Construction Rating: | starstarstarstar_borderstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstar_borderstar_borderstar_borderstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstar_borderstar_borderstar_borderstar_border |
Manufacturer: | Estes |
Brief:
This is one of the Estes Star Wars collection rockets. It is the Trade Federation Battleship from Episode I. I picked up three of these in a package deal on eBay for very short money. I later learned why...
It is a single stage rocket which consists of the Trade Federation Battleship with two clear plastic fins and a flight probe that are all attached for flight.
Construction:
The kit components include:
Construction was a very simple. You just couple the body tubes together, insert the shock cord, attach parachute, fill the nose cone with clay, and couple it to its nose cone insert.
There is a very cool Star Wars themed parachute included with the kit. The smaller diameter end of the flight probe locks into the Trade Federation Battleship and then the clear fins are attached.
When not in flight, which is pretty much all the time with this rocket, the Trade Federation Battleship sits on a plastic display base. For display, two caps are provided to cover the engine compartment and front of the Battleship where the probe locks.
Finishing:
Finishing was extremely simple, however, getting the probe to insert into the Battleship was difficult. It looks as if the locking ring attached to one of the body tubes was placed at the factory a hair too far away from where it needs to lock into. I needed to shave down a bit of the end of that tube to make it fit correctly.
Construction Rating: 3 out of 5
Flight:
Here's where the fun begins with this rocket. I flew it three times.
The instructions say that the projected altitude for a C6-3 engine is 188 ft. I don't think this thing ever got above 90 feet. It's extremely heavy and the 18" chute fits very tightly into the 4 3/4" upper tube.
The first flight was on a C6-3. The rocket went straight up to about 70 feet or so and turned over and came straight down. The ejection charge popped just before it hit the ground. The resulting impact pushed the flight probe into the Battleship by spreading the Battleship halves outward. It also bent the body tube at its mid section as it core sampled into the ground.
I fixed all of this using CA, sanding, and re-painting of the black tube.
The second flight was on a C6-3. The rocket again headed straight up and the exact same thing happened. I went through the same repair routine and got it back to flight ready status.
The third flight was on a C6-3 and ended in another crash. This time the chute popped out and grabbed air about 10 feet off of the ground which caused the rocket to come in flat, breaking one of the plastic fins.
I've retired this rocket because it just doesn't fly well at all. It's now a display model with much body tube battle damage.
Recovery:
PROs: If you are looking to aerate your lawn, this rocket will do the trick.
CONs: This rocket just doesn't fly well at all. I'm very surprised that Estes let this one out the door.
Flight Rating: 1 out of 5
Summary:
I can't recommend this rocket. They can still be had on eBay for very short money and I now understand why.
Overall Rating: 1 out of 5
Brief: The Trade Federation Battleship is an almost ready to fly adaptation of a ship from Star Wars Episode 1. In order to have a hope of stability, a long "flight probe" must be fitted to the movie version of the ship and that require weight and the addition of some clear plastic fins. The ship itself is built. All that needs building is the probe section and I had some ...
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