Estes Space Shuttle Starter Set (EST 1467)

[barone]

Okay...another OOP boxed kit in original shrinkwrap. $30 plus shipping.

Just PM me if interested. Thanks.

[barone]

Another one that seems no one is interested in.

[barone]

Okay. One just sold on Ebay for $24.95. I'm willing to match that price plus shipping.

[Mikus]

Did you ever get a taker?

[barone]

No...ended up selling it on Ebay. Sorry. Anything else you might be interested in?

[Mikus]

Nah, I've got a friend looking for one. Thanks!

[poke44]

Am looking for some of the estes Nasa rockets other than the redstone.
Also some of the maxi rockets

thanks

[richardhealey]

I am very interested in buying an EST 1467, 2 if available. Please let me know if anyone has any to offer. Many thanks, Richard

[Shreadvector]

This is the "Flying Foam Shuttle Orbiter of Death". It has started more fires on launch sites than any other rocket kit I have ever seen or heard of.

DO NOT FLY IT and if you store it in a closet, be sure to securely place a warning sign on the box so that if you pass away you do not have any family members who make the mistake of thinking that the rocket they found in your closet is safe to fly.

IT IS NOT SAFE.

It arcs over after leaving the rod and either ejects just above the ground if it flies horzontally (setting any grass or brush on fire or impacting into/through innocent children's eyes/brain) or it impacts the ground before the ejection charge goes off (same bad things mentioned above).

I have seen it work OK only a very few times and it is not consistant from flight to flight.

Nothing fixes it. Different motors do nothing (C6-3, C5-3, RMS D....). The alleged spin on boost is not consistant and if it starts late, it has already arced over and is flying horizontal just above the ground.

These sets are a menace and should be destroyed for the good of the Hobby.

I am not joking and I am 100% serious.

[richardhealey]

Fred,

Thanks for your reply!

I am very surprised you say this. The reason I am hunting for an EST 1467 is that I had lots of fun with mine and it flew very well ( I admit it was the first and last rocket I have purchased). No problems with launch. For an amateur it's trajectory under power seemed great (i.e. near as damn it to absolutely vertical), the motor always ejected properly and it the shuttle’s flight to earth was always good. I flew it probably 20 - 30 times till the last flight when it struck a tree branch and damaged it’s wing, at which point I thought it was due for retirement.

If I could think of a way of repairing the missing 1inch square piece of polystyrene I would, but I can’t think of a way that would not upset it’s balance and therefore it’s flight characteristics.

If you can suggest an alternative model, I’d really like to hear from you. Personally I very much like the shuttle for a rocket design and the EST 1467 wasn’t exactly testing to put together (a bonus!), though something a little more challenging wouldn’t be a problem as long as it wasn’t the complexity of some of the alternatives I have seen. I don’t really want to fabricate the whole shuttle (only for it to smash to smithereens on first launch!).

In the meantime, I’ll keep my 1467 safely under lock and key :)

Much appreciate it. Thanks, Richard

[dwmzmm]

If nothing else, just use the Shuttle as a display piece.

[Mikus]

This is the "Flying Foam Shuttle Orbiter of Death".

These sets are a menace and should be destroyed for the good of the Hobby.

I am not joking and I am 100% serious.

LOL. Mine consistently flies like a champ. The last time we flew it at a launch we did it 3 times because everybody wanted to see it circle around us again. Now once when I was still trying to get it trimmed right, it did start a small fire.

You just have to know how to treat it. Since we started completely filling the ejecting motor mount tube with dog barf we've had no fire issues. And you absolutely have to wait until there is no wind.

My only complaint is the launch height, it's proven difficult to get a gliding photograph because the ejecting mount kicks it hard forcing everybody to reacquire the glider and by that time you've got only a couple of seconds before it lands due to the aerodynamics.

If Hobbylinc can ever get their act together and get my backorder to me, I plan to try it with a D13 the next time I can get a still wind. :eek:

[Mikus]

If nothing else, just use the Shuttle as a display piece.

There's no external tank or SRBs. Plus it only comes in a launch kit. :mad:

[richardhealey]

so Mikus,

As an EST 1467 fan like me - any advice as to where I get a new one?
Thanks,
Richard

[Shreadvector]

Just to clarify: I have RSO'd at large club launches (2 or 3 per month for the last 10 years and at least once a month for the 20 years before that.). I have seen dozens and dozens of these foam orbiter models flown. After the 4th fire, we banned them. So, it does not start a fire on every launch, but how many fires are OK with most of you out there?

