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Estes - X-Prize Lucky Seven

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

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Estes Lucky Seven

Brief:
The Estes X-Prize Lucky Seven is a 1:50 scale model of Acceleration Engineering's Ansari X-Prize entry. This model flies on an A10-3T motor up to 200 feet and uses a 12 inch parachute for recovery.

Construction:
The kit came in a plastic bag with header card and included:

  • 1 motor tube
  • 1 motor retention hook
  • 1 pack of clay weight
  • 1 rubber shock cord
  • 1 12 inch plastic parachute
  • 1 plastic parts set that included:
  • 2 nose cone halves
  • 1 nose cone cap
  • 1 body base
  • 1 plastic parts set that included:
  • 4 fins
  • 4 nozzles
  • 1 plastic body tube
  • 1 set of peel and stick decal sheet

The instructions for this kit are the typical Estes documentation that included lots of text and illustrations. No templates or shock cord mount is included as none are needed. Since this is an E2X series kit, I found it very easy to assemble and had it put together in about 30-45 minutes. To build this kit, you need an X-Acto knife, plastic cement, masking tape, and #400-600 grit sandpaper.

I started by differing from the instructions a bit and tied the shock cord into place at this time as I found it much easier to do this without the fins on. I then assembled the motor mount into the body. No glue is needed for this step or the next one. I slid each fin into place in the body. I then glued the nozzles into place on the body base. After the cement dried, I glued it into the body. This is what holds everything together and if you use plastic cement, I suppose you could pop the base loose if you ever needed to replace a fin.

I now assembled the nose cone by gluing the cap into place and tied on the shock cord. I then cut the clay block in half and inserted each piece into the nose cone halves. I glued the nose cone together and used masking tape to hold it together until the plastic cement dried. I tied the parachute in place to finish the assembly.

PROs: Builds fast and simple.

CONs: None.

Finishing:
The only finishing this rocket requires is applying the decals as all the parts are pre-colored white and silver. I do recommend that you wash your hands before applying the decals to avoid getting clay on them. The finished model looked very cute and surprisingly realistic. I feel it would make an excellent model to display on your desk.

PROs: No painting required.

CONs: None.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
The only recommended motor for this rocket is the A10-3T 13mm mini motor. This rocket does require recovery wadding and the motor hook holds the motor in place during flight.

I prepped the model by inserting about two sheets of recovery wadding into the body. I also prepped an A10-3T and inserted a small piece of wadding into the motor above the ejection cap to take the brunt of the ejection charge blast.

The rocket lifted off rather slowly, arched slightly, and reached maybe 150-200 feet. I noticed a slight wobbling motion but maybe it was caused by the wind. This is a great rocket for small fields.

PROs: Flies great, low altitude flights.

CONs: None.

Recovery:
This rocket uses a 12 inch parachute for recovery and if it is attached where the instructions suggest, the nose cone should not come into contact with the fins.

The chute is sized correctly for this rocket and it comes down with the nose cone hanging underneath it so that it lands nose cone first and then the body will settle to the ground under the chute. Fin damage should not be an issue because of this. The rubber shock cord also stood up well as there was no scorching noticed.

PROs: Recovers quickly and easily.

CONs: None.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I really liked this rocket. I found it to be an easy to assemble scale model that also turned out to be a nice little flier. I would highly recommend it especially if you don't have a lot of flying space. At about $7.59, I feel it is a great value.

PROs: Easy and quick assembly, nice flight and recovery characteristics, great price.

