RocketReviews.com - Estes - Loadstar - Review by Donald Besaw Jr

Brief:
This is a two stage rocket with a large BT-60 sized payload section for pretty much every payload imaginable. This is one of the Estes Educator rockets so finding a single one is not easy. I do believe that this Educator pack is now OOP and even if it's not, it costs about $129.00 for 12 kits. I knew this and when I saw this kit on an ROL auction for $8.00, I snapped it up.

Construction:
This kit came in a bag with the instructions separate from the components. The kit included the BT-55 sized booster and sustainer body tubes, two motor mount tubes, two sets of centering rings, two thrust rings, spacer tube, stage coupler, launch lug, two balsa fin sheets, nose cone, adapter, clear payload section, 18 inch parachute, shock cord, shroud lines with tape rings, and water slide decals

The instructions are the typical Estes literature with plenty of illustrations and easy to understand text. Also included was the tube marking guide and shock cord mount. This is rated a skill level 2 kit and I fully agree with the skill level rating.

I started with the motor mounts. They are built pretty much identical except the placement of the thrust rings and the centering rings.

I now glued the booster mount into the booster body tube and then glued the coupler into place. The first thrust ring is glued in at the bottom of the booster mount to act as a motor block.

Now, I cut the marking guide out from the instructions and marked the lines on the tubes for the fins and launch lugs.

I then fine sanded the fin sheets and cut out the booster and sustainer fins and the standoffs for the launch lugs. I now mounted the larger booster fins one at a time to the booster assembly to complete it.

Since I already built the sustainer motor mount, I went ahead and mounted it into the body tube. I then mounted the fins to the sustainer body tube and before moving on, I applied generous glue fillets to the sustainer and booster fins at this time.

Now you can assemble the payload section. You need to separate the nose cone from the adapter by cutting at the locations shown in the instructions, then sand the ends of the payload section even. I then washed mine in soapy water to clean it off afterwards. I did not need tape to hold the adapter and nose cone in the payload section as the fit was pretty tight. If you're flying a payload, I would double check the fit.

I then cut the launch lug in half and mounted each piece to a standoff and mounted them to the body, waited for the glue to dry and then applied fillets for strength.

I now assembled the shock cord mount and mounted it into the body tube. I then tied an extra shock cord that I had to the existing one as it was pretty short and with a payload section this big, it would be capable of causing severe damage to the fins if it hit them during deployment.

Finishing:
To finish the model I masked off the payload section and spraying the model with white primer and sanding between coats. Using sanding sealer is also recommended but I skipped that step as I didn't have any at the time and when I do use it, I get rather bad headaches from the odor. If you use it, I very highly recommend using it outside or in a well ventilated area.

I then sprayed the body and fins with Sunshine Yellow spray enamel and painted the nose cone and adapter separately using gloss black enamel. I also masked the payload section off again and painted the areas where the nose cone and adapter show through with gloss black enamel for the look I wanted.

After I let all this paint dry for a day, I applied the supplied water-slide decals without incident.

To finish the model, I installed the recovery system. I ended up replacing the 18 inch chute with a 12 inch one. I felt the 18 inch one was too big but if you're launching a heavy payload, you may need it.

Flight:
The recommended motors for this kit is the A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, C6-5, for single stage flights. For two stage flights B6-0, C6-0 for the booster and the A8-5, B6-6, and C6-7 for the sustainer.

Both motors are friction fitted into the booster and rocket with masking tape. It is adequate.

You prep the rocket by installing the motor(s) into the rocket and/or booster for two stage flights. For this kit, you don't need cellophane tape to hold the motors together.

You then insert wadding into the sustainer body and pack the parachute and you're ready to go.

For my first and second flights, I used the B6-0/B6-6 combo. The rocket lifted off the pad and cocked some but it wasn't excessive. I then got a smooth staging and the sustainer continued upward to apogee.

For my third and most recent flight, I really wanted to see what this rocket could do and launched it on the C6-0/C6-7 combo. This resulted in a spectacular flight in excess of 1,000 feet. I recovered the booster close to the pad and the sustainer was successfully recovered on the other side of the field about 1/2 to one mile away.

Recovery:
For recovery, I use a 12 inch parachute which brings the model down slow enough to prevent damage. On a high altitude two stage flight, this would drift forever on the 18 inch chute.

On the other hand, I recommend the 18 inch chute if you're launching this with a heavy payload such as an electronic device.

Summary:
I really enjoyed building and flying this great two stage payloading rocket. Although I have yet to fly any payloads with it, I really like having the payload section available for use. If you choose to launch this rocket on a pair of C motors, then I must recommend that you have a very large field and a calm day or you'll never get this rocket back. Trust me, it really gets up there.

I would also like to see this rocket reissued as a single kit rather than in a 12 kit educator pack. I also read the Warp II review on this site and it appears to be the exact same rocket as this one except with different decals.

Main PROs: Easy construction, nice quality components, and nice flying characteristics except the slight weathercocking off the pad.

