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Estes - Blue Ninja (1300) [2002-]

Manufacturer:Estes
Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Contributed by G. A. Dean

Rocket PicBrief:
The Blue Ninja is a very basic four-fin rocket in the Estes E2X line, with one special feature, its a big rocket, using 24mm motors. Like all the E2X kits it builds quickly and easily without painting, using plastic parts except for the body tubes. The completed rocket sports a reflective blue finish and a big, powerful look that is a big hit with the younger rocketeers (and some of the older ones!) The completed rocket is over 31 inches tall and weighs a respectable 145 grams (5.1 oz.)

 

Construction:
This kit is entirely typical of Estes E2X kits. It arrived in a bag with all parts present and accounted for. The two body tubes immediately catch the eye. They are 12'' and 8'' inches long and over 1.6 inches in diameter (BT-60). They are also wrapped in a reflective, sparkling covering (Estes calls it “prismatic” that gives the Blue Ninja it's distinctive look. The nosecone, fin can, fins and tube connector are all black plastic, and seemed well molded. Surfaces are generally smooth, with a nice, 'satin' finish. The fits are good and required only a little trimming with the hobby knife.

Engine The most interesting part of the Blue Ninja construction is the engine mount, which is a little different that other Estes kits. The rear 5 inches of the rocket body is a molded plastic 'unit' in two halves. In addition to slots for the fin tabs, this unit supports the engine tube and provides a mount for the engine-retention cap. A plastic centering ring (of sorts) fits over one end of the paper motor tube. This ring fits into tabs inside the fin mount. The other end of the motor tube rests in a socket at the upper end of the fin mount unit. The top half of the fin-mount unit glues in place with plastic cement. A standard size 24mm motor like the D12 or C11 will protrude about ½ inch from the end of the motor tube. A plastic cap restrains the motor and hides it, giving a nozzle-like styling to the end of the rocket. This cap twists into place with a bayonet mount, and has appeared on several Estes E2X kits. It’s very easy and effective to use, if a bit heavier than a standard motor clip. (It may be possible to move the motor block forward to accommodate the longer E9 motors. I didn’t think of it at the time but I believe the motor tube is long enough. According to Rocksim this kit ought to fly well on those long-burning motors).

Rocket Pieces The plastic fins glue to the plastic fin-mount unit with plastic cement (you get the idea) The fins have short tabs to align them and perhaps provide a bit of strength. I suspect that these fins could pop off in a hard landing, but so far ours have stayed on (despite one landing on pavement.) It’s pretty hard to mess-up these fins. The biggest risk is that you will get plastic cement on the nice smooth surface and mar it, but that can be avoided with simple precautions.

The completed fin can fits into the smaller of the two body tubes (again with plastic cement), and the two tubes are connected with a plastic coupler. The coupler is also the mounting point for the shock-cord.

The shock-cord is ¼ inch elastic, both wider and longer than one would expect from Estes (bravo!). Nevertheless I added a length of Kevlar tether, and strengthened the top inch of the body tube with thin CA to protect against “zippers”. The standard 18 in. plastic chute came pre-assembled. I attached it to the elastic about 7 inches from the nosecone.

The "Pros" for this kit are the easy, kid-friendly assembly (no CA or knives required). Instructions are typically Estes, which is to say easy to follow and well illustrated. The rocket feels quite sturdy, but if you use plastic cement as recommended there could be some separated parts after hard landings.

Finishing:
The only finish step is the application of stick-on decals, the large "Blue Ninja" on the rocket body and vaguely oriental designs to the fins. While effortless, the finish of this rocket is one of its strong selling points. It's a sharp-looking rocket right-out of the box, which was important for my 7 year old.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
To date we have only flown the rocket on C11-3 motors (small fields and strong winds). Rocksim puts apogee with that impulse around 300 feet, and that seems about right. Boost has always been straight and deployment close to apogee. The rocket comes off the pad slowly and looks large and impressive in flight. A D12-5 flight is predicted to go to 700 feet. This ought to be a very predictable rocket, so I fully expect those flights to be very successful too. Estes recommends a 3 second delay on the D12, but Rocksim shows the D12-5 to be the better choice. These E2X rockets generally are built right to the predicted weight, so the Rocksim performance ought to be accurate.

RockSim

The motor-retention cap extends beyond the end of the motor a bit to create a "nozzle" effect. These caps make prep somewhat easier, and look better that a metal hook, but it is a bit of a reach to get the igniter properly secured in the motor nozzle. We had a couple of misfires caused by igniters that dropped out or broke. Not a big deal, but something to think about when you prep this rocket.

