Estes - Bull Pup 12D (1270)

Brief
This is a very well designed sport scale version of the USAF Bull Pup 12D. You should be able to build this rocket if you have a couple other rockets under your belt.

Construction
The first thing I noticed was that this model was in a box. Some Estes kits are in flimsy plastic bags, which makes the parts prone to creases and such. I opened up the box, and all the parts were there, nothing was broken. The materials were pretty much normal. Plastic NC, balsa fins, cheap shock cord mount etc. (See below) The instructions were pretty easy to follow, lots of pics.

TIP: Better shock cord and shock cord mount! As with most Estes kits, replace their shock cord and shock cord mount!

It took me a while to get the fins lined up right, but I finally got it. I used regular 'ol Elmers white glue. Very sturdy.

Finishing
Finishing is pretty basic. I filled the balsa grain with normal sanding sealer, applied a couple of coats of grey sandable Krylon primer, then finished it up with a few coats of Krylon flat white paint. I personally prefer the self adhesive decals, but the decals (water transfer) that came with this kit were satisfactory. When finished, this rocket looks VERY nice.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight
FLIGHT #1- For the maiden flight of this rocket, I used a C6-5. I would have used a smaller motor, but these were left over from last launch and I wanted to use them.

FLIGHT #2- I used a B6-4 motor for this flight, it wasn't as high as the C6-4 was, but it worked for me. I got a little scared as the delay was longer than expected (about 2 secs) and YES, I filled out a MESS form. Luckily, the rocket didn't suffer any damage other than a paint scrape.

FLIGHT #3- Same as last flight, but delay was accurate.

FLIGHT #4- Used a C6-5 again, pretty cool flight. Nominal.

Recovery
I don't have any gripes about recovery. IF you replace the shock cord and mount, then you will be all right, as long as the motor doesn't give you a surprise delay *g* The only damage sustained from flight was a minor paint scrape due to a rough landing, other than that, pretty sturdy rocket.

Flight Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Summary
I love this rocket! Flights are high and fast! It is a sturdy rocket if you build it right. Again, my only gripe is the shock cord and mount. REPLACE THEM! Oh yea, there is one more thing I don't like about this rocket, it isn't anything major, but I would prefer a motor hook instead of making tape (friction fit). I feel uneasy about taping my motors into my rockets.....

