Estes Rockets Model Scale 1:100 Replica of SpaceX Falcon 9(estesrockets.com)
estesrockets.com
Estes Rockets Model Scale 1:100 Replica of SpaceX Falcon 9
https://estesrockets.com/spacex-falcon-9/
100 comments
That is so cool. Thank you for sharing.
Model rocketry is maybe the one thing I miss the most after moving to California. Between airspace regulations and wildfire risk, I don't think it's something I can really do without a long drive to the desert. I guess it probably wasn't really allowed for us to go do it in fields in rural New England either, but that felt different.
Model rocketry is maybe the one thing I miss the most after moving to California. Between airspace regulations and wildfire risk, I don't think it's something I can really do without a long drive to the desert. I guess it probably wasn't really allowed for us to go do it in fields in rural New England either, but that felt different.
Check out Lunar[1], they used to do low power launches at Moffett, and high power ~2 hours east of there. I'm not sure what they do these days. Wherever you are, there is probably an NAR club [2] which will be a great resource!
[1]: http://lunar.org/
[2]: https://www.nar.org/find-a-local-club/
[1]: http://lunar.org/
[2]: https://www.nar.org/find-a-local-club/
Nevada isn't that far away is it?
> Then I had kids and haven't had time for rockets
I got into model rockets after I had kids, when my then 5 year old son asked me if we could “build a rocket to go to the moon”. I suggested we start small and work our way up. He lost interest after several rockets and a hundred or so launches — well before we reached that goal.
But it was a blast. We even had a birthday party with rocket launches and a moon shaped-cake. So my suggestion: build (small) rockets with your kids — they’ll love it!
I got into model rockets after I had kids, when my then 5 year old son asked me if we could “build a rocket to go to the moon”. I suggested we start small and work our way up. He lost interest after several rockets and a hundred or so launches — well before we reached that goal.
But it was a blast. We even had a birthday party with rocket launches and a moon shaped-cake. So my suggestion: build (small) rockets with your kids — they’ll love it!
I'm amazed you got a decent launch out of a cluster like that, it would be hard to get all of them to light before the first starts producing thrust. I think the parachute would have worked better with a B but I'm not seeing anything in their catalog that looks like a good fit.
As for a heavy design--put high thrust engines in the sides and low thrust/longer burn engines in the core. The pieces are *not* attached, the core is basically riding on pins on the sides, when the sides burn out the core simply lifts off the pins. Arrange the fins on the sides so they have a desire to fly a bit off straight--once they separate they'll start to spin outward from the core and hopefully not get fried. Put some engines with a very short delay that blow out streamers and a longer delay (once the streamers have a chance to kill the spin) for chutes. I'm not sure how to build compartments for them, though, the standard deployment won't work.
You'll need a very powerful ignition system to get everything to light close enough together.
As for a heavy design--put high thrust engines in the sides and low thrust/longer burn engines in the core. The pieces are *not* attached, the core is basically riding on pins on the sides, when the sides burn out the core simply lifts off the pins. Arrange the fins on the sides so they have a desire to fly a bit off straight--once they separate they'll start to spin outward from the core and hopefully not get fried. Put some engines with a very short delay that blow out streamers and a longer delay (once the streamers have a chance to kill the spin) for chutes. I'm not sure how to build compartments for them, though, the standard deployment won't work.
You'll need a very powerful ignition system to get everything to light close enough together.
Woah, that's awesome.
Do you have a video of it flying? I'd love to see that
Do you have a video of it flying? I'd love to see that
The trick is to get the kids interested in it, then have them build the rocket.
I loved Estes rockets as a kid. I grew up poor in a rural area in the late eighties/early nineties, and kids could show up with rockets in strangers' fields.
You usually knew if you needed permission, and it was always freely granted. While I still live in a small town (not my hometown), I find the culture has changed a lot, and it's much more difficult to find somebody with adequate space who will give you permission to light off rockets. And that's with parental supervision. In my experience, the days of eleven year old boys with rocket kits are largely over. Just another sad facet of a changing America. I'm old.