Flight Log

Date	Rocket Name	Motor(s)	Altitude	Notes
2002-10-19	Donald Besaw's Estes Loadstar	B6-0/B6-6	-	Great launch and staging, booster recovered at my feet. Some kids at our club launch enjoyed...
2003-04-06	Donald Besaw's Estes Loadstar	B6-0/B6-6	-	Great flight, straight up and continued going straight up when the sustainer lit. Recovered close,...
2003-12-07	Donald Besaw's Estes Loadstar	C6-0/C6-7	-	Very nice and high flight, went over 1,000 feet. Booster recovered close to pad. Sustainer...
2004-04-24	Marlin Schrock's Estes Loadstar	C6-5	-	Second Flight. Perfectflite MicroALT 4600 payload. Shockcord separated from body. Retrieved both...
2004-04-24	Marlin Schrock's Estes Loadstar	B6-4	160 feet	First Flight. Used Perfectflite MicroALT 4600
2005-07-02	Reid Smith's Estes Loadstar	B6-4	-	Had to cut off the second stage because I had glued it together at assembly. I put the thing...
2005-07-07	Reid Smith's Estes Loadstar	B6-4	-	Single stage, no payload. Went up about 500ft or so, motor sputtered before ejection, NC down....
2007-02-10	Richard Stephens's Estes Loadstar	B6-0/C6-7	756 feet	Straight flight w/altimeter payload. Slow 1st stage boost, perfect separation w/fast 2nd stage...
2007-07-01	David Sindel's Estes Loadstar	B6-0/B6-6	-	Sorry I don't remember the date, this is just a guess. This was a great flight for my first...
2007-12-17	Donald Besaw's Estes Loadstar	B6-0/B6-6	-	Haven't flown this in awhile. A most excellent 2 stage flight. Boost and staging were perfect....
2009-02-07	David Sindel's Estes Loadstar	B6-0	-	Forgot to put in an upper stage motor :O The staging charge ejected the chute so no harm was done...
2009-02-07	David Sindel's Estes Loadstar	C6-0/A8-5	-	A nice flight.
2010-06-07	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 1	B6-4	-	Low powered flight with video camera in the nosecone. Camera recorded flight successfully.
2010-06-07	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 1	C6-5	-	First RocketCam launch with a C level engine. Had onboard video camera. Rocket shot sideways...
2010-06-22	David Sindel's Estes Loadstar	B6-4	-	Motor mount ejected. Test timer in nose made it severely underpowered.
2010-06-26	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	B6-4	-	Low powered B engine test flight with camera. Successful.
2010-06-26	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	C engine flight with camera. Successful. Camera recorded flight, but file lost when copied to...
2010-06-26	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	C engine flight with camera. Successful. Camera recorded flight successfully.
2010-06-26	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	C engine flight with camera. Successful. Camera recorded flight successfully. Parachute strings...
2010-07-08	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	B6-4	-	B engine flight. Camera recorded flight successfully.
2010-07-08	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	B6-4	-	B engine flight. Camera recorded flight successfully.
2010-07-12	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	B6-4	-	B engine flight. Camera recorded flight successfully.
2010-07-12	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	B6-4	-	B engine flight. Shortened elastic cord to try and reduce rotation of nosecone after parachute...
2010-07-21	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	B6-4	-	B engine flight. Landed on top of the truck. Camera recorded flight successfully.
2010-07-21	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	C engine flight. Camera recorded flight successfully.
2010-08-11	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Camera recorded flight successfully, but video still images blurred due to low light levels.
2010-08-22	Alan Boldt's Estes Loadstar	B6-0/B6-4	-	Very nice lift off, boost and separation. Good ejection and nice recovery. Not far from the pad....
2010-09-08	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Parachute did not open, but camera recorded full flight. Note: Very dark and camera does not...
2010-09-09	Bob Francis's Load Star	B6-4	-	First flight of unmodified Load Star rocket. Perfect launch and recovery. Daniel caught the...
2010-09-09	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	"Santa Cam". Using Rocket Cam 1 nosecone, sat camera in at 60 degree downward angle. Camera...
2010-09-09	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Using Rocket Cam 1 nosecone, sat camera at 90 degree downward angle. Good flight and parachute...
2010-09-12	Bob Francis's Load Star	B6-4	-	Tested homemade parachute. Worked okay, but lots of spin and got tangled up.
2010-09-12	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Launched with standard nosecone.
2010-09-12	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Launched with modified nosecone with camera pointed 90 degrees downward. Nosecone came off rocket...
2010-09-14	Bob Francis's Load Star	C6-5	-	Perfect launch. Perfect conditions. 10" mylar parachute worked very well. Daniel caught the...
2010-09-14	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Tested with 9V battery in lieu of camera using 90 degree RC1 nosecone. Perfect launch and...
2010-09-28	Bob Francis's Load Star	C6-5	-	Nosecone separated during launch and fell separately from the rest of the rocket. Located after...
2010-10-03	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	B6-4	-	Low powered B flight with onboard video. First flight for Camera 4. Parachute did not deploy...
2010-10-04	Bob Francis's Load Star	B6-4	-	Good launch. Parachute did not deploy. Fin damaged. Meka repaired 10/5/2010.
2010-10-04	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Good launch. Rocket ascended in a tight spiral, but stayed relatively straight. Parachute...
2010-10-11	Bob Francis's Load Star	B6-4	-	Test following fix to cracked fin. Good launch. High flight. Parachute did not deploy. Daniel...
2010-10-11	Bob Francis's Load Star	B6-4	-	Believed parachute did not deploy during the first flight because it had slipped too far down the...
2010-10-15	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	B6-4	-	Low flight. Parachute deployed as rocket was descending and did not open all the way. Rocket...
2011-03-11	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Launched on second attempt. Onboard video recorded launch, but camera stopped recording at...
2011-04-09	Bob Francis's Rocket Cam 2	C6-5	-	Launched with internal video camera. Rocket veered almost immediately after leaving launch pad,...
2011-08-13	Preston Hoover's Loadstar	B6-0 and a A8-3	1200 feet	Nice flight all the way finally got both piececs back, instead of just the booster.

Estes - Loadstar

Flight Log

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