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Flight Log

Date	Rocket Name	Motor(s)	Altitude	Notes
1969-12-31	Howard Jackman's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C11-5	-	2nd flight of Bullpup, 1st use of C11 motor, perfect flight, straight up and very high ~1,000ft...
1969-12-31	Howard Jackman's Estes Bull Pup 12D	D12-7	-	Notes First flight on a D12-7 minor rod whip, 1/4 mile walk to recover, very high, very fast!
1999-05-22	Eric Miller's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-2	-	Perfect day, very little wind and hot. No problem at all with this launch, nice high straight...
2000-01-08	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-7	-	Great engine for this little work horse. This kit must have flown 30 times. It is tough and flies...
2000-01-29	David Fergus's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	curvy ballistic flight, ejection 50 ft above ground
2000-03-04	David Fergus's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-2	-	straight flight, still no explanation for first ballistic flight. Fins crunched in car on way...
2000-04-17	Ron Cooke's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	good flight
2000-05-12	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-7	-	Good boost, nice long delay, good deployment, landed 50 feet away.
2000-05-12	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Boy, this one really goes well, straight boost, good deploy.
2000-05-22	John Busacca's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Good liftoff,after engine burnout engine fell out causing rocket to to pitch down and on to the...
2000-11-05	Randy Powell's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	rocket boosted straightup,not real high,but still a good flight
2000-11-05	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Nice boost in the crappy weather. Short walk for recovery, just missed large mud puddle
2000-12-30	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	took off the streamer for a chute, good deploy, nice out of sight flights! recovery about 300 feet...
2000-12-30	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-	great boost again on the C6-3. Nice and calm, no drift, about 200 feet from pad.
2000-12-31	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-7	-	Nice flight, loooong delay, another old motor from the 80's. Worked just fine!
2000-12-31	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Using up the last of the $1 clearance motors Target had from SW episode 1 last year. They still...
2000-12-31	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C5-3	-	Boy this baby boogies on this motor! I wish they had a longer delay! It almost kept going right...
2000-12-31	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B8-4	-	old motor, hoped it would not blow up! great boost, low height, around 600 feet, wish it would be...
2001-01-13	Ron Tribull's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	This is a great rocket. Flies high & straight. Always use a streamer for any engines above a 'B'....
2001-03-30	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Great flight again for this kit. Nice landing about 100 feet away. Paint is starting to chip off...
2001-04-13	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-7	-	Nice flight, long delay, a little weathercocking. short walk.
2001-04-13	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Good quick boost, nice performer. Good short recovery with a streamer.
2001-04-21	William Frazier's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2001-04-21	William Frazier's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Ejection charged burned chute, no damage thanks to tall grass.
2001-04-21	William Frazier's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	Perfect.
2001-04-24	Randy Powell's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2001-05-05	Casey Smith's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Another great boost, had it angled just right, streamer worked well, short walk for recovery!
2001-05-10	Randy Powell's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	weather-cocked real bad...slight fin damage
2001-05-23	William Frazier's Estes Bull Pup 12D	D21-7	-	Wow, very fast. never recovered but flight was worth it.
2001-07-07	Dustin Messner's Estes Bull Pup 12D	D13-7	-	Perfect flight, Recovery with 16 inch parachute, had to add weight to the nose cone
2001-09-29	David Fergus's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-
2001-10-20	Mark Patoka's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Perfect flight and delay time.
2001-10-20	Mark Patoka's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Nice and straight
2002-01-08	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	First flight, good straight flight and good recovery.
2002-01-11	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-7	-	Great, straight boost, quick, good chute deployment and recovery.
2002-01-11	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Good flight and recovery, no problems, very straight boost.
2002-01-17	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-7	-	Good consistent flyer, straight boost, no problems, good chute deployment and recovery.
2002-01-17	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Good consistent flyer, straight boost, no problems, good chute deployment and recovery.
2002-03-20	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	High winds, 15+mph, still very straight boost, good chute deployment, and recovery, no problems.
2002-06-16	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	2nd Bullpup in our current fleet, maiden flight. A good straight and quick boost, impressive for a...
2002-07-19	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Bullpup2, Another good quick straight flight, one of the most consistent kids in our fleet. 12...
2002-08-22	Ken Alger's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-
2002-08-22	Ken Alger's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Estes shock cord broke and I replaced it with kevlar to elastic combo cord.