Yeah I was into it as a 10-12 year old. We would just go to the park or a school football field on a Sunday and fire them off. Usually lost the rockets as the wind would carry them and they'd hang up in a tree or something. Got tired of firing my allowance money into the air so lost interest after a while.
You just brought back a memory I haven't thought about in decades. After the wind took my rockets away and all I had left was some engines and the igniter, we decided to just let them rip in the porta-john at the local park. Safe enough being that we were outside with the wire fed thru the shut door. The sound it made as it ricocheted off those plastic walls... Not much later, we got into the way less safe potato+hairspray+pipe project!
Just glue or tape the bare engines to a long stick. The stick is enough for stability, and without the extra weight of the rocket body they go much higher.
When I was 10 or 11 I set the field next to the elementary school on fire launching my Estes R2-D2 rocket. Good news is I was able to recover the rocket.
When I was a kid I showed up with my dad in prospect park in the middle of Brooklyn NY with an aged Estes that had been gathering dust, given to me by the science teacher. Sadly, it must have been a bit too old because we couldn't get it to work.
More recently (circa 2019) I set off some pressurized carbon capsule based rockets in the exact same park. Similar idea without the fireworks ordinance problems.
In theory an urban environment should be far more hostile to this sort of activity (and for good reason) yet it everyone seemed fine and even encourages it. The spirit is alive and well. Maybe its just your specific area?
More recently (circa 2019) I set off some pressurized carbon capsule based rockets in the exact same park. Similar idea without the fireworks ordinance problems.
In theory an urban environment should be far more hostile to this sort of activity (and for good reason) yet it everyone seemed fine and even encourages it. The spirit is alive and well. Maybe its just your specific area?
Man, they're hosing folks on the price here. Twice the cost of their Saturn V; most of the rockets are $20-40. It's a cardboard tube with some plastic molding.
Amazing how the formula hasn't changed since the 70s. Also the C6-3 engines, igniters, parachute, recovery wadding, and a battery button box.
Don't forget the paperclip for when you loose the "launch key"
It's a "collaboration" with SpaceX vs a direct copy of a freely available Saturn V.
They know what they're milking - as it is, that thing costs more than the Lego Saturn V did at launch, and almost as much as you can get it now after-market.
They know what they're milking - as it is, that thing costs more than the Lego Saturn V did at launch, and almost as much as you can get it now after-market.
You can get a Blue Origin New Shepard for $35. https://estesrockets.com/product/007315-blue-origin-new-shep...
(Even if it looks like it belongs in a bedside drawer...)
(Even if it looks like it belongs in a bedside drawer...)
I like the twist-lock engine holder design!
It’s the Tesquila premium!
https://teslatequila.tesla.com
https://teslatequila.tesla.com
I'm a Tres Comas man myself.
It's "Ready to launch", which seems to carry a higher price (but not quite that high in other cases).
It costs a lot of money to develop a toy rocket that can also land itself.
You mean Full Self Landing (beta)?
There was a guy who made a model rocket with propulsive landing. It took him years and since you can't shut down a solid it works by interposing a deflector once the engine is no longer wanted.
BPS.space on YouTube! One of my favorite general engineering channels.
Not looking forward to the news articles of accidents caused by inattentive model rocket crew members who had FSL (beta) turned on.
/s
/s
A Shortfall of Gravitas doesn’t come cheap, either.
I still have the original SpaceX Falcon 9 model rocket[0] which was $25.45 in 2012 and sold out quickly. This one looks like it is nicer - but not $125 nicer.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006GX14R8
[0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006GX14R8
I had some serious rocket-lust as a kid over the Estes Saturn V.
It's no great tragedy to be hosed on the price of something that no one has any need to purchase.
Would it be better if the price was $30, they sold out their inventory immediately, and then the models were available from scalpers on amazon for $149?
Would it be better if the price was $30, they sold out their inventory immediately, and then the models were available from scalpers on amazon for $149?
