Prowler
Finished this rocket in May but hadn't flown it until Sunday for a variety of reasons. An Estes Prowler, an OOP kit acquired from the Becher & Becher Vintage Rocket Emporium and Snack Table. Very similar to the Majestic, both mid-power E2X kits. I did some minor tweaks on this to improve the recovery line, add a rail guide in addition to the 3/16in lugs, etc.. It came with a nice looking pink body tube. Sadly one of the launch lugs slipped while setting and I didn't notice. So I had to heat gun it off, sand paper the tube, etc etc, and wound up having to repaint the whole thing to deal with the blemish.
The big thing with the Majestic, and I assume this as well, is that you have to do something to keep the parachute, recovery line, etc. from falling lower in the rocket at ignition. It happens easily and the rocket becomes completely unstable. At the moment it's one of my biggest criticisms of Estes kits: They're selling the Majestic (and similar) as E2X kits for relative beginners, but they have a serious design flaw that's actually kind of subtle to diagnose.
Video of a flight from Sunday to an estimated 750--800ft on an E16-6:
😂😂😂😂
Now you done it! Jo Ann wants a fancy tent with "Becher & Becher Vintage Rocket Emporium" printed on it. 😂
When I started doing more mid-power rockets a few years back I soon learned that you have to check the stability of everything you build. I've built a number of rockets that needed weight forward, but had no mention of it in the instructions at all. And not just Estes. I guess the assumption is that if you build something that big, you must know about stability. That's not always true though, as we've all seen.
But you got it right with that one. Nice looking Van Halen paint job! Nice flight!
Quote from Eric Becher on August 13, 2024, 10:28 am😂😂😂😂
Now you done it! Jo Ann wants a fancy tent with "Becher & Becher Vintage Rocket Emporium" printed on it. 😂
ABC Canopy!