Brief:
E2X single-stage LPR with parachute and plastic fins.
Construction:
Parts list:
- 1 body tube
- 2 fin can halves (with fins pre-assembled)
- 1 plastic nosecone
- 1 plastic parachute (pre-assembled)
- 1/8" launch lug (pre-attached)
Construction is extremely easy. This is how it goes:
- Glue two fin can halves together.
- Glue fin can into body tube
- Attach shock cord and parachute to nose cone
- Attach self-adhesive decal.
That's really all there is to it. The launch lug is already attached when you buy it along with the shock cord
being mounted. The fins are a solid piece with the fin can halves.
The illustrations in the instructions are the typical Estes fare and are more than adequate for a build of this
simplicity. There was a step included for removing any excess plastic flashing before gluing the two fin can halves
together but this was not necessary on my kit since there wasn't any excess flashing.
PRO: Hardly any place to go wrong
CON: Not much challenge if you are looking for one
Finishing:
The finish for the entire model is a chrome-like plastic from the tip of the nose cone to the trailing edge of the
fins. The body tube itself is covered in a reflective silver single piece wrap.
The decal is a self-adhesive sticker, printed to match the style of the rocket. The one problem I had was that
the cutting on the edges of the decal went entirely through the backing and separating the decal from the underlying
paper was troublesome at first.
Something that I had never seen before was a decal that was included which listed all the recommended motors. The
instructions suggested placing it near the bottom of the rocket as an easy reference for what motors to use. Very
handy!
Construction Rating:
4
out of 5
Flight:
Flight for this rocket is very straightforward. The motor retention is via a screw-on cap which goes on over the
motor. The flier inserts the motor, screws on the cap, then inserts the igniter and plug. Nothing more required.
Wadding is required, and the chute (being plastic) needs to be packed carefully and inspected carefully before
each flight to ensure that all of the shroud lines are properly secured.
As for the manufacturer's recommended motors, 4 are listed, but I can only recommend 2. The A8-3 had quite a few
people at my club nervous about recovery. It only flew to about 100 feet, and the ejection charge went off at around 30
feet. It was very underpowered on this motor. The B4-4 was also recommended, but failed to get much altitude as well.
Of the other two motors, the C6-5 was nearly perfect, although the delay was a bit too long. But of the motors
recommended, it flew the best on the C6-5.
Recovery:
The shock cord in use is the new Estes "rubber band" style cord and is pre-mounted inside the body tube.
While this makes assembly easy, it also makes it harder to replace should the cord become damaged during the life of
the rocket.
The supplied chute was more than adequate to bring the rocket down safely, even when one of the shroud lines
pulled loose.
Flight Rating:
4
out of 5
Summary:
PRO: Very flashy, very easy to build, prep, and fly. Good kit for someone who wants to feel that they've assembled
their own rocket but isn't ready for something more challenging.
CON: Recommended motor list needs to be revised to eliminate the A8-3.
Overall Rating:
4
out of 5
Flight Log
| Date | Rocket Name | Motor(s) | Altitude | Notes |
|---|
| 2007-04-24 | Donald Besaw's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Great first flight, arched into the wind quite a bit but drifted back and landed close by.... |
| 2007-04-28 | Warren Wattles's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Excellent flight. Launch rod was angled into wind, so flight was not vertical, but reached approx... |
| 2007-04-28 | Warren Wattles's Estes Metalizer | B4-4 | - | Slightly underpowered flight. Reached about 300 feet. |
| 2007-04-28 | Warren Wattles's Estes Metalizer | B6-4 | - | Safe flight, reached about 400 feet. |
| 2007-04-28 | Warren Wattles's Estes Metalizer | A8-3 | - | Very underpowered. Reached around 100', ejected at 25' on the way back down. |
| 2007-04-29 | Jeff Beightel's Estes Metalizer | B6-4 | - | Another excellent flight of this great performer. Flew it with my Uncle Moe. |
| 2007-04-29 | Jeff Beightel's Estes Metalizer | B4-2 | - | Nice first flight of this easy building kit. Flew it with my Uncle Moe. |
| 2007-06-23 | Dwayne Shmel's Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Nice Rocket when it is sunny. |
| 2007-06-23 | Dwayne Shmel's Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Nice flight. Shiny rocket very visible in the sun. |
| 2007-07-21 | Scott Smith's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | 600 feet | Very stable and straight flight. No problems with the recovery. |
| 2008-02-29 | Donald Besaw's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Great flight, nice straight boost. Moderate to long drift and landed in some thick weeds. No... |
| 2008-06-01 | Bob Harrington's Estes Metalizer | B6-4 | - | First flight. |
| 2008-06-01 | Bob Harrington's Estes Metalizer | B6-4 | - | First flight |
| 2008-10-12 | Mark Robertson's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | First flight. Perfect boost and parachute deployment. Rocket drifted out of field, across road and... |
