Those are not nearly $100 rockets... but the point stands.
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But when he inserts that 29/40-120 motor...
Fair point.
ThirstyBarbarian
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The OP wasn’t originally asking about composite motors, or mid-power, or high-power. He wasn’t skipping steps. He was originally asking about where to find Estes E16 motors for the rockets he had already built with his daughters. But because those are currently unavailable, we gave him some composite alternatives. He has his own launch equipment, launch site, and rocketry experience. Personally, I don’t see a problem starting up again with an E impulse rocket. I helped a lot of people, including some kids, get started by building Maxi Alpha Three rockets for D and E motors as their very first rocket. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that as long as you have an appropriate launch site and are ok with buying the motors.
I am all ears.
I want to thank jrap330 for his insight. You are right that I probably need to start smaller and work up a little more slowly. I am the guilty one of purchasing the larger rockets instead of the more common 18mm Estes kits. We do have quite a bit of area to launch from so I guess I am not really concerned about loosing the rockets as if I was launching in a city school yard. But I am also not launching $100 rockets yet. Both kits were well under $25. I think the Star Orbiter was around $18. Now the reloadable motor case in bringing the cost up a little, but I really like the versatility of this motor. But I think you have a great point and I may hold off on the launch of these two bigger rockets for a while and pick up a few smaller ones to get us started. Now I already have a launch pad and launch controller I picked up used from a local guy. It is also Aerotech and can be used for the little rockets and has a three launch rod sizes. The control box runs on 12V so it will also give us room to grow. But, I am guilty of choosing the bigger 29mm rockets more for my entertainment than theirs.
And I do not know what I am doing, but I came to the right place to learn... I was not able to find a local club, so I came here for your advice.
My only prior experience is about a dozen or so Estes kits when I was a kid and in High School. None of them survived. I always stuffed the largest motor in them that I could and usually lost them or I modified the kits to a point where they were unstable and spun apart out of control. At least I know how to keep that from happening again. I plan to teach the girls the correct way to build and fly them with the goal of a controlled safe landing.
I want to thank jrap330 for his insight. You are right that I probably need to start smaller and work up a little more slowly. I am the guilty one of purchasing the larger rockets instead of the more common 18mm Estes kits. We do have quite a bit of area to launch from so I guess I am not really concerned about loosing the rockets as if I was launching in a city school yard. But I am also not launching $100 rockets yet. Both kits were well under $25. I think the Star Orbiter was around $18. Now the reloadable motor case in bringing the cost up a little, but I really like the versatility of this motor. But I think you have a great point and I may hold off on the launch of these two bigger rockets for a while and pick up a few smaller ones to get us started. Now I already have a launch pad and launch controller I picked up used from a local guy. It is also Aerotech and can be used for the little rockets and has a three launch rod sizes. The control box runs on 12V so it will also give us room to grow. But, I am guilty of choosing the bigger 29mm rockets more for my entertainment than theirs.
And I do not know what I am doing, but I came to the right place to learn... I was not able to find a local club, so I came here for your advice.
My only prior experience is about a dozen or so Estes kits when I was a kid and in High School. None of them survived. I always stuffed the largest motor in them that I could and usually lost them or I modified the kits to a point where they were unstable and spun apart out of control. At least I know how to keep that from happening again. I plan to teach the girls the correct way to build and fly them with the goal of a controlled safe landing.
Senior Space Cadet
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Are you aware of the high power certification requirement? Not a problem with E motors, but when you get into G and F it is. I' don't remember what the exact cut-off is. I'm sure just about everyone else on this site does.
You may have also noticed that buying black powder motors gets expensive pretty quickly due to exorbitant hazmat fee.
Sounds to me like you know what you're doing, mostly. I'm off to the park soon to launch a few E motors hopefully. They should come straight down due to lack of wind today but wasn't happening yesterday. The test flights with the C6-7 weren't promising so I held them off until today. Wish me luck...
We had a small "trial launch" today. Yesterday I picked up a couple mini rockets, the type with the fins molded as one piece, and a couple packs of 1/2A and A motors. We build the rockets last night and launched this afternoon. This was mostly done to refamiliarize myself with the steps and to go over basic safety and procedures. It went well for the most part. The Gnome suffered from a streamer malfunction and had a hard nose first landing. The body tube bent, but I think it is fixable. The Zinger flew well and the parachute opened up nicely. Both girls were able to get three launches each. There now have a better idea of what to expect with the bigger rockets.
I scratch build a rocket from a combination of a Bullpup and an Honest John. It looked cool and I thought I had a real winner. I launched it only once on a C6-7. Big mistake! The delay was way too long and the rocket was too heavy for the C motor. It took off slowly, and climbed straight, but it did not get very high and then started the nose first dive. At about six seconds it planted the nosecone in the dirt and then the ejection charge blew the rest of the rocket backwards. I might be able to salvage some parts. But I need to stick with the kits.
I scratch build a rocket from a combination of a Bullpup and an Honest John. It looked cool and I thought I had a real winner. I launched it only once on a C6-7. Big mistake! The delay was way too long and the rocket was too heavy for the C motor. It took off slowly, and climbed straight, but it did not get very high and then started the nose first dive. At about six seconds it planted the nosecone in the dirt and then the ejection charge blew the rest of the rocket backwards. I might be able to salvage some parts. But I need to stick with the kits.
Well, you got some flights in, so that's good.
Get yourself a copy of OpenRocket and you won't make those mistakes on motor selection again.
Yes but he wants to get his girls involved. So small, easy to handle and build Estes Kits with white glue is the way to go.
High power cert isn't required until H.
It's probably also worth noting for the OP that E16 and F15 motors are back.