CONS: None really.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

    Flight Log

    DateRocket NameMotor(s)AltitudeNotes
    2004-12-14Donald Besaw's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nice first flight, rather slow liftoff but climbed steadily up to about 150-200 feet. Nice...
    2005-01-25Alan Tuskes's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Good flight. Fast, surprisingly peppy for as heavy as this model seems to be. Ejection just at...
    2005-02-05Alan Tuskes's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Started a little squirrely, but straightened up as propellent burned. Ejected right at apogee,...
    2005-02-05Kyle Hancock's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nice flight.
    2005-02-13Scott Hauff's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Fun little scale rocket. Fast but quick flight on this engine. Close recovery. Son loved it since...
    2005-02-20Kyle Hancock's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3-
    2005-03-13Rocky Firth's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Great first flight.
    2005-05-21Alan Tuskes's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Another zippy flight for the Lucky Seven. Landed maybe 20 feet from the pad.
    2005-05-29EMRR's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA3-4- Nice first flight and fast. Parachute stuck in nosecone. Rocket came down fast. Nosecone stuck...
    2005-07-09Roy Lappalainen's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3-
    2005-07-11Austin Flora's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3150 feet Great for very small fields. Word of warning- don't try to make it a streamer rocket. I thought...
    2005-09-18Brad Bowles's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Perfect launch straight up with no spin. Ejection was textbook with a successful chute opening...
    2006-01-08Mark Edwards's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Excellent Flight. Landed 10' from pad.
    2006-01-08Alan Tuskes's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Wet park equals plastic rocket day. Another fine flight for this little Old Spice bottle....
    2006-02-24Donald Besaw's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nice flight, some slight wobbling noticed during boost. One nose cone half and the motor mount...
    2006-03-27Mal McClenaghan's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- First flight. Much higher than expected for this little beast. Lawn darted without damage.
    2006-03-27Mal McClenaghan's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Great flight, this is a cool little rocket. Gusty wind to about 5mph, but the Seven landed within...
    2006-04-14Mal McClenaghan's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nice flight, especially given the wind. Slight damage to base on recovery. Easy repair.
    2006-05-06Mike Mistele's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nice straight flight. Parachute didn't deploy fully (melted a bit), but landed OK.
    2006-06-04Mal McClenaghan's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nose separated, but no chute deploy. Ejection charge burned through shroud lines.
    2006-06-19Mal McClenaghan's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nice flight. Toasted a couple of shroud lines.
    2006-07-08Chan Stevens's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3-
    2006-07-15Ed Scientist's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nozzle came off putting motor in. Good launch nose cone broke leaving the pararchute with nothing...
    2006-08-05Donald Besaw's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Great flight, fairly straight boost. Landed close to pad. No damage.
    2006-10-29Mal McClenaghan's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Textbook flight.
    2006-10-29Mal McClenaghan's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nice flight. No laundry, but plastic rockets bounce! Chute is sometimes hard to pack in this one.
    2007-03-11Chris Gonnerman's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- It flew pretty well, arcing a bit more than I'd like to see, but recovered fine. The flight was...
    2007-06-09Chris Halinaty's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Parachute got stuck in NC but rocket was undamaged.
    2007-07-19Chris Halinaty's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3-
    2007-07-19Chris Halinaty's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3-
    2007-07-19Chris Halinaty's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3-
    2007-08-19Chris Halinaty's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3-
    2007-09-08John Lee's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-32 feet Technically, it did eject NC up at apogee. The problem is that it hung on the rod and the whole...
    2007-10-14John Lee's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA3-43 feet It hung up on the rod again! It did eject NC up.
    2007-11-10John Lee's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- It finally did what it was supposed to do and did it well.
    2008-06-01Tom Benson's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Nose cone stuck - my fault since I friction fit it pretty tight. Came in ballistic and de-kitted...
    2008-06-01Glenn Weiss's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Chute did not open, nose cone buried itself in ground and a couple of the plastic parts popped...
    2008-06-27Chris Halinaty's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3-
    2008-06-27Chris Halinaty's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Shock cord burn-through. Repairable.
    2008-06-28Glenn Weiss's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Third time was the charm, full deployment of chute and no repairs needed.
    2008-09-14EMRR's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Great flight up... not so great down. Parachute failure. Hit the ground and broke into pieces
    2008-10-26Glenn Weiss's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- 2 shroud lines on chute broke so descent was quicker than I'd like but no damage suffered
    2009-02-14 John Lee's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- It again got stuck on the rod.
    2010-03-20Glenn Weiss's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- A rare good flight out of the Lucky Seven, which has not been lucky for me in general! Full...
    2010-04-18 Matt Shoemaker's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-34 feet Got stuck on the rod... ejected fine, just still on the rod :-(
    2010-05-15 Moe Bertrand's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Concept Scale Event. Good first flight of my nekkid Lucky Seven.
    2010-10-23Glenn Weiss's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Ejection blew nose cone out and broke the 2 halves apart, chute did not fully deploy, but all was...
    2011-08-20Glenn Weiss's Estes X-Prize Lucky SevenA10-3- Put it too far up the rod after previous attempt got stuck, flew in a corkscrew to about 35 ft,...

    Comments:

    K.J. (January 30, 2005)

    Good review- matched my building experience. It was hard to tie on the shock cord. I built mine during one episode of The West Wing. Prepping for flight- there really isn't much room in the rocket body for the chute. I was afraid it wold get pushed up into the nose cone and not come out, and it did take quite a while for it to open. Nice straight boosts (about twice as high as a Mini Mars Lander).

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