2003-01-04	Stephen Corban's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	Estes Parachute failed to open, no damage
2003-02-22	Will Scarvie's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	The winds had let up some, so I tried a more powerful motor. Ejection significantly after apogee,...
2003-02-22	Will Scarvie's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	Maiden flight. Low altitude, slight weathercocking into the wind and a good bit of drift on the...
2003-04-06	Kevin Coulson's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Excellent first flight, straight as. Attained 180m alt aprox on B6-4Recovered on 12 chute (cut to...
2003-04-06	Kevin Coulson's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Excellent first flight, straight as. Attained 180m alt aprox on B6-4Recovered on 12 chute (cut to...
2003-04-13	Matt Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Quick little rocket on a B. Straight off the pad, and looked great all the way down. Found small...
2003-06-30	Jon Revelle's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Took off OK. Nose and chute separated from BT. Lost. Called ESTES and got new parts. Ready to...
2003-07-01	Matt Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Good flight..zipped right off the pad straight up, ejection just right, and recovered with no...
2003-08-01	Sam Eichelberger's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-6	-	Best flight of a bad lot at a school sponsored program. Others that were flown were constructed...
2003-09-13	Bill Eichelberger's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Never would have found it, but a sharp eyed club member saw it just before it landed in some...
2003-12-05	Mike Kiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-	Went straight up about 100ft. made hard 90 degree turn towards woods, came down deep in woods,...
2003-12-05	Mike Kiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	slightly unstable boost (wiggled) to about 400ft. good recovery about 50ft. from pad, no damage
2003-12-25	Jon Revelle's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	Now there's a reason to put the clay in the NC. Twisted all over the place on takeoff. Crashed....
2003-12-30	Jon Revelle's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	When it launched, it took the launch rod with it about 50 feet. Launch lug broken, lawndarted...
2004-01-13	Jeff Inman's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	3 launches. Variable winds made me use a longer delay than I would prefer. First flight had a bit...
2004-01-24	Kyle Hancock's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-	Good flight.
2004-02-14	Roy Lappalainen's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	First rocket launch after 34 years. Straight flight with good deployment of parachute. Landed 100...
2004-02-14	Kyle Hancock's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-
2004-04-24	Kyle Hancock's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-
2004-05-16	Kyle Hancock's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2004-05-22	Jason Vennard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	As usual a great flier, nice and quick, straight boost, good deployment and recovered fine under...
2004-06-04	Rob Bullough's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	1st launch of 1st rocket built since 1976. Launch slightly into wind, turned horizontal into wind....
2004-06-12	Rob Bullough's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	06/12 flight 3. Again, slight wind adj. Straight flight. Motor intact. No damage. Recovered 175...
2004-06-20	Mark Patoka's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Very nice, high flight. Used a large chute with center cut out but still drifted. Landed on top of...
2004-06-20	Mark Patoka's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	First flight of the day. Straight up and perfect.
2004-07-18	Kyle Hancock's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-
2004-07-25	Andrew Grippo's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Nice flight and good recovery with no damage
2004-08-05	Andrew Grippo's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Very good flight with good altitude, good recovery, no damage
2004-09-05	Bill Eichelberger's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Slight wobble as it left the rod, but quickly straightened for a perfect flight and recovery.
2004-09-25	Andrew Grippo's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-2	-	Stable flight and good recovery with no damage
2004-10-02	Ken Davis's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Nice straight climb, hit apogee and started tipping over when the chute popped out. Nice recovery...
2004-10-16	Will Roberds's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Straight shot. Drifted to a rooftop 500 ft. away. Later recovered to see chute damaged from...
2004-10-16	Will Roberds's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Straight again. Recoverd from roof of house. Chute Damage from ejection charge.
2004-10-16	Will Roberds's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	300 feet	Flew straight and true.Recovered with slight paint damaged to upper part of BT.
2004-10-16	Will Roberds's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	500 feet	Flew straight and true. Ejection charge damaged Chute, didn't deploy properly. Recovered with...
2004-11-06	Will Roberds's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Good flight here, good deployment. Still landed on another roof top. Got alot of drift with the...
2004-12-02	Jason Lenentine's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Ejection seemed really strong. When I caught the rocket, a fin had been ripped off. It flew...
2004-12-18	Michael Bernatchez's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	first flight, dad broke a fin
2004-12-18	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Perfect first flight on this rocket, the B4-4 is a great match for it, landed about 20 ft from the...