I suspect there are plenty of kids out there who are fans of SpaceX who can't afford $149 for $20 worth of parts. It's kinda sad that these'll mostly be going to folks who will put them on shelves.
If they sell out at $30, do another production run and sell more rockets to more people.
If they sell out at $30, do another production run and sell more rockets to more people.
> This scale model rocket can lift payloads to LEO and geosynchronous orbits, or even to Mars.
Someone needs to do some copy editing hehe, as they seem to be confusing the scale model for the real thing.
Someone needs to do some copy editing hehe, as they seem to be confusing the scale model for the real thing.
What’s 1:100 of Low Earth Orbit?
A lot more than the 300 feet this can reach, alas! A 120-mile circular orbit would equate to around 6300 feet at 1:100 scale.
I'd love to know if it will ever be possible to build tiny liquid-fueled rockets (with 3d-printing of the a model rocket engine being possible at some point).
I'd love to know if it will ever be possible to build tiny liquid-fueled rockets (with 3d-printing of the a model rocket engine being possible at some point).
if hypergols are allowable then some existing RCS thrusters would fit on a model rocket. Or rocketlab's curie is pretty small IIRC.
but...liquid propellents are either pretty dangerous (hydrazine et al), or impossible for an amateur to work with (cryo requirements, pressures required, complex starting sequence etc).
The plumbing, extra parts, materials required, tolerances mean that what you might consider as a "classic" liquid design ends up being pretty heavy at a small scale, so you have to build a bigger engine to cope with the extra weight. So you would end up with an engine not really that analogous to what you would consider "classic" liquid designs (gas generators/tap-offs/staged combustions).
However.... Frank Malina and Jack Parsons essentially did what you're proposing in the 1930s without any new fangled 3d printing technology, so it's possible! Just don't end up like Jack Parsons.
but...liquid propellents are either pretty dangerous (hydrazine et al), or impossible for an amateur to work with (cryo requirements, pressures required, complex starting sequence etc).
The plumbing, extra parts, materials required, tolerances mean that what you might consider as a "classic" liquid design ends up being pretty heavy at a small scale, so you have to build a bigger engine to cope with the extra weight. So you would end up with an engine not really that analogous to what you would consider "classic" liquid designs (gas generators/tap-offs/staged combustions).
However.... Frank Malina and Jack Parsons essentially did what you're proposing in the 1930s without any new fangled 3d printing technology, so it's possible! Just don't end up like Jack Parsons.
Woah. I didn’t know who Jack Parsons was and wanted to know how to not end up like him - his wikipedia is a wild ride! What a guy
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons
Wow that paragraph went into a vertical climb and somehow kept going higher
> I'd love to know if it will ever be possible to build tiny liquid-fueled rockets
Robert Goddard’s first rockets were basically model rocket sized.
Robert Goddard’s first rockets were basically model rocket sized.
I'm not sure. But 1:100 of the distance to Mars should definitely be beyond LEO!
If you want to try your hand at building one yourself Apogee has downloadable plans and a parts list: https://www.apogeerockets.com/Falcon-9-Crew-Dragon-Plan
At that price it should land too (shout out to BPS)! I am shocked it took them this long to release a Falcon model. And no Falcon Heavy either.
SpaceX used to sell a version of this in their online store. I bought one for my son. I'm not sure what company manufactured it, but it doesn't seem to have an Estes branding. You can pick them up on eBay now, with a significantly inflated price (they were originally ~$50 from SpaceX):
https://www.ebay.com/p/1600662998
That's what I was thinking! For those who don't know BPS landing model rockets vertically, with legs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH3lR2GLgT0
I'm quite tempted to buy three and try and hack together a Heavy.
Please do. It would be a great project. Model rocket engines can’t be throttled so your ignition has to be perfect and your engines identical. If you do it please share the results with us.
Check out BPS.space who spent 7(?) years exploring exactly this!
Yes! I agree, a great series. But what about weekend projects? Looking at the Estes and other model rocket sites it looks like cluster rockets are already a thing.
