RocketReviews.com - Estes - Shuttle Xpress (2183) [2003-]

Brief:
The modern, E2X reincarnation of the ARV Condor, this kit is a quick, easy build and eye-catching design. At apogee, (2) separate gliders break free to circle the field while the main rocket eases down under chute.

Construction:
The 2003 Estes line seems to be carefully packed, with each body tube enclosed in plastic. The nose cone is an unusual appearance, with a raised canopy and a duct area underneath. The fins are plastic, rugged enough to handle C's. The motor retention compartment is a 2-piece plastic housing with a quick release cap. Shuttles are made from pre-cut styrofoam (1-piece) wings, fuselage, and hook. Shock cord is standard Estes 1/8", and way too short.

The package boasts of total build time in under an hour, and most modelers will find that to be true. The parts fit very well, and the directions were easy to follow.

Pros-fit and finish. The body tubes come fully detailed (decals already on). The only "assembly" work is the motor retention compartment, gluing on the plastic fins, and mounting the shock cord. A very nice plus is that the Estes chutes seem to be all pre-assembled this year.

Cons-Gluing the styrofoam glider parts together is a bit messy, especially the rudder, which is glued in after placing a decal over the top of the fuselage. The decal was also a bit tricky, as you're supposed to cut a slot in it after putting it on the fuselage, and the slot you cut is supposed to line up with the now-covered slot on the fuselage. Trimming the gliders is weak, as the ailerons are pre-cut into the styrofoam, and don't tend to stay flexed for very long.

I'd also gladly pay an extra dime or so if Estes would get rid of the 1/8" elastic shock cords that might last 3-4 flights, and replace them with 1/4" or even Kevlar®.

Finishing:
This is a very nice looking rocket/shuttle combo. Very little finishing work is required at all.

Flight:
First flight was under perfect conditions (72 degrees, winds under 5 mph, we only get about 3 of these days a year in Ohio). I flew it on a B4-4. Straight up flight, slight spin, deployed right at apogee. Gliders seemed to stick for a second or two, then broke loose. #1 came down very fast & steep, #2 seemed better trimmed and circled a bit on the way down, but still had a somewhat steep decent. Everything was recovered safely within about 50 yards of the pad.

Recovery:
As mentioned, trimming the gliders is difficult, as the styrofoam tends to have a "memory". I definitely refer the ARV condor's gliders to these foam gliders.

Summary:
This is a great introduction to boost gliders. Fast, easy, and neat appearance. For the experienced modeler, the gliders will be a bit disappointing.

