Estes Cruise Missile (RTF)

Estes - Cruise Missile {Kit}

Contributed by Eric Truax

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Flight Rating: starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Manufacturer: Estes
Skill Level: 1
Style: RTF

Brief:
Single stage, all plastic rocket with the screw on plastic back to hold the motor in.

Construction:
The rocket is all plastic, with the standard elastic shock cord. 3 molded fins.

Construction is really straight forward. The only bug in the ointment I had is that my kit came as a 2 set with a Maverick Missile. I bought the kit at Wal-Mart and the whole thing was under 8 dollars. It's made of a plastic that you cannot use plastic model cement on. No problem, I used super glue instead! The instructions are super easy to understand and just about anyone can put this rocket together. The best part is all the decals are painted on except for the wings, so finish is a snap. The kit went together in about a half hour.

Finishing:
Just follow the instructions. It looks pretty good when done!

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
I flew my rocket using the A10-3T motor on a breezy day with 15mph gusts or better. It was a little hard to get the plastic retainer on and was a bit of a tight fit. The recovery wadding was the trickiest to get in and I still haven't mastered that. The rocket itself is very stable, and even in a 10mph gust went up straight and true to about 200ft or so.

Recovery:
I thought the shock cord on my model was a bit long. I loaded it in after 1.5 sheets of wadding and then the parachute. The chute was very tricky to get into the triangular body and seemed rather large for such a small rocket. I had to refold it twice to get it in. On the first flight, the chute deployed OK and recovery was very nice! It came down at a steady pace and landed softly. I noticed that it didn't eject the wadding though, which was hung up inside. On the 2nd flight, it only popped the nose cone off and never ejected the chute! It landed with a THUMP but there was absolutely no damage! After pulling out all the recovery materials, the engine had blown past the wadding and fried the chute! This rocket is very tricky to set up for recovery but it seems nearly indestructible anyway!

Flight Rating: 2 out of 5

Summary:
The main con to this rocket is trying to get the recovery system to function properly. However, it flies beautifully and is nearly indestructible. In fact it's kind of nice to come home and throw the thing in the sink and clean it up! It's a cinch to put together, and will get you in the air quickly.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Other Reviews
  • Estes Cruise Missile By Chan Stevens

    I'm almost ashamed to admit having an RTF in my fleet, but this rocket actually looks pretty cool and flies much better than any other RTF I've seen lately. With a half-off coupon and already owning everything else in the store, I just couldn't walk away empty handed and picked this up for about $6. The rocket is all plastic, with "menacing" decals already applied and a 12" chute. ...

  • Estes Cruise Missile (RTF) By Bubba Sligar

    Brief: This rocket, like its older Estes and Centuri brothers, is based on the AGM-86 A.L.C.M. Cruise Missile. Although it isn't 18mm, it sure get's up there! (Estes should have made it 18mm, trade-off in a RTF world.) Construction: This is a Ready-to-Fly model. The only thing that I would CON about it is that the shock cord wasn't long enough, and that the 13mm motor wasn't ...

Flights

Comments:

avatar
D.B.Jr. (June 1, 2001)
I normally hate RTF. I first bought this rocket when I saw it at a local Wal-Mart, I was impressed with the styling and knew I had to have it. The first launch took place after a heavy rainfall earlier in the day. The rocket acually landed in a big mud puddle. After removing the motor, I left it open to let the wet shock cord and parachute dry. Because of the all plastic construction absolutely nothing was ruined. A good kit to fly on wet ground.

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