Plastic motor mount lock on Amazon

[Landshark]

This weekend my son and I were flying the Amazon from his Estes starter kit (the one with the launch pad and the Crossfire rocket) and we managed to lose the black motor mount lock that's on the back of it. My son was a bit heartbroken and it's a shame since the Amazon is a dependable performer in our lineup...

Anyway, the piece is black plastic and has tabs that fit into the back of the plastic fin can. Does anyone know if that's shared with another model in the line or if they can be found separately somehow? I read here that Estes doesn't normally deal with consumers on separate spare parts.

The other idea to get this model back on regular duty would be to fabricate some sort of cardboard adapter / centering ring assembly to take the place of the plastic piece...

Thanks in advance...

 

[Peartree]

Another option is to see if anyone here has crashed one of these and has a spare...

 

[Micromeister]

What we've seen several folks do is simply use the model as a Friction fit motor mount, by wraping masking tape around the motor in strips.
This takes several warps and generally several insertions to make sure it gets a very snug fit.

 

[Landshark]

I know what you mean about the friction mount, however the fin can / engine mount on this one seems to be a bit different.

The ejection end of the motor fits pretty well in the top of the fin can but the nozzle end of the motor is quite loose in the fin can. I'd say there's probably a good 3/8 of an inch all around the motor. The stock plastic piece appears to both center the engine and lock it in place, so using tape might add quite a bit of weight there.

I saw another Estes starter kit (the NSA Starship ) at the store last night that looks like it'd have the same piece, however that one comes with another launch pad, controller, etc and the model itself is a RTF (not a huge fan).

If anyone's crashed one of these and has that piece, let me know...

 

[shreadvector]

The aft ring is pretty much standard on most of the RTF BT-56 based models. As described already, the upper end of the motor is inserted and held by alignment ribs that taper inward toward the top. This centers the top of the motor and small tabs or a lip is the "thrust ring". At the aft end, the locking "butt-ring" centers the nozzle end of the motor and locks it in.

I have retrofitted MANY of these models with a simple 2.75 inch length of BT-20 motor tube. Glue a standard thrust ring on one end with yellow wood glue. Allow to dry. Coat the outside of that end with 5 minute epoxy and then insert it into the open aft end of the plastic fin unit/motor mount. Hold the rocket upside down and keep the BT-20 centered as the epoxy sets. Once it sets, you can add a little more epoxy drizzled around the edges to help hold it to the ribs or you can make a little bit of Estes wadding + epoxy mache and use it to fill some of the gap around the BT-20. Again, hold upside down as the epoxy cures fully.

Install motors with masking tape friction fit.

 

[fxrs]

The same thing happened to a co-worker of mine.
It was not the same rocket but same type of retention.
He called Estes and they sent him two. The blue ninja
uses that holder all be it for 24mm motors. The tidal wave does
for 18 mm and there are a few others.