On the last flight the prismatic blue wrap started to unwind from the body tube. It’s a small flaw easily repaired.

RecoveryRecovery:
The Blue Ninja recovers on a standard Estes plastic 18in chute. This chute has worked well for us, in terms of size and decent rate. On the last flight the chute suffered some melting and burn holes, but brought the rocket back just fine. The body tube is wide and long, so sealing it with wadding is difficult. I was using Rogue Permawadding, which was undamaged, but obviously some of the "hot stuff" got by.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
This is a fine kit for beginners, and ought to be a breeze for anyone with plastic model experience. The flights are impressive and dependable on the recommended engines. There is no balsa in this kit, and it is really not so much “built” as “assembled”. I usually prefer a more traditional kit, but I can appreciate what Estes is doing here. I bought this kit for my kids, principally my seven year old. That the Blue Ninja is “easy-to-build” is a nice thing for him, but the most important feature is that it’s “easy to get right”. I may find the “made-by-Cub Scouts” look kind of charming, but he is embarrassed by it. I’ve also seen beginners discouraged by the poor flying characteristics of their early attempts. My kids love to fly this rocket. They built it, it’s big, it flies well, and they get admiring glances when they take it to the pad. I think this kit is going to give a lot of beginners a good first experience in rocketry, and encourage them to continue on.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

 