Could you hold it back on the launch pad for a second to ensure all engines are lit up prior to lift off?
The C6-3 engines sold with this kit generate thrust for 1.6 seconds total.
https://estesrockets.com/product/001613-c6-3-engines/
https://estesrockets.com/product/001613-c6-3-engines/
I was the first in our group to launch a two-stage. Minimal motors for the first launch, it staged barely clear of the launch rail.
Not even the Shuttle tried that. If they didn't both light within a very narrow time window the whole thing would go boom on the pad.
What are the regulations around flying these? I remember doing it as a kid, but I could also walk to the store as a kid and play unsupervised with fireworks.
You can start here: https://www.nar.org/find-a-local-club/section-guidebook/laws... but basically, don't launch into the flightpath of an airport.
(Many model rockets don't get above 500 feet, so they never can even get into controlled airspace (usually 1200 ft above ground level) unless you're launching at an airport, which can be totally legal depending on where you are - most places have model rocket clubs and you can find where you can launch)
(Many model rockets don't get above 500 feet, so they never can even get into controlled airspace (usually 1200 ft above ground level) unless you're launching at an airport, which can be totally legal depending on where you are - most places have model rocket clubs and you can find where you can launch)
> usually 1200 ft above ground level
When it's not 1200, it is 700 ft AGL (above ground level)
When it's not 1200, it is 700 ft AGL (above ground level)
If you are in CA, the real challenge is getting a permit from the county Fire Marshal. Please do find a local club instead.
Being in California, I'm going to assume that county permit to launch a $20 toy 300 feet will be harder to get than FAA permits are for SpaceX to launch rockets the size of buildings to orbit.
This is awesome. Definitely miss building and launching these as a kid. Hope young people are inspired to be builders and have interest in space and flight!
I found a nice rocketry booklet from Estes from 1964 in an antique store in Martinez, CA several years ago. I scanned it and uploaded it: https://archive.org/details/model-rocketry-booklet/mode/2up
Pretty cool, I think. You can pull down the PDF if you like.
Covers the physics of model rocketry, shows you how to build a wind tunnel, talks about recovery, lifting capabilities, rocket-powered gliders, multi-staging, clustering, determining altitude.... (Stereotype humor on 2nd to last page depicting a Chinese man - near Peiping - holding an American model rocket.)
Pretty cool, I think. You can pull down the PDF if you like.
Covers the physics of model rocketry, shows you how to build a wind tunnel, talks about recovery, lifting capabilities, rocket-powered gliders, multi-staging, clustering, determining altitude.... (Stereotype humor on 2nd to last page depicting a Chinese man - near Peiping - holding an American model rocket.)
Thanks for scanning and posting this!
I loved estes model rockets as a kid. I remember they had a model for "rich folks" that could launch an egg inside. Really rich folks could get the one with the 8mm camera.
I was poor and could only launch a few times. My go-to rocket was a "park toy rocket" I could fill with water, pump up manually, and launch over and over.
I was poor and could only launch a few times. My go-to rocket was a "park toy rocket" I could fill with water, pump up manually, and launch over and over.
I remember having fun with them, but also having less luck than I would have liked with building them (though it improved after I started letting the glue fully dry before launching). Launching without a nosecone after a failed recovery was instructional, too.
I love launching rockets with my 11 year old but it's so hard to find a good spot these days where you don't end up with a police visit (that happened, worked out fine) or a risk of starting a wildfire, etc.
Cops were different when I was a kid, lol. I remember me and some buddies getting set up to rappel off a bridge over the Minnesota river and some cops rolled up. After questioning us (14 year olds who were clearly at risk of accidentally killing themselves) the one officer says “Well, I don’t really know if this is legal or not, but it sounds like you guys are being pretty safe and you know your gear so, uh, my partner and I are going to go investigate some things and when we get back, cough, cough, in about half an hour I’m guessing you kids won’t be here, right?” I miss those days.
