippery term for rocket motors.
Motors are rated by total impulse -- the thrust (force) developed integrated over the duration of the burn. The short answer is that for use as an upper stage, the F18 will
probably put the rocket higher than the only other choice for 29mm black powder motor -- the E16.
FWIW, according to the data compiled here
https://www.thrustcurve.org/
The F15 develops a total impulse of 49.6 N.s with an average thrust of 14.4 Newtons.
https://www.thrustcurve.org/simfilesearch.jsp?id=2021
The only other 29 mm motor Estes currently sells is the E16 which develops an impulse of 33.6 N.s with an average thrust of 17 Newtons
You can read about impulse classes here
https://apogeerockets.com/education/downloads/Newsletter131.pdf
There are other motors other than Estes engines which will fit into the Prowler.
Aerotech sells single-use motors with composite propellant (not black powder). You will not be able to use one of these as an upper stage or as a booster in the the same way that you can use black powder motors, but there are 29mm G motors which will develop more than twice the total impulse of an Estes F motor.
In a rocket as lightweight as the Prowler, a single use G motor, might push it to 900 meters (2900 feet) or higher.
There is software that will simulate this for you
This is using a program called
OpenRocket and a file for the Prowler put together by forum poster
kevinkal
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threa...i-prowler-rocksim-design.141391/#post-1709038
The motor I loaded in the simulation is a single-use G77. Note that you would have to leave off the motor block in order to fit the engine (it is a little longer than an Estes 29mm black powder engine) and that I had to put 1.25 oz. of weight in the nose in order to get the rocket stable on this motor. Ona G80 single use motor, Open Rocket puts apogee over 1000 meters (3300 feet). That is a LONG way for a rocket to come down under a parachute, and is liable to drift very far from the launch pad.
There are 29 mm H impulse motors, but you need to have Level 1 certification to purchase them.
From the way you asked the questions, I am guessing that rocket stability, the distinctions between black powder and composite propellants, between single-use and reloadable motors, and between mid-power and high-power rocketry, might not be familiar to you. It is easy enough to get up to speed on these things, but until you do it is probably a good idea to stick with the Estes motors.
If you are in the US, look here
https://www.nar.org/find-a-local-club/nar-club-locator/
To see if there is a National Association of Rocketry club near you. A club will likely have more robust launch pads (heavier bases and longer rods) than what you can buy from Estes, and access to a launch site with a large enough recovery area to make it worthwhile to launch a rocket to 3000 feet or higher.
Good luck.
edit: typos typos typos