    Flight Log

    DateRocket NameMotor(s)AltitudeNotes
    2002-05-31Walter Kjellander's Estes Blue NinjaE15-7- Several years ago, I flew the Blue Ninja on an Aerotech E15-7. It was a really nice flight,...
    2002-06-17Donald Besaw's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Beautiful flight. Excellent recovery by being caught by me. Can't wait to see what a D12 will do.
    2002-06-22Herb Estus's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- Great flight and Recovery
    2002-06-23Herb Estus's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- Replaced chute with 12 streamer due to our launch area, However Rocket Gods wanted it and it still...
    2002-07-02Donald Besaw's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Nice flight. Long walk on recovery. Doesn't go that high on a C11 but gets there fast.
    2002-07-20Mike Doherty's Estes Blue NinjaE9-4- REALLY kicked butt. About 1400 feet. GREAT flight. The wind took it away over some trees, and its...
    2002-07-20Mike Doherty's Estes Blue NinjaC11-5- Good flight, but not much altitude. Weird sputtering noise from motor for a couple seconds after...
    2002-07-27David Logan's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2002-07-27Jason Vennard's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Maiden flight, Good flight and good recovery on nylon 16 chute. Like review we too had problems...
    2002-08-02Donald Besaw's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Went a tad haywire on takeoff for some reason. Perfect recovery otherwise.
    2002-08-18Donald Besaw's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Nice flight.
    2002-08-28John Rowan-Stern's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect Flight. Love this rocket..will buy another. Perfect ejection and recovery
    2002-09-07Michael Mangieri's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Maiden voyage of Blue Ninja - Great flight on the C11; keeps it well within my small field.
    2002-09-14Michael Mangieri's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Second flight of this wonderful rocket - first time on a D12. Straight and nice, even in the...
    2002-09-18John Rowan-Stern's Estes Blue NinjaC11-5- Good flight but need short delay for this heavy bird. Blue film continues to unwind. Recovered...
    2002-09-29EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Good first launch and first use of a C11. The rocket had a slight wobble to it going up. Recovery...
    2002-10-06Per Karlsson's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Had 2 perfect flights after each other on Estes D12-5. Have flown on 3 second delay before, but...
    2002-10-12Michael Mangieri's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Nice flight. Good straight trajectory. Ejected just a bit late.
    2002-10-26David Logan's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- another good flight, recovered in pad area with 14 inch chute.
    2002-10-27David Logan's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Recovered 100 ft away on a 14 inch chute.
    2002-10-31EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Great motor and rocket match. Slight wiggle going up.
    2002-11-02Donald Besaw's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Nice flight but whats up with this slight wobble? Shroud lines burnt through causing a chute...
    2002-12-28EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Good flight. Just has a wiggle to it.
    2003-02-01Michael Simpson's Estes Blue NinjaD12-7-
    2003-04-19Ken Hennessey's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Shock cord separated on second flight with an Estes D12-3. Body landed OK with only a fin broken...
    2003-05-17Michael Mangieri's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Second attempt at 600 ft altitude competition at ECRM. Good flight; closed, but not good enough...
    2003-05-31EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- A great flight. We had it fly a parachute man. Got the rocket back, but the parachute man is JUST...
    2003-06-01Donald Besaw's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5700 feet Very nice flight, reached about 700 feet. Used reefed chute to increase descent rate and to try to...
    2003-06-06Bill Bill's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Good flight. Minimal drift on 14in, spill-holed chute.
    2003-09-01EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Just an all-around good flying combination
    2003-09-06Michael Mangieri's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Nice flight. This is a favorite rocket on mine to fly in smaller fields with slightly more...
    2003-10-18Michael Mangieri's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Nice flight.
    2003-11-01Jim Salem's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- GREAT engine for this rocket if you have a large field!
    2003-11-27EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Another nice flight. The center section is now loose and will need new glue (2nd time).
    2003-12-22Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- NARTREK Bronze D Motor
    2004-01-17Michael Mangieri's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Wonderful boost - straight and true. Blue Ninja is always a favorite at the launch site. Landed on...
    2004-01-24Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Good flight. Chute tangle but no damage.
    2004-02-12Donald Besaw's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Nice flight, I heard a loud buzzing which was from the blue film on the body tubes, I noticed that...
    2004-02-14Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3-
    2004-04-24Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2004-05-16Michael Mangieri's Estes Blue NinjaC11-5- As usual, wonderful flight. Landed just 10ft from the launch pads.
    2004-06-12William Rechlicz's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- 3 identical flights on D power. Straight and stable launches and recovered within 100 feet of pad...
    2004-06-20Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Drag race: tied first mover, first down
    2004-07-04Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect flight. Plenty of wind drift. Landed in plowed field.
    2004-07-11Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Arrow-straight boost. Baby powder made nice big cloud at ejection. One shroud line broke, so the...
    2004-07-20Frank DiMatteo's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Nice flight but the 3 second delay is too short.
    2004-07-20EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- This flies nice on the motor. I was just testing out the wind and field with this flight.
    2004-07-25M Doherty's Estes Blue NinjaC11-5- Built this w/ my 4 year old daughter & 10 year old nephew. Lost previous BN to some rocket eating...
    2004-08-15Andrew Grippo's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Maiden flight went great, higher altitude then expected with this motor, recovered in good shape
    2004-08-20Alex Jordan's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3350 feet Nice strait boost to about 350 feet, too short delay. Go for 5 second