2004-12-22	Ramon Olivas's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Straight up, all normal...landed in river, no damage but needs to dry out.
2004-12-22	Ramon Olivas's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	Maiden flight, way underpowered and finished fast. Parachute deployed 65' off ground. I forgot to...
2004-12-24	Jacqui Baxter's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Weathercocked at lift-off...shock cord detached from body, came down in two pieces. Engine mount...
2004-12-25	Jacqui Baxter's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Jimmy-rigged a engine mount with tape and an old body tube. Went straight for 300' then flew...
2004-12-28	Jon Revelle's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Landed it tree. Got back few days later, but badly damaged. Motor mount trashed, decals peeling,...
2005-02-12	Roy Lappalainen's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Too Windy to go with the C6-5, a lot of drift with just a 12 chute.
2005-04-17	Bob Harrington's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Another perfect flight in ideal conditions.
2005-05-04	Donald Laskey's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-
2005-05-14	Bob Harrington's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Beautiful flight on near perfect day. Short walk for recovery
2005-05-21	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2005-06-25	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2005-07-23	Bob Harrington's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Pushed my luck in the strong breeze and rocket drifted into the swamp
2005-07-30	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2005-08-06	Jason Lenentine's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Perfect flight.
2005-08-06	Jason Lenentine's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Perfect flight.
2005-08-20	Jason Lenentine's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-2	-	Perfect flight. Recovered close to pad.
2005-08-27	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Shock cord snapped but no damage to rocket.
2005-08-28	Brad Bowles's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	FF-A83 motor. Fairly straight low level flight. Ejected too soon. The shock cord is too short, the...
2005-09-18	William Beggs's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Great flight and recovery.
2005-11-03	Andrew Grippo's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	Low and slow flight with good deployment of chute. Recovery near pad without damage.
2006-05-13	Mal McClenaghan's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Shakedown flight. Altitrack showed 160 metres. Nice flight on 30cm chute.
2006-06-30	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-2	-	straight flight. good recovery
2006-06-30	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	fast flight, good hieght, decent landing
2006-07-29	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Nice quick boost off the pad, good recovery.
2006-08-12	Ed Scientist's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	WONDERFUL. Great first flight. Really straight flight went much higher than I thought. Ten inch...
2006-08-22	Clive Davis's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Maiden flight. Picture perfect with nice, gentle recovery.
2006-08-26	Mal McClenaghan's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Very nice flight, straight boost, perfect recovery.
2006-09-28	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	good clean flight.
2006-11-19	Ash Cooper's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	First flight, and apart from a slight arc in trajectory, flew extremely well. Ejection just past...
2006-11-25	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2006-12-23	Bill Poster's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-
2006-12-30	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2007-01-02	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	great flight.
2007-02-04	Ash Cooper's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	121 feet	OK flight, arced slightly off the pad about, windcocked slightly into a E-NE wind. Ejection and...
2007-02-04	Ash Cooper's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	Another good flight, arced again into E-NE wind, gained slightly better flight due to drop in wind...
2007-02-20	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	good flight
2007-02-20	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	good
2007-03-31	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Nice straight boost and gentle recovery just like always!
2007-04-28	Ron Wirth's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Tangled Chute - No damage
2007-04-28	Andrew Grippo's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Good flight, good motor / delay combo. Good recovery.
2007-06-02	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Perfect maiden flight
2007-06-17	Mal McClenaghan's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	-Very- high flight with a long drift, despite the spill hole in the 30cm Hartle parachute....
2007-06-21	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	B4-6	-	B6-4 would have been better choice, but the long coast was nice.
2007-06-22	Richie Brunjes's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Long Walk
2007-06-22	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Good flight but VERY windy conditions made for a long recovery walk!
2007-06-30	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Some weathercocking didn't detract from an otherwise good flight.
2007-07-21	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Nice flight on MRC motor.
2007-07-28	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Good flight, no problems.
2007-08-19	Chris Gonnerman's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	This was its first flight, and it was a nice one, with a perfect deployment and recovery.