Once in a while they fly OK. I have examined them before and after flight and there is no difference between the good and bad ones. Motor mounts were installed properly and pushed in all the way. Steel weights were intact. Motor clip was not bent into path of motor exhaust. Launch rod length did not matter (we used 4 foot steel rods for club and individuals used the shorter rod provided by Estes). As I mentioned earlier, we even tried different motors.

A Model Rocket should go straight up every time - or almost straight up. This one would leave the rod, turn in a random direction and fly horizontally a dangerousously low level above the ground and then either impact and eject or eject just as it was going to impact.

if you want a good shuttle that is still available, buy this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dr-Zooch-Space-Shuttle-Rocket-Kit-NIB_W0QQitemZ230258997182QQihZ013QQcategoryZ2567QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp1742.m153.l1262

[Mikus]

so Mikus,

As an EST 1467 fan like me - any advice as to where I get a new one?
Thanks,
Richard

Ask around on the rocketry boards and watch ebay is the best I can advise. But I haven't seen one on ebay in months so the boards may be the best bet.

Find someone who regrets buying one and lowball 'em. Oh wait... that's my plan. ;)

[richardhealey]

Hi Shreadvector,
Well, naturally I have to bow before your vastly superior experience of rockets and I guess I am either a rocket flying prodigy or I've just been very lucky....

I've looked at the Dr. Zooch kit on various sites and without photos of what's in the kit, it does appear to me that it would require some time and skill to fabricate. I do have opposable thumbs and I'm not that bad at building models, but I do hesitate in building something that really has to be built to quite a high standard to have any chance of flying properly....

Your thoughts?

Thanks!

[Shreadvector]

Hi Shreadvector,
Well, naturally I have to bow before your vastly superior experience of rockets and I guess I am either a rocket flying prodigy or I've just been very lucky....

I've looked at the Dr. Zooch kit on various sites and without photos of what's in the kit, it does appear to me that it would require some time and skill to fabricate. I do have opposable thumbs and I'm not that bad at building models, but I do hesitate in building something that really has to be built to quite a high standard to have any chance of flying properly....

Your thoughts?

Thanks!

if you want a fun flying model that is easy and works, then try one of these (not scale models of anything, just good and fun):

http://www.fliskits.com/products/rocketkits/kit_detail/triglide.htm

http://www.hobbylinc.com/htm/est/est1480.htm

[dwmzmm]

There's no external tank or SRBs. Plus it only comes in a launch kit. :mad:

Build the ET and SRB's from scratch; JP would know how to do that! :D

[Mikus]

Build the ET and SRB's from scratch; JP would know how to do that! :D

JP has probably done it in his sleep... 3 times. :eek:


Top 10 Reasons why I dig my Flying Foam Shuttle Orbiter of Death... ok, Top 3. :p

1) It's named Challenger. If I ever acquire another, it will be named Columbia. I hope to never need a third.

2) I already have the Estes Master's Series Space Shuttle, EST# 1284 kit in the build queue, 2 of them in fact. If anything goes static, it will be one of the $60 kits, not the $25 (including launcher) foam shuttle.

3) Apparently I'm one of the only 8-9 people on the planet who can fly it successfully.

[richardhealey]

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

[lurker01]

This is the "Flying Foam Shuttle Orbiter of Death". It has started more fires on launch sites than any other rocket kit I have ever seen or heard of.

DO NOT FLY IT and if you store it in a closet, be sure to securely place a warning sign on the box so that if you pass away you do not have any family members who make the mistake of thinking that the rocket they found in your closet is safe to fly.

IT IS NOT SAFE.

It arcs over after leaving the rod and either ejects just above the ground if it flies horzontally (setting any grass or brush on fire or impacting into/through innocent children's eyes/brain) or it impacts the ground before the ejection charge goes off (same bad things mentioned above).

I have seen it work OK only a very few times and it is not consistant from flight to flight.

Nothing fixes it. Different motors do nothing (C6-3, C5-3, RMS D....). The alleged spin on boost is not consistant and if it starts late, it has already arced over and is flying horizontal just above the ground.

These sets are a menace and should be destroyed for the good of the Hobby.

I am not joking and I am 100% serious.


Fred,

Do you think the new Quest D5 would make any difference? What about adding an extra washer or two on the motor pod in order to move the CG forward and get better stability?