    2004-08-28Andrew Grippo's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Delay a little short, ejection just short of apogee
    2004-09-05Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Fast boost. Ejected at apogee. All 6 shroud lines snapped from chute. Shrouds and shock cord...
    2004-10-10Christopher Cortez's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Good lift off and flight. Seen this one better than my smaller rockets. A dirft to edge of field...
    2004-10-23EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Just wonderful. Took the 'chute a minute to open, but all-in-all a great flight (again).
    2004-11-07William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Great flight and recovery.
    2004-11-21Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Slow liftoff, nice coast, tracking smoke trail started just before apogee. Beautiful ejection....
    2005-01-02Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2005-01-15William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect flight and recovery.
    2005-03-12Melvyn Cansell's Estes Blue NinjaE30-4- My first composite motor flight. Launch was unbelievable, it just leapt off the pad. Unfortunately...
    2005-04-03Jason Vennard's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Nice flight, angled due to wind so a bit of an arching flight. Landed in low tree and recovered....
    2005-04-03Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Fast straight boost, perfect ejection at apogee. Looked really nice descending under red...
    2005-04-16William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect flight and recovery.
    2005-04-16William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect flight and recovery.
    2005-04-16William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect flight and recovery.
    2005-04-16William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect flight and recovery.
    2005-04-17Chase Hrncir's Estes Blue NinjaF10-8- Just kept going, and going, and going...was in sight the whole time, recovered without a scratch.
    2005-06-05William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Good flight and recovery.
    2005-06-26Matt Gillard's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- quick of the pad, nice straight flight, opened just a second over the top, steady drift down.
    2005-08-27Andrew Grippo's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Good straight flight and recovered without damage. Easy kit to build and fly.
    2005-09-04James Reyome's Estes Blue NinjaC6-5- First flight for rocket built out of our Hobby Lobby Stash by my son PJ. Looks good and flies just...
    2005-09-18Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Quick boost, good coast. Perfect deployment of red 18-inch mylar chute. Nice landing, but one...
    2005-09-18William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Good flight and recovery.
    2005-10-06Matt Gillard's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Nice lift off pad, broke through low cloud cover, ejection charge broke swivel, parachute landed...
    2005-10-16Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Boost gently arced into wind. Lost sight of it at apogee in near twilight. 18-inch chute opened...
    2005-10-22Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- No chute, no damage
    2005-10-22Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Textbook flight
    2005-11-03Andrew Grippo's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Minimal height but fun to watch. No damage after recovery.
    2006-03-18Brad Shea's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- Lost two fins on touchdown. No other damage. Flight was great otherwise. Using a 12 Estes...
    2006-03-18Brad Shea's Estes Blue NinjaE9-4- Great flight - but not enough delay. Recovered on 12 chute with spill hole from estimated...
    2006-03-18Brad Shea's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Good modest height flight (700-750' estimated). Nice straight flight with easy recovery on 12...
    2006-03-18Brad Shea's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Drag race. First off the line and highest/straightest. Last down as well even though using...
    2006-03-19Brad Shea's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- This is the right delay for the E9. Longer delay might work if you have a need to recover lower...
    2006-04-30Tom+Maggie Brogan's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Our 1st 24mm launch! It was great, the slow boost and big blue rocket looked great.Good recovery,...
    2006-05-18David Culp's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Awesome flight, nearly straight up, ejection at apogee and good recovery.
    2006-05-27Chris Guidry's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Part of 3 Ninja Launch
    2006-06-18Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3-
    2006-06-25Jillian+Benjamin Fried's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect flight - rocket landed 40 ft. from pad. Jillian almost caught it!
    2006-07-03Frank Broughton's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Nice straight flight. Too long of a delay, late ejection thus high speed decent caused some of the...
    2006-07-08Howie Druckerman's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Good flight
    2006-07-29Howie Druckerman's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- D of A through G
    2006-08-13Howie Druckerman's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- D of 1/2A to H; ejection about 1 second after liftoff -- caused zippering but cut down body tube...
    2006-09-03Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaC11-5- Fast boost, long coast. Popped chute cleanly just past apogee. Safe landing. 42 sec.
    2006-09-24Morgan Lee's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Quick straight boost, long coast,then ejection. Shroud lines on 15-inch chute tangled a little so...
    2006-12-14Andy Turits's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- My first E2X model (after about 3 yrs.)...Pleasant flight to about 300 feet...Mylar chute made...
    2006-12-14Andy Turits's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- More talcum on sparkly mylar party balloon parachute did the trick...Really impressive second...
    2006-12-21Andy Turits's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Third flight proved to be the charm today. Mylar party balloon chute opened perfectly. Ninja...
    2006-12-21Andy Turits's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Same as first flight today...chute failure...still no damage
    2006-12-21Andy Turits's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Chute failed on what would have otherwise been a great flight to about 450 feet or so. No damage...
    2006-12-30Andy Turits's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- The Ninja again turns in a low maintenance, high quality flight. Perfect in every aspect to about...
    2007-02-04Matt Gillard's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- good clean flight, used a 12 inch chute - fin popped on landing