I’m not sure if kids did less stupid things those day, whether they were more prepared for doing stupid things, or if it’s all just my memory.
But it certainly feels like today’s 14 year olds couldn’t be trusted to do that since they’d do it with zero experience and only for the Youtube/Twitch fame.
But it certainly feels like today’s 14 year olds couldn’t be trusted to do that since they’d do it with zero experience and only for the Youtube/Twitch fame.
I just miss the balance - between some kids having fun and some angry Karen calling the cops. And the cops were sort of like “Yeah, kids do stupid shit and it might go south, but let’s let them have the adventure.” And we all lived and had that adventure, thanks to a couple of MPD officers who let us go play and have fun. and yeah, we cleared out of there right quick after abseiling off the Minnesota river bridge. But the officers were the real heroes, they just let us be kids.
Yeah. In the old days people didn't have the internet to show them all the different things that could be done and thus would learn from those who knew what they were doing.
My activity of choice is a pretty safe one: hiking. The number of idiots I see out there who know nothing of wilderness safety or what they're getting into, though, is insane. Most of them have no plan B if there's a problem.
My activity of choice is a pretty safe one: hiking. The number of idiots I see out there who know nothing of wilderness safety or what they're getting into, though, is insane. Most of them have no plan B if there's a problem.
They don't have the strength to do it, anymore. Tapping on a keyboard/phone all day.
Oh man, my father and I used to shoot model rockets off as a kid. I recall losing one on the roof of the local Middle School once and I thought it was the coolest ever.
This price is a little steep, in my opinion.
This price is a little steep, in my opinion.
I had made a few after getting into it from Boy Scouts, and when my time came to engage in the yearly tradition of high school physics kids launching rockets in the football field, instead of making a new one, I just brought my Big Bertha from home. I hadn't launched it yet. It used one massive "E" engine. First launch, dwarfing the launchpad, it exploded. AFAIK its battered fuselage was hung in the physics room until the teacher retired. Good times.
I remember lst century learning that the "c" rocket engines although the same size go way way higher and watching the rocket and parachute drip over the trees never to be found again.
That and "Hobby Wick" which ensured takeoff because those electric fired ignitors hardly ever worked right..
That and "Hobby Wick" which ensured takeoff because those electric fired ignitors hardly ever worked right..
You had to use the expensive "solar igniters." The ones that came in the engine packs never worked.
Yeah...Estes rockets were one of the few things my dad and I shared in the 70s. Nostalgia is a helluva drug.
Man, I miss model rocketry.
Around 2010 in Ireland the motors became virtually unobtainable - there were a handful of shops importing them, and one day they stopped as customs had seized their stock.
Apparently what was a growing hobby with puff pieces in national media was now gone because someone decided to classify the motors as fireworks (illegal, under the same laws that ban importing your own Semtex).
There was a national rocketry club that managed to import motors for a few more years for club launches, but that seems to have fizzled out a few years back with the loss of their launch site.
So many good memories of trying to build my own rocket bodies, trying to get fins cut from balsa wood aligned, doing math, painting the things, etc. Estes have a whole guide on building em yourself. Then going down to some field and launching it, seeing if it worked, etc...
Around 2010 in Ireland the motors became virtually unobtainable - there were a handful of shops importing them, and one day they stopped as customs had seized their stock.
Apparently what was a growing hobby with puff pieces in national media was now gone because someone decided to classify the motors as fireworks (illegal, under the same laws that ban importing your own Semtex).
There was a national rocketry club that managed to import motors for a few more years for club launches, but that seems to have fizzled out a few years back with the loss of their launch site.
So many good memories of trying to build my own rocket bodies, trying to get fins cut from balsa wood aligned, doing math, painting the things, etc. Estes have a whole guide on building em yourself. Then going down to some field and launching it, seeing if it worked, etc...
I just got my kids their first model rocket. This might have to be their second.
Anyone know what’s the fuel combination of Estes? I live in a country where shipping this is probably impossible.