2007-09-01	William Beggs's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	Perfect flight and recovery.
2007-09-30	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Slight weathercocking but otherwise very nice flight as usual from this bird
2007-11-21	Charlaine+Cadence Nordin's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	shock cord flew off at apogee. nose cone landed on highway was bearly but safly recovered....
2007-11-21	Charlaine+Cadence Nordin's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	great flight. glad I use snap swives on this one. she spun so baddly as she came down she would...
2008-03-07	Jason Speakman's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	1500 feet	This is the engine for this rocket! Zoomed off the pad, great height, drifted about 300 yards even...
2008-03-07	Jason Speakman's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	350 feet	One more perfect flight. Impressively fast. Came down great, 100 ft. from pad.
2008-03-07	Jason Speakman's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	150 feet	First flight, Perfect. Landed 10 ft. from pad
2008-05-11	Phil Hewitt's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Great flight, perfect parachute size, recovered no damage (Midland Rocketry - UK - May 08)
2008-05-11	Phil Hewitt's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Great flight again, recovered no damage (Midland Rocketry - UK - May 08)
2008-06-01	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Despite a hard landing on asphalt, not a scratch on it.
2008-06-21	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Landed right next to the LCO Table, perfect
2008-06-21	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Great flight
2008-06-28	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-
2008-08-23	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Typically nice and reliable flight as we have come to expect from the Bullpup!
2008-08-23	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Great flight.
2008-09-27	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-
2008-09-29	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	great flight - quite alot of drift for a 12 inch chute with a large spill hole.
2008-09-29	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-6	-	good flight.
2008-10-26	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Nice arc on this flight of the Pup
2008-10-29	Mark Grisco's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	pointed slightly into wind, arc looked cool.
2008-10-29	Mark Grisco's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	looks cool on the pad and scoots on a C. it went straight up and then drifted about 1/4 mile.
2008-12-14	Donald Besaw's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Got this on clearance at Wal-Mart. Great first flight and recovery. No damage.
2008-12-21	Donald Besaw's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Excellent flight. Nice straight boost to maybe 700 feet. Short to moderate drift. No damage.
2009-01-18	Kyle Hancock's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-
2009-01-18	Kyle Hancock's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-
2009-02-16	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	good flight
2009-02-21	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-6	-	using up some B6-6s so delay was always going to be late, another fast boost
2009-03-07	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	good flight, shock cord snapped, no damage. will go for a Kevlar repair.
2009-03-28	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Perfect flight.
2009-08-16	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Nominal flight, no problems
2009-09-13	Howard Smart's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-
2009-09-28	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	another good flight
2009-09-28	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	high arching flight, drifted onto roof, even though it was on a streamer.
2009-10-10	Mark Grisco's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	major weathercock, flew horizontal into wind!! looked cool. no damage
2009-10-10	David Sindel's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Arced over a bit due to the wind. Used a 6 parachute to keep it on the field.
2009-11-21	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Good Flight.
2010-03-18	Preston Hoover's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Launch was great with a straight up shot. Flew like the missle it is and chute popped at the...
2010-03-20	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Nominal flight
2010-03-27	Howard Smart's Estes Bull Pup 12D	D13-7	-	Nose cone separation. Nose cone and chute not recovered
2010-03-31	Preston Hoover's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-5	-	Awsome. Awsome, Awsome. Flew perfect. Wind acarried it about a football fiel down wind but it...
2010-04-01	Preston Hoover's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-7	-	Went up perfect. Saw the parachute deploy. The an upper layer breeze caught it and we saw it go...
2010-05-09	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	A8-3	-	first flight for the newly built rocket. A8-3 is not enough. she was heading down from not much...
2010-05-09	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Better second flight, needed less wadding as the parachute was still wet from the earlier water...
2010-05-23	Dwayne Shmel's Bull Pup 12D	B4-4	-	Great Flight.
2010-06-22	David Sindel's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-	Carrying payload capsule with test timer. Nice flight.
2011-04-24	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	good flight
2011-07-23	Glenn Weiss's Estes Bull Pup 12D	C6-3	-	Great high boost, but cord snapped at ejection. Nose cone sailed away on chute to parts unknown,...
2011-10-09	Matt Gillard's Estes Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	won a drag race, but popped a fin on landing.
2011-11-20	Kurt Knox's Bull Pup 12D	B6-4	-	Good flight with a nice slow roll.