    2007-02-18Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2007-03-22Matt Gillard's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- great flight, recovered well on an 18inch with spill hole.
    2007-04-22Howie Druckerman's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Very windy, landed 2 feet from the tree line, several hundred yards from the launcher location....
    2007-04-22EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Hard to beat this rocket for fun, low flights.
    2007-04-28Andrew Grippo's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Good boost but delay seemed a little short. No damage
    2007-04-29EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Perfect
    2007-04-29EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- With Nomex cloth and nylon parachute... perfect again.
    2007-04-29EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Perfect with some altitude. Great fun with two 9 year olds!
    2007-05-05Andy Turits's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- The usual nice entertaining 400 foot flight with no surprises.
    2007-05-12William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Perfect flight
    2007-05-26Dwayne Shmel's Blue NinjaD12-5- Weathercocked into wind but deployment was still almost perfect. Estimate about 600' at apogee.
    2007-06-09William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Perfect flight and recovery.
    2007-06-21Dwayne Shmel's Blue NinjaC11-5- Probably should have used a 3 second delay. Nice flight though.
    2007-07-21Dwayne Shmel's Blue NinjaD12-5- High flight. Long 1,000 recovery walk
    2007-07-22Howie Druckerman's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- No chute came out with the NC. Rocket core sampled and did damage to the airframe both behind the...
    2007-07-28Scott Turnbull's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2007-07-28Dwayne Shmel's Blue NinjaC11-3- Drag race with another club member flying a Ninja on same motor. His left the rod about 5 sooner....
    2007-11-10William Beggs's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Great flight and reovery.
    2007-12-15Scott Turnbull's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2008-01-05Dan Krause's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- Great flight on this motor!
    2008-02-01Natalie Ryan's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Second flight - boosted straight and super fast. Landed within 50 feet of the pad. Upgrade to...
    2008-02-01Natalie Ryan's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Great maiden flight!
    2008-02-01Dan Krause's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- Low winds today. Great flight landed 10ft from the road on the streamer. Great rocket on the E9.
    2008-02-23Andrew Grippo's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Nominal Flight
    2008-03-02Natalie Ryan's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Too windy for a D on this bird. Came down 1/4 mile away in swampy ground. Recovery crew (my 6 year...
    2008-04-06Natalie Ryan's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Typical arrow-straight flight, landed 100 ft from pad.
    2008-04-13Keith Thomas's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- This was the 2nd flight of the Blue Ninja. Flew very nicely but when descending on a parachute it...
    2008-04-13Keith Thomas's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- First flight with the Blue Ninja. Stayed in sight and came down just fine on parachute. People...
    2008-05-03Tim Bearden's Estes Blue NinjaD12-7- Did fine on this maiden flight.
    2008-06-21Dwayne Shmel's Blue NinjaD12-5- Perfect flight.
    2008-09-20EMRR's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- Nice first flight my son for the day.
    2008-10-19James Reyome's Estes Blue NinjaC6-3- Only the second flight for the Blue Ninja and again on a C6. Lovely slow liftoff, very realistic,...
    2008-10-25Dwayne Shmel's Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2008-11-01Bob Harrington's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2009-01-18 Gavin Newsom's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- Ejection caused chute to separate from shroudlines
    2009-01-18Gavin Newsom's Estes Blue NinjaD12-0- Two flights. Two chutes separated... Must be the Zero delay ejection charges....
    2009-02-16Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2009-03-21Tim Bearden's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Chute tangled and came in like on a steamer. Fin broke off due to landing on street. Easy repair,...
    2009-03-28John Venable's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Slow straight boost to 800' perfect flight and recovery, short walk to retrieve.
    2009-04-19Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Daniel Denmark
    2009-05-03Kyle Hancock's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2009-07-22Tim Tyler's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- This rocket flies great. Kind of a heavy clunker, dramatic liftoff and straight boost to an...
    2009-09-19John Venable's Estes Blue NinjaD12-7- Another good flight but too much delay for a low wind launch, but still way cool .
    2009-10-24Dwayne Shmel's Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2010-03-21Matt Gillard's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5- Great flight
    2010-07-03Andrew Grippo's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3-
    2010-08-02Jeff Berger's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5800 feet First launch was impressive, slow but picked up speed. Ejection sheared off steel swivel due to...
    2010-08-07vincent penoso's Estes Blue NinjaC6-5- Maiden Flight. A little windy. This rocket really flies!
    2010-09-18vincent penoso's Estes Blue NinjaC6-5- this is another great performer. The model flys great right out of the box. Great recovery
    2010-09-26Jeff Berger's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- Repaired tube and sent it straight up. It went very high, perfect ejection and landing. The E...
    2010-09-26Jeff Berger's Estes Blue NinjaE9-6- Had too much angle into the wind and it made a large arc. Ejection was late and parachute didn't...
    2010-12-04 vincent penoso's Estes Blue NinjaD12-3- This is another predicatable model whichflies stable and recovers well.
    2011-01-15vincent penoso's Estes Blue NinjaD12-5639 feet Overcast, ~40 degrees and a gusty up to 12mph W-NW prevailing wind. A very cold day. Maiden use...
    2011-05-28Tom Geddes's Blue NinjaD12-5700 feet
    2011-07-02Matt Kendrick's Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2011-07-02Matt Kendrick's Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2011-07-02Matt Kendrick's Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2011-07-02Matt Kendrick's Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2011-07-02Matt Kendrick's Blue NinjaD12-5-
    2011-09-26Matt Gillard's Estes Blue NinjaC11-3- low but good flight
    2011-10-28Mark H's Blue NinjaF10-6- Almost out of sight. Probably around 2500 ft. Came down relatively slowly on streamer. Popped a...