As a high schooler I was very keen on rocketry, we ended up cobbling one using a deodorant can as the body, a slurry of potassium permanganate and sulphur or sugar as the fuel (which was hypergolic at the wrong times) and an igniter which was a trail of the same fuel about 30 cm long. They’d take off and explode about 3m up (burn rate?). It was stupid and fun but the chemistry teacher killed it as soon as they became aware of it. Good times though.
Just standard black powder. Same as the lift charge used for fireworks.
This looks great and is at a reasonable price. I tried to buy it but it only ships to Guam, Puerto Rico and U.S. whereas I'm abroad now. I got as far as the checkout though. Nice homage and looks fun to play with.
[deleted]
I built and launched countless model rockets as a kid and a month ago took my son out with my dad to relive the experience and it was downright magical.
Beyond that I'm really happy to see this model simply because it's REALLY HARD to find toy or model SpaceX rockets.
Science stores and museums are still packed full of the same old space shuttle and rocket models and toys that were there in the 90s which is kind of ridiculous considering we have way cooler rockets now and the space shuttle has been retired for over a decade.
The official SpaceX store only sells t-shirts and hoodies.
Beyond that I'm really happy to see this model simply because it's REALLY HARD to find toy or model SpaceX rockets.
Science stores and museums are still packed full of the same old space shuttle and rocket models and toys that were there in the 90s which is kind of ridiculous considering we have way cooler rockets now and the space shuttle has been retired for over a decade.
The official SpaceX store only sells t-shirts and hoodies.
The page states:
> The SpaceX Falcon 9 is the world’s first human-rated reusable launch vehicle.
I loved model rocketry as a kid. They even did it at my school (I won a contest in my class!) until a kid’s rocket landed on a neighboring house’s roof and burned it down.
Just to chime in among all the other nostalgia stories, I think I remember getting started with these in Boy Scouts and had an absolute blast with them. I enjoyed assembling, painting, and then launching these things. The ones I started with didn't go that high and were easy to retrieve. I just hope it's still possible to do these things with my child one day.
Can it land on a spot though.
This one can: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cgm7QPJAplX/
Full vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH3lR2GLgT0
Full vid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH3lR2GLgT0
Ugh not only does instagram go straight to login page nowadays, it hijacks my back button.
Thanks for the youtube link!
Thanks for the youtube link!
It can land on a spot. Probably not the one you intended.
I remember seeing one such project that had flip-out drone rotors for the landing. Not quite the same as rockets, but much more achievable.
Most impressive to me was the model rocket that lands.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH3lR2GLgT0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH3lR2GLgT0
I feel like any of us with a 3d printer will only have need of the rocket engines, some igniters, and a fast car to stay ahead of the law.
I remember getting one a decade ago for like $30. It wasn't as detailed, though.
I would love to load a D12 into this baby and see how high it would go!
Won't fit--D motors are bigger than C motors. IIRC you can go as high as F before you get into restricted territory, but they're not the same size. (And the field has so far managed to successfully self-regulate. Government licenses are not required for the motors, although in the high power realm you may need licenses for some of the pyrotechnics. You do, however, have to content with storage requirements that effectively mean most people can't possess high power motors. You have to buy them at the launch site. Many high power launches also require pre-arranged FAA clearance--they don't want rockets sharing the skies with airplanes.)
[deleted]
bummer, it doesn't land itself.
The timing worked out that I got to enter it in the local model rocketry club's "sport scale" contest, and the judge dinged me for having windows--at that time there was no crew dragon that had flown. (I still won the contest).
The rocket has only flown once, but I still have it. Eight of the nine A10-3T motors lit, and the chute deployed just before hitting the ground. It really could use a shorter delay time but you don't have many options with motors of that size.
I had ambitions of building a falcon heavy, but I really wanted the boosters to fall off and have the central core continue under thrust. Then I had kids and haven't had time for rockets, but I still have hopes of doing that build--probably with high-power motors--at some point in the future.
[1]: https://imgur.com/PBdyEmA