Model Rockets made by Klima Germany

[Leo]

Raketenmodellbau Klima came out with their first line of model rocket kits not too long ago.

Being curios I decided to build some to find out in what quality level they are in.

You can purchase their kits either with plastic fins or fins pre-cut made out of very light 3 layer plywood.
The nose cones are made of plastic.
The engine mounts come either with paper centering rings or made out of plywood.
At present the kits are sold with 26mm or 35mm diameter body tubes.
The decals are very colorful thin of self-stick type.
Recovery is either with streamer or plastic parachute.

The kits I built all had excellent fitting, nothing was loose or tight. That makes putting them together a lot more fun.

Calypso: Easy to build 35mm rocket with a plastic fin unit that slides onto the body tube through friction fit. No gluing in necessary. No painting required either.

Castor: Same as the above except this rocket has 26mm diameter.

Ganymed: A 26mm kit that comes with pre-cut plywood fins. The body tubes are also slotted for easy construction and placement.

Sirius: A 35mm rocket also with plywood fins and pre-cut slotted body tube.

I enjoyed putting these kits together. I hope in the future Klima will also bring out more complex kits.

 

[dixontj93060]

Look nice!

 

[Bat-mite]

Uh-oh! They didn't fill their spirals. :wink:

 

[Leo]

Uh-oh! They didn't fill their spirals. :wink:

With one exception :wink:

 

[Moonraker1]

I've also built and launched some of their models this year. Great kits if you don't want to spend much time building. And they fly pretty good on the Klima motors.
Got their Elektra up to about 1500 ft two weeks ago (and that's after it got damaged in the trees on the earlier launch).

 

[bob jablonski]

I know a hobby shop talking to them to get there kits:wink:

 

[Bat-mite]

I know a hobby shop talking to them to get there kits:wink:

That one near the county line?

 

[Initiator001]

I know a hobby shop talking to them to get there kits:wink:

Can 'this' hobby shop get the motors?

 

[SCIGS30]

Too many builds too little time to fuss with spirals. The rockets look great.

 

[sodmeister]

Too many builds too little time to fuss with spirals. The rockets look great.

Hahahaha...that`s what I say now ! I stopped all that nonsense and am now having "fun" building and flying,it`s actually very relaxing LOL

I like the Sirius kit,very cool.

Thanks for posting leo.

Paul T

 

[The_Lone_Beagle]

Hahahaha...that`s what I say now ! I stopped all that nonsense and am now having "fun" building and flying,it`s actually very relaxing LOL

I like the Sirius kit,very cool.

Thanks for posting leo.

Paul T

Ditto! Too much obsessing on every little detailing was killing my hobby fun. It started to seem like my hobby was actually buying kits, and sanding -- not actually flying or enjoying it.

And thanks for posting Leo, those look great!

 

[samb]

I can't believe what I'm reading ! :surprised:

First Leo dares to post some pictures of rockets with unfilled spirals, then this:

Too many builds too little time to fuss with spirals. The rockets look great.

Hahahaha...that`s what I say now ! I stopped all that nonsense and am now having "fun" building and flying,it`s actually very relaxing LOL

I like the Sirius kit,very cool.

Thanks for posting leo.

Paul T

Ditto! Too much obsessing on every little detailing was killing my hobby fun. It started to seem like my hobby was actually buying kits, and sanding -- not actually flying or enjoying it.

And thanks for posting Leo, those look great!

I feel a disturbance.



:wink:

 

[dander]

Too many builds too little time to fuss with spirals. The rockets look great.

I go away for a few months and I don't even know this board anymore.:wink:

Dave

 

[Leo]

Too many builds too little time to fuss with spirals. The rockets look great.

Boy, am I relieved that I'm not the only one

Thanks everyone and thanks for the laughs

 

[Winston]

Raketenmodellbau Klima came out with their first line of model rocket kits not too long ago.

Personally, I have no interest in their kits. What I would be very interested in buying are their motors:

https://www.raketenmodellbau-klima....enklima&SessionId=&a=catalog&t=23&c=712&p=712

Mainly, their 18mm Ds:

Their long burn D3-P and C2-P would be really useful for rocket powered gliders, their D9 for rockets, the D9-0 being very useful for the bottom stage of multi-stage rockets.

 

[rstaff3]

I'd like to see the D9s too! And, if that curve is to be believed, their C6 actually levels off at ~6 N. The Estes version plateaus at around 4.5. Probably wouldn't justify a cost premium.

 

[Winston]

I'd like to see the D9s too! And, if that curve is to be believed, their C6 actually levels off at ~6 N. The Estes version plateaus at around 4.5. Probably wouldn't justify a cost premium.

And they're only 18mm in diameter due to the use of a higher Isp propellant than BP. €19.90 ($22.56) for 6 of their Ds is less than the retail price for 6 Estes 18mm C motors ($23.58).

 

[Moonraker1]

I've put a D-9 in my Cosmic Explorer a few months ago and flew it over 1100ft. I've never flown it with Estes motors but the package said the max height with an Estes C-6 is 650ft...

 

[neil_w]

That D9, at the right price, would be fantastic for larger 18mm models (like my Centuri). I haven't dabbled with the Aerotech 18mm D's yet mainly due to price.

I can't say I'm super enthusiastic about any of those rockets though.

 

[bob jablonski]

Can 'this' hobby shop get the motors?