Flight Log

Date	Rocket Name	Motor(s)	Altitude	Notes
2002-01-26	Donald Besaw's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Nice first flight. Both shuttles augered to the ground almost straight down. Need to do some major...
2002-11-30	Jon Revelle's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Good Flight, Good Recovery. Gliders however didn't work well and they nose-dived. (00-00-03 means...
2003-01-26	Donald Besaw's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Nice first flight, both shuttles augered to the ground almost straight down. I need to do some...
2003-02-05	Donald Besaw's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B4-2	-	Nice flight. Delay was longer than 2 seconds. Nice glide from one shuttle, the other augered into...
2003-03-16	Donald Besaw's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B4-4	-	Very nice flight. Finially got two decent glides from both shuttles. No damage.
2003-03-16	Chan Stevens's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Cheap foam gliders did OK, not great
2003-07-06	Bill Eichelberger's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Kid's launch. Added a rock to the clay in the glider's back end. Still no help. They need work,...
2003-07-06	Bill Eichelberger's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-6	-	Kid's launch. Gliders flew somewhat better after clay had been added, but still need work.
2003-07-21	Donald Besaw's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Very nice flight. Both shuttles actually glied down perfectly and both also landed in a water...
2003-08-10	Donald Besaw's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Very nice flight although the booster landed in some standing water and was half submerged when I...
2003-08-31	Donald Besaw's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Nice flight after drying out completely from the last flight. Rocket and one shuttle was recovered...
2003-09-27	Jim Salem's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-3	-	Great flight and great glides from both gliders --- be sure to follow my tip above to turn the...
2003-11-02	Bill Eichelberger's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Glider trim attempt #3.
2003-12-25	Jon Revelle's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Good flight. Gliders nose-dived. Rocket landed 2 feet from the pad.
2003-12-30	Jon Revelle's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Chute almost didn't open. Need new glider mount.
2004-04-24	Kyle Hancock's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-5	-	No gliders. Shock cord seperation, no damage and all parts recovered.
2004-06-05	David Logan's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-5	-	Great flight and glides. Flaps were glued in a vertical position and worked great.
2004-06-26	David Logan's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-5	-	Seemed to go a lot higher than previous flight. The rocket landed before the gliders about 200...
2004-07-17	Dwayne Surdu-Miller's Estes Shuttle Xpress	A8-3	-	Low boost, ejection about 10 feet from ground. Severely underpowered. Don't use A8-3!
2004-07-31	Brian Mercer's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-5	-	Flew without gliders. The parachute melted a bit. my chute packing was done by my 2 yr old. Well,...
2004-07-31	Brian Mercer's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B4-4	-	Those gliders are DOGS, no offense to the pooches. They flew like rocks. The booster flew great.
2004-11-13	T Muir's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Weather cocked into wind. Gliders made steep dive. Need to work on flaps to get increased flight...
2005-10-01	David Logan's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Good low flight, one glider gracefully circled back down, landing within 5 feet of launch pad, the...
2006-05-04	Matt Gillard's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B4-2	-	clean separation, gliders red baroned in, far to nose heavy.
2006-05-18	David Culp's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-5	-	Good straight up flight, gliders came straight down, lost one though. Good rocket, gliders stink.
2006-07-08	Moe Bertrand's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Good boost - gliders suck as gliders.
2006-08-20	Kyle Hancock's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-3	-
2007-08-25	John Lee's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Rocket worked great and looks good; gliders did not work at all and tumbled all the way home.
2007-11-10	William Beggs's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Great flight and reovery.
2007-11-10	William Beggs's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-3	-	Great flight and reovery.
2007-11-10	William Beggs's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-5	-	Great flight and reovery.
2007-12-16	John Lee's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-5	-	Perfect flight-garbage gliders. I'm keeping the rocket but the glider 1 did not survive descent...
2008-01-12	John Lee's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	great flight without the parasites.
2008-01-26	Tom Benson's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Flaps at about 25* and some tail weight added, but the gliders still dropped faster than I'd like....
2008-03-02	Natalie Ryan's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Flew w/o shuttles on a windy day. Delay clocked in at over 6 seconds - way too late. Chute popped...
2008-04-06	Natalie Ryan's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Nice flight, much better delay this time.
2008-05-25	JST's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Nice, but slow first flight. Only seemed to go up about 450 feet. Gliders did not detach until...
2008-05-25	JST's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-5	-	Nice flight up to around 700 feet. Gliders detached themselves with SPEED right around the time...
2008-08-26	Matt Gillard's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-2	-	gliders stil came in steep, 10 seconds fall
2009-01-17	John Lee's Estes Shuttle Xpress	A8-3	-	good low flight without the gliders
2009-03-07	John Bishop's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-3	-	1st flight. Painted bottom of glider wings black, but still lost one. Too busy watching booster...
2009-03-08	John Bishop's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B4-4	-	Launched with one glider- arrow straight boost. Glider came down hard and fast, falling not...
2009-03-21	Matt Gillard's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B4-2	-	gliders nosed in hard
2010-02-14	John Bishop's Estes Shuttle Xpress	C6-5	-	Flight without gliders, excellent flight.
2010-02-14	John Bishop's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	One glider disengaged during boost, the other came down and glided beautifully.
2010-02-14	John Bishop's Estes Shuttle Xpress	B6-4	-	Second flight where 1st glider disengaged on the boost. 2nd glider spiraled beautifully. Must...
2011-11-06	Ed Rodrigo's Shuttle Xpress (2183)	B6	-	First flight with a trusty B6-4. Skipped the gliders for the first flight just to make sure it...
2011-11-06	Ed Rodrigo's Shuttle Xpress (2183)	B6-4	-	First flight with the gliders. Wind was low, and everything went fine. Both gliders recovered.
2011-11-06	Ed Rodrigo's Shuttle Xpress (2183)	C6-3	-	First two flights with B6-4 motors went well, so got adventurous and decided to put in a C6-3. ...
2012-03-24	Dwayne Shmel's Shuttle Xpress	B4-2	-	Perfect flight and safe recovery. Gliders flew well.

Estes - Shuttle Xpress (2183) [2003-2010]

Flight Log

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