| 2009-01-03 | Harris-Banner's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | First launch. Spiraling on takeoff. Ejection just past apogee. Perfect descent, minus drifting 450... |
| 2009-02-20 | Donald Besaw's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Great flight, nice straight boost, easy to see at altitude. Moderate drift on recovery. No damage. |
2009-04-25  | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | 700 feet | Good flight, however had a late parachute deployment of about 2 seconds from apogee. Landed about... |
| 2009-05-17 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | 725 feet | Good stable fright for the metalizer. Parachute deployment and soft landing with no damage. ... |
| 2009-05-17 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | 725 feet | Good stable flight with parachute deployment and soft landing about 50 feet from launch pad. A... |
| 2009-07-19 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | Good stable and straight flight with parachute eject and soft landing about 100' from launch pad. ... |
| 2009-08-22 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | Good stable flight for my Metalizer. This rocket always gives good flights, and is easy to see. ... |
| 2009-09-20 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | Another excellent flight for the Metalizer. Smooth flight and liftoff with parachute eject and... |
| 2009-10-31 | Jeff Boldig's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Night flight. Had two chemical lights taped to the sides. Still flew great. Love the BP motors... |
| 2009-11-14 | Donald Besaw's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Great flight, moderate to long drift on recovery. No damage. |
| 2009-11-15 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | Good smooth stable flight with parachute eject and soft landing. Great flight. This rocket... |
| 2009-11-27 | Brian Ray's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | |
| 2009-11-27 | Brian Ray's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | |
| 2009-11-27 | Brian Ray's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | |
| 2010-03-27 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | Good flight for my Metalizer. Straight smooth flight with parachute eject and soft landing. ... |
| 2010-05-30 | vincent penoso's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | beautiful flight. nice flying model. stable flight. |
| 2010-06-27 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | A good flight for the metalizer, landing softly about 50 feet away from launch pad. On pad 11 in... |
| 2010-09-18 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | B6-4 | - | Good flight for the Metalizer. Flew on B6-4 today due to winds. Straight flight and soft... |
| 2011-01-22 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | Another smooth straight flight for the Metalizer with a soft landing. It has a few flights under... |
| 2011-03-05 | vincent penoso's Estes Metalizer | C6-5 | - | This model is a consistent performer. From the launch in windy conditions the model flew straight... |
| 2011-03-06 | Bob Francis's Silver Streaker | C6-5 | - | Temperature: 31 degrees, partly cloudy, low wind. First test of 12V launch controller. First... |
| 2011-03-27 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | Great straight flight with parachute ejection and soft landing. Nice flight! |
| 2011-05-04 | Bob Francis's Silver Streaker | C6-5 | - | Good straight flight. Parachute deployed and opened. Rocket drifted in the wind and landed in... |
| 2011-07-15 | Bob Francis's Silver Streaker | C6-5 | 358 feet | Replaced standard nosecone with payload section and nosecone from Phoenix 2. Sent aloft with... |
| 2011-08-25 | Bob Francis's Silver Streaker | C6-5 | - | Temperature: 78 F, no wind, clear skies. Launched 6:56 pm. Launched with old Phoenix 2 payload... |
| 2011-09-05 | Ed Rodrigo's Metalizer (2168) | A8-3 | - | First flight of the Metalizer. Flew well - landed close to the launch pad |
| 2011-09-05 | Ed Rodrigo's Metalizer (2168) | B6-2 | - | 2nd flight - ran out of B6-4 motors (Hobbytown USA in Albany NY only had B6-2 motors, so I bought... |
| 2011-09-05 | Ed Rodrigo's Metalizer (2168) | C6-5 | - | This would be the last flight of the mighty Metalizer for the day. Conditions were dreary at... |
| 2011-09-11 | Bob Francis's Silver Streaker | C6-5 | - | Time 10:26 am. Wind blowing low from the west. Sunny. Temp: 75F. Rocket launched with old... |
| 2011-10-30 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | Good flight with parachute ejection and soft landing. |
| 2011-11-05 | Ed Rodrigo's Metalizer (2168) | B6-4 | - | Blew off a couple of B6-4's just to test the wind. The wind was low, and the rocket landed in the... |
| 2011-11-05 | Ed Rodrigo's Metalizer (2168) | | - | I launched more rockets on November 5th than any other single day since I began model rocketry... |
| 2012-05-20 | Joseph Olexa's Estes Metalizer | C6-3 | - | Good straight flight with soft parachute landing. Great Flight! |
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D.L.K. (January 10, 2008)