Comments:

A.G. (November 1, 2000)

I found this kit to be a well designed kit. I liked the boat-tail feature and nose cone as well. It flies nearly out of sight with A8-3's and despite parachute shroud line failings (ripped from the now brittle parachute) it has survived well. The friction-fit motor mount stinks though and the shock cord needs to be replaced with a much longer one. I found this review to be right on the money.

C.T. (January 1, 2001)

Got at Walmart for $9.99. Good Kit. It's a little tough to align for a beginner. A lot of people tore those little forward fins off because they make it unstable, but mine flies great. Straight as an arrow.  However, I also added extra nose weight to be on the safe side. I made exactly according to instructions and painting according to box and it turned out rather nicely. Looks really nice a great sport scale kit I used this at NARAM-40 when I could not use my blackbird.

M.T.S. (January 1, 2001)

In my opinion I believe that the Estes Bullpup 12D is a very well designed kit. I picked mine up at a local Walmart for $ 9.99. I got to work on it quickly and finished on the the same day as purchased (except for the paint), with the help of some fast drying R/C plane glue I was ready to launch it in about 1 hour. My first launch was with an Estes B6-4 and it flew perfectly. Since then I have logged 30 flights on it and its still in mint condition. The rocket itself is very strong and sturdy and its lightweight construction enables it to have fast and high altitude flights. Overall I really enjoy it. The only thing I would change in the kit is the engine mount. On several flights the engine actually blew out backwards and almost pegged me off in the head.

M.K.H. (October 27, 2001)

This is a pretty nice rocket. Estes appears to have slightly changed the kit, which renders the instructions obsolete. However, the changes mostly are to the parachute and fin stock, and so it does not matter to much. You just have to use your head. Watch out for misalignments in the fins. This is very easy to do. Model looks really nice. I haven't flown it yet, but it will be soon.

W.S. (January 18, 2002)

The reason that I bought the Bull Pup was because of its military history. When I built this rocket I had no problems. I had panted it like it had told me to do, and the decals were a little tricky. The first time that I launched it was with a B6-4. A picture perfect launch! The second launch I used a C6-5, another perfect launch! About the fourth launch I had used a C6-7, the recovery cord separated and that I never saw that pup again. Overall I liked it so much that I bought another one, and is waiting to fly it.

K.R.E. (June 16, 2003)

Totally awesome rocket. First flight was on a B6-4 and the flight was beautiful, straight and impressive. Make sure, like any rocket, that you use enough wadding or create an ejection baffle. Some rockets just seem to fry chutes more than others and this one is a fryer! A little scary was when the chute melted and the Bull Pup came down clay filled, sharp nose-cone first. Ouch, glad it landed in the grass!

D.B. (February 23, 2004)

Great kit! This was probably the coolest low power project I've done in a long time. Due to multiple fin alignments, this kit should probably be done by someone with a little experience first. The parts were good quality, although a motor clip (not included) would be preferred to the friction fit motor mount. Instructions were good, except for the reference to decals. The instructions stated that the decals were the water-slide type, however, they were self adhesive. I found this out after trying to soak one of the smaller ones! This destroyed the adhesive, so I had to use some white glue to repair that one decal. Apparently, this kit may come with either type of decal, so be sure of the type you may get! Looking forward to a spring launch, mostly due to the amount of snow here, and the possibility of having to find a white rocket I lost sight of!!

R.L. (February 27, 2004)

I recently built the 'Pup' after a 34year absence from rocketry. The rocket was constructed following the instructions except for finishing. I found the instructions to be very good however, with my kit a few of the instructions didn't match the drawings and some of the parts were different than pictured. One of the centering rings was factory notched to support the installation of an engine clip that wasn?t in the kit or mentioned in the instructions and the Parachute came already cut with the shrouds installed. I didn?t follow the instructions for finishing. I tried some Krylon paint for plastic. The can suggested that no priming or sanding was required before application. My thinking was that this paint was a thicker paint than the other Krylon paints so, I wouldn?t need to fill the spirals or prime. Wrong! The paint didn't cover any better and in fact the nozzle tended to drip and the drips would get sprayed onto the rocket requiring more aggressive sanding between coats. The first flight of this rocket was a disaster! On the way to the pad two of the fins fell off, poor construction on my part. Over the years I had forgotten that most glues do not stick to the glassine layer on the body tubes. A quick application of some CA and I was back in business. I launched using an A8-3 as specified in the instructions. It didn't go very high, but it went straight and had a good deployment of the 12" chute. It landed about 100 feet from the pad would have been a successful launch except when it hit the ground all the fins fell off except for those attached with the CA. I was hoping to attempt the streamer and parachute duration for NARTREK using the pup. I wish I had known about this website before starting this project. There are so many good suggestions that would have made the project so much more satisfying. I wonder why Estes hasn't incorporated some of these in their kits. My Bull Pup will fly again, with many of the suggested modifications. My thanks to everyone that submitted suggested modifications to this kit and others.