    Comments:

    P.J.B. (July 14, 2002)

    I cut the engine block shorter to accept the E9, can use the cut piece to use D12. The plastic twist retainer melts over time, makes it hard to get off. I replaced the chute with a ripstop streamer, as on the E9, it will hit about 1400 feet.

    J.R. (September 2, 2002)

    I did the usual Kevlar® cord treatment in place of the shock cord. THEN square knotted the shock cord to the Kevlar® cord. Soaked the upper tube with CA to help prevent the zips, and when the blue plastic started to unravel, I put a few dabs of plastic cement and it stays put. I wonder if you could laminate foil to the motor mount ring to make it last longer...hmm..

    J.C.S. (November 12, 2003)

    This is a perfect "first rocket" for 24mm motors. Very easy to build (I did it with my 7 year old) and cheap enough that losing it isn't a big deal. If you have a large field, this rocket flies great on an E9-6. I'm looking forward to trying it on an E30 and maybe an F21 sometime. I tried it on a C6-3 with an adapter but it was underpowered. C11 works well on tiny fields. Both of the other guest opinions are right on the money. If you want to fly it more than a few times, definitely insert a long peice of Kevlar® cord in-between the rocket and the far too short Estes shock cord. Gluing down the end of the blue wrap is also a must if you don't want it to turn into a Silver Ninja. Make sure you cut the cardboard spacer in half so you can fit Estes E and the longer Aerotech 24mm motors.

    A.M. (June 7, 2004)

    Great Rocket. I just left the engine mount and let the E stick out a little. I also trashed the retainer ring to rely on a friction fit. When launching with an E9, I just took off the parachute and used a nose blow system which pretty much let the rocket set itself on the pad(safely). Great rocket with an E9, can be spotted easily high in the sky because of its reflection. Once, I had it land in a goat pasture and the goats destroyed the parachute which is another reason that nose blow came into play.

    J.H. (June 15, 2004)

    Not so great of a first flight. It reminded me why I do not like plastic fins, they seem to fall off. I did lose one fin but plan on making my own out of balsa. Yes, the blue did start peeling back. I took the top part of the blue foil off and now it is silver and blue. Yes, my parachute melted. Need to use more wadding and definitely a longer shock cord. I flew on a D. I think once I make these adjustments it will do fine though.......but then I will have a different rocket than the one that comes in the kit.

    B.C. (July 7, 2004)

    Great kit for beginners. Big and good looking. Easy to build right. Superb job in molding the fin can/engine mount assembly - no trimming required. Only complaint is too-short elastic shock cord

    C.J.B. (February 20, 2006)

    Have flow the Blue Ninja on C11's and D12-3 engines, it really soars on the D's. The blue covering peeled off the top of the 8" tube, but PVA glue is fine to fix it with. I fly rockets on a beach, and have no trouble with fins breaking or coming off. The ony trouble I haveis the cardboard getting wet on the sane, again PVA glue on the inside of the 12" tube prevents is expanding when wet.

    B.G.A. (February 27, 2006)

    The Blue Ninja is an awesome rocket. For an E2X rockets, this one is a keeper. It flies great on C11's, and on D12's, it soars. C11's are good for it on a small field. I have 3 now, one the blue wrap is completely off (renamed the Silver Ninja), and the kids love it when I drag race them.

    D.L.K. (January 7, 2008)

    This is a great rocket to modify to fly on E motors. I replaced the parachute with a streamer made from caution tape and lengthened the shock cord. I used epoxy for the motor mount and fins which has held up great so far. I also replaced the screw on motor retainer with a metal retainer clip is had for an E motor. This kit is a great kit for those looking to try flying larger motors at half the price of other kits.

    J.G. (April 23, 2008)

    This is a really nice kit. It flies beautifully, and can take a real beating. We have probably flown ours about 10 times now, always on a D12-5. We have had two major crashes, once where a parachute failed to deploy correctly, and a second where the body separated from the chute/nose cone. In both cases, I was sure we were going to find a destroyed rocket waiting for us. To my surprise, there was only minor damage (to the bottom launch lug) from the first crash, and NO damage from the second crash. The engine retainer ring begins to "melt" over time with heavy use, but Estes will send you a new one if you ask for it. We like the characteristics of this rocket so much that we are going to build a "stretched" version of it that can fly on E engines. Look for it in the mods section in a few weeks.

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