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Estes - Python-4 ASRAAM

Manufacturer:

Estes

Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Contributed by Alex Rothchild

Brief:
This is a low power, single stage military style rocket. It flies on B and C power and uses a 1/8 inch lug. It includes a tail cone and uses a 12 inch chute for recovery.

Construction:
I received the kit as a gift when I was first getting into rocketry, so it probably wasn't a great second or third kit for me. It came in a "Launchable" box and included many components. They were all of high quality and were all easily accounted for. The parts were:

• 1 forward BT-55 tube
• 1 aft BT-55 tube
• 2 BT-55-20 centering rings
• 1 very long motor tube
• 1 tube coupler
• 1 round nose cone
• 1 tail cone
• 1 mylar retaining ring
• 1 engine block ring
• 1 engine hook
• shock cord
• 12" parachute
• 1 1" x 1/8" lug
• 12 fins

Since this was the third kit I had ever built, I didn't know anything other than plastic cement. Now I realize that building the entire model with plastic cement was a bad idea. Somehow though, it still flies and is in good condition. Anyway, this kit is a skill level two kit because it has numerous fins that have to be glued on.

Construction begins with assembling the motor mount typical Estes style. Make a slot for the hook, slide the mylar ring down, glue, and then put on the centering rings. Once dry, the tail cone assembly needs to be cut off a reducer piece and the slots need to be opened up to allow the fins to pass through. It is recommended to use a razor saw, but I did it with scissors. The motor mount is installed into the lower body tube and then the tail cone goes over it so the engine tube is lined up with the base of the tail cone. A template is used to mark the rest of the tube for the middle fins and the upper tube for the canards. While the bottom section is drying, the upper part can be assembled. This requires gluing in the tube coupler and the nose. The upper section can be used as a payload bay. Just don't glue in the nose and make a bulkhead out of two sheets of balsa with a screw eye. The four canard fins are glued on directly beneath the nosecone. Putting the fins on with plastic cement was not fun. I set this assembly to dry then went back to work on the bottom section. I glued the four bottom fins on. They go through the tail cone to the motor tube. And of course the fillets were made with yes, plastic cement. Then pieces of cardstock were glued to the sides for a more scale look and long thin pieces of balsa were glued to these. Finally the launch lug was cut in half and glued to the side. The shock cord is mounted to the top and bottom airframe, and the chute is tied to the top part of the shock cord.

Finishing:
At the time, the only colors I had were black, white, and brown. So I primed it once and painted it black and white (with many many runs).

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
First flight was on a B4-2. It lifted off the pad very slowly to maybe a little more than 100 feet. This rocket needs a bigger kick from an engine so I tried a B6-4 next. This engine lifts it off slowly to around 150 feet. The rocket's third and final flight was on a C6-5 and it lifted off at a faster but still very slow speed to around 300 feet. About a few months later I began reading reviews on EMRR and realized that my construction techniques were completely wrong. I decided not to fly this rocket as well as the two I built before it anymore.

Recovery:
The delays were perfect but the chute never came out. This was because I tied it to the bottom of the shock cord and not to the top. I'm sure it would work if it was right though. Even when built with plastic cement, it held up from tumble recovery three times.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
I know my review may make this rocket look like a terrible product, but it really isn't. I plan on buying another one to build with CA clue and maybe epoxy.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight Log

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