K. W. (July 26, 2004)

I just love this kit. The only issue I have with it is the lack of a motor retaining clip. The rocket flies higher and is a lot faster off the pad than I thought it would be. I've flown it ~5 times using A8-3 and B6-5 motors and have not had the burn issues others have mentioned. Recovery on the stock parachute has not been an issue.

Willy (September 26, 2004)

Great flying model...Have built 2 this year with varying paint schemes. I also had a beef with the lack of engine hooks with this particular kit. In attempt to head off any crisis before they got a chance to prevent themselves, I modified the engine mounts/tailcones to install a engine hook. A braided Kevlar® cord, about 20" long in conjunction to 36" of shock cord is employed to handle ejection tasks. I also use a 12" ripstop nylon chute with Kevlar® shroud lines....We have sans ALL plastic chutes from ALL models in the fleet. No matter how careful, no matter how much or how little the wadding is packed, the melt togethers and burn holes in plastic chutes are irratating to say the least! Good Flyin'

K.G.D. (October 4, 2004)

This is a really cool rocket - inexpensive and fun to build, and it looks really good when you're done. I wish I'd known about this website before I built it, because I used the stock shock cord, gluing it near the top of the BT. After I found this site, the first thing I did was order some Kevlar® shock cord and that is the only way I will make a recovery system from now on. Anyway, when I fired this rocket on a B6-4, the flight was perfect but it pretty much blew out the shock cord and scorched it. I'm probably going to build a scratch Pup now that I know a bit more about how to build this and how to do a recovery system.

W.M.R. (October 27, 2004)

This is my 2nd Bullpup, first one lost in trees many yrs ago. Kit has changed little, shock cord is not rubber and chute is pre-assembled. Constructed as per instruction. First flight: B64 engine. Flew straight and true. Chute was burned on ejection charge and failed to deploy properly. Had Slight damaged on paint upon impact on side of building...almost on the roof. Second flight: C65 engine. Flew straight again but drifted 500 feet where it landed on a roof of a house. Recovered latter to see more chute damage from ejection charge and scraped fins. I will use more wading than the instruction suggest next time, after a new chute is installed.

C.M. (February 5, 2007)

As a B.A.R. I've been re-introducing myself back into the hobby. I've always liked the BullPups and wanted to build a small one before trying an "upscale" Q-Modeling kit. As I couldn't find the Estes kit at Wal-Mart, I ordered it from Rocketry Zone online. The kit came quickly and well packed just two days after the online order. I have some observations about the kit and its construction. The Shock cord seemed too short and was made of sewn elastic, not the rubber band style shown in the directions. The centering rings were notched for a engine hook, not included. I received two small squares of clay weight. The instructions show the installation of one square, but say to use all the weight. At step five the full size fin illustration didn't match my die cut fins. My kit fins were 3/16" short on the leading edge and cut 1/8" short on the tip side. The upper fins were the correct size shown on the plan. I was very disappointed to find "press-on" decals in the kit. The instructions give directions for applying the water-slide type. The parachute was also pre-assembled. The kit gave directions for parachute assembly. Some of the knots slipped at I tried to pull them tight. I know now that the Estes kits are bagged in China. This is certainly not the attention to the kit's parts I was used to in the late 60's and through the 70's. These discrepancies might hurt a first time modeler's rocketry experience. I will try to send a copy of this review to Estes. Thanks for reading my review and good luck! Chris Michielssen

S.W.M. (March 22, 2008)

The Bull Pup 12D is probably my favorite of all model rocket. this was the first rocket I bought as a kid when I got into rockets back in 87 or 88 and I launched it countless numbers of times. I burned up several parachutes in it and even shot the motor mount almost all the way out of the body tube once, but repaired it and kept flying it until I got out of the hobby and eventually broke the model and had it lost as I grew up. I have since bought a new one in my re-birth in rocketry and can not wait for the paint to dry so I can take it out and fire it into the sky. In my opinion it is one of the best rockets you can get for a first time out.

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