At this time they are not looking to bring in motors as the investment verses the quantity sales. But if the kits move it may prod them into expanding.

 

[Leo]

The rockets presently available are mainly intended for young rocketeers. In Germany adult hobbyist tend more to build scratch models.
That being said more diverse rockets will be offered in the future.
I've helped design and thoroughly tested 2 stage rockets for Klima. It's very tricky when using composite motors. We can expect 2 stage rockets soon as well.
Here a rocket I put together as testbed:

 

[Tim51]

I'd like to see the D9s too! And, if that curve is to be believed, their C6 actually levels off at ~6 N. The Estes version plateaus at around 4.5. Probably wouldn't justify a cost premium.

The Klima D9-5 is a great little motor - very snappy.

In terms of Klima generally there's definitely a different 'feel' to them to Estes. They've been available here in the UK for a couple of years now, after Paul Lavin started importing them:

<<https://www.modelrockets.co.uk/shop/motors-consumables/klima-model-rocket-motors-c-28_151.html?osCsid=f54d45b4c72b39ff232428d158bc81ff>>

I've flown the D9-5 both as single and clustered with great results. A few points to note -

- I found the igniters a little more fiddly than Estes. That's probably just personal preference. But I found that Estes igniters work just as well in Klima motors anyway.

- On Klimas the rear closure is moulded slightly convex, (rather than slightly concave as in Estes) which I found makes them more vulnerable to chipping around the edge of the nozzle.

- the ejection charge has quite a kick - something to bear in mind when building MD and in terms of motor retention.

 

[j.a.duke]

At this time they are not looking to bring in motors as the investment verses the quantity sales. But if the kits move it may prod them into expanding.

Bob,
Why don&#8217;t you post a poll (or at least a thread) regarding their motors to gauge interest.

I know that I would buy a good number of motors as their lineup is focussed differently than Estes or Quest and a better fit for my flying needs.

I&#8217;ve been trying to figure out how to get Klima motors - who do I know over there and how can we ship them - for a year or more.

While I realize a post (such as this one) doesn&#8217;t translate into a sale, I&#8217;m ready to put my money down to back it up.

Cheers,
Jon

 

[Winston]

They've been available here in the UK for a couple of years now, after Paul Lavin started importing them

And that's what I'd love to see someone in the U.S. do getting, say, an exclusive license to sell them here to make up for their regulatory/importation paperwork effort. Maybe its the paperwork effort/cost that prevents that from happening? Are U.S. regs really that much worse than the UK's on such matters?

Of course, electric igniters would need to be used here, but that could be taken care of by just not including fuses. The customers would need to buy Estes or Quest igniters.

 

[Winston]

Bob,
Why don&#8217;t you post a poll (or at least a thread) regarding their motors to gauge interest.

I second that.

 

[tab28682]

And that's what I'd love to see someone in the U.S. do getting, say, an exclusive license to sell them here to make up for their regulatory/importation paperwork effort. Maybe its the paperwork effort/cost that prevents that from happening? Are U.S. regs really that much worse than the UK's on such matters?

Of course, electric igniters would need to be used here, but that could be taken care of by just not including fuses. The customers would need to buy Estes or Quest igniters.

The issues with getting Klima motors to the US was pretty extensively discussed in this thread, particularly on third third page of the thread linked here:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?69780-Klima-Motors/page3&highlight=Klima

 

[Tim51]

And that's what I'd love to see someone in the U.S. do getting, say, an exclusive license to sell them here to make up for their regulatory/importation paperwork effort. Maybe its the paperwork effort/cost that prevents that from happening? Are U.S. regs really that much worse than the UK's on such matters?

I don't think it's necessarily a matter of regulation, more whether it's economically viable for the manufacturer/importer. If it's any consolation, it's very hard to get hold of Aerotech motors here in the UK. Not sure why, but I know vendors have tried.

 

[Winston]

The issues with getting Klima motors to the US was pretty extensively discussed in this thread, particularly on third third page of the thread linked here:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?69780-Klima-Motors/page3&highlight=Klima

On that page, this is exactly what I was talking about, a small vendor picking up at least part of the Klima motor line:

"For these reasons I think that it is unlikely that any big distributor would be willing to pick up the line. The potential sales are just not high enough. A small vendor like Apogee might be able to handle it as they are a niche market supplier that has in the past catered to this market. If you want them in the US, approach Apogee with the idea."

 

[bob jablonski]

There is a potential on getting them available. Just takes time. NAR certification, Post Master approval to ship (unless you want to pay hazmat), liability insurance. It isnt just send me a pallet and lets go. but if the market is there...

 

[Winston]

Just takes time. NAR certification, Post Master approval to ship (unless you want to pay hazmat), liability insurance.

And, as I said I suspected, it's that regulatory paper chase that prevents the ball from beginning an easier roll to get the Klima motors into the US.

That's why I wondered if importing them into the UK was any less of a regulatory hassle than getting them into US and, on second thought, considering that the UK is still, for now, part of the EU, most of the probably higher regulatory obstacles to importation into the UK were already met by virtue of Klima having done all of the EU regulatory approval work in order to to sell them in Germany.

That would make the analogy more like Kilma having done all of the "federal" paperwork leaving the UK importer to do only the "state" paperwork, if any. On that theory, I suspect it would have been much easier to gain official approval to import Klima motors into the UK than it would be to do the same in the US.