I have flown the bird and I never had the issues you spoke of, but I did manage to take out a baseball stadium light with the last flight!

Robert

[lurker01]

Fred,

Thanks for your reply!

I am very surprised you say this. The reason I am hunting for an EST 1467 is that I had lots of fun with mine and it flew very well ( I admit it was the first and last rocket I have purchased). No problems with launch. For an amateur it's trajectory under power seemed great (i.e. near as damn it to absolutely vertical), the motor always ejected properly and it the shuttle’s flight to earth was always good. I flew it probably 20 - 30 times till the last flight when it struck a tree branch and damaged it’s wing, at which point I thought it was due for retirement.

If I could think of a way of repairing the missing 1inch square piece of polystyrene I would, but I can’t think of a way that would not upset it’s balance and therefore it’s flight characteristics.

If you can suggest an alternative model, I’d really like to hear from you. Personally I very much like the shuttle for a rocket design and the EST 1467 wasn’t exactly testing to put together (a bonus!), though something a little more challenging wouldn’t be a problem as long as it wasn’t the complexity of some of the alternatives I have seen. I don’t really want to fabricate the whole shuttle (only for it to smash to smithereens on first launch!).

In the meantime, I’ll keep my 1467 safely under lock and key :)

Much appreciate it. Thanks, Richard

Richard,

If no one has suggested, I will submit the following:

Guillows makes a foam shuttle for ~ $3.00 and their now OOP Balsa build up shuttle. Just do a search on ebay... these are sometimes sold by the case.

The $3.00 foamy is 10" in span and would make a great conversion project. You could even make a full stack for it.

The now OOP Balsa/Plastic/Tissue kit can be found on ebay from time to time. The price is typically $15 - $20 and spikes to over $100 every time a shuttle is lost. You could also build a full stack for this kit.

With micro R/C gear you could convert both kits to R/C.

Good luck,

Robert

[Mikus]

Another launch, another successful flight from the Foam Brick of Death.

No fires, no deaths to report. :D

The orbiter glided back to within 10 ft of the landed pod, again. Sweet!

Sadly I forgot to shift the rod back to vertical when the wind suddenly died down so it wasn't a very high flight. :mad: I also had a problem with the motor mount but it's fixable.


I don't know what else to tell you. I didn't get my shipment of D13's last week in time for the launch so check back next month. :eek:

[blackshire]

Fred,

Thanks for your reply!

I am very surprised you say this. The reason I am hunting for an EST 1467 is that I had lots of fun with mine and it flew very well ( I admit it was the first and last rocket I have purchased). No problems with launch. For an amateur it's trajectory under power seemed great (i.e. near as **** it to absolutely vertical), the motor always ejected properly and it the shuttle’s flight to earth was always good. I flew it probably 20 - 30 times till the last flight when it struck a tree branch and damaged it’s wing, at which point I thought it was due for retirement.

If I could think of a way of repairing the missing 1inch square piece of polystyrene I would, but I can’t think of a way that would not upset it’s balance and therefore it’s flight characteristics.

If you can suggest an alternative model, I’d really like to hear from you. Personally I very much like the shuttle for a rocket design and the EST 1467 wasn’t exactly testing to put together (a bonus!), though something a little more challenging wouldn’t be a problem as long as it wasn’t the complexity of some of the alternatives I have seen. I don’t really want to fabricate the whole shuttle (only for it to smash to smithereens on first launch!).

In the meantime, I’ll keep my 1467 safely under lock and key :)

Much appreciate it. Thanks, RichardRichard, thank you for posting your consistently positive flight experiences with your Estes EST 1467 foam Space Shuttle (and I thank both of you, too, Mikus and lurker 01)! I had one as well (it never crashed--I left it [and many other things] at my old house when I moved to my apartment building in 2007 for health-related financial reasons), and it always boosted straight and glided beautifully, when flown on C6-3 as well as C5-3 motors. I knew that I *couldn't* be the -only- person who'd had wholly positive flight experiences with this model, and I'm happy to have discovered all of your positive accounts of your foam Space Shuttles' flight characteristics. Also, Richard (regarding your search for an alternative foam Space Shuttle glider, to take over from your retired Estes one):

Guillow makes a very similar one (please see the links in postings #1 and #4 *here*: http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?p=205681#post205681 [the Guillow foam Space Shuttle gliders are also available cheap on ebay www.ebay.com ]).

I hope this information will be helpful.