I cant find any info on it so I thought I would ask. The Estes -15 was discontinued in late 95-96. I know this because I tried to order some direct from estes and they told me so. What was the deal with them? Why were they discontinued? I had just gained interrest in 24mm motors when they vanished. Of course later Estes made a "disney" version of the mighty E. I was just cureous as to why Estes went from an E15 to an E9.

Estes discontinued their E15 (Actually, it was an E11) due to a high failure rate. The E15s were blowing out the nozzle or delay ends of the motors consistantly. The first product batch was reliable but something happened with a batch made later and the failure rate was very high. I watched a rocket with a cluster of three Estes E15s have two of the motors fail at ignition. The rocket did not survive.

The Estes E15s were mid-performance E motors. The AeroTech E15 & E30 motors were/are much closer to full impulse. Give those motors a try.

The E9 motor runs at a lower pressure so it doesn't fail as often as the Estes E15. The trade-off is that the E9 has a lower average thrust, good for light or modest weight models but not able to safely power heavy or draggy models.

Bob

My cloned FSI Eos (42.5" long) puts in beautiful, high flights on an Estes E9-4 in a 29/24mm adapter. Here it is on Pad #1 at NARAM.

MarkII

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What is the max lift off weight for an E9

That info is listed in the online Estes catalog. if it is not easy to find on the current Estes website, previous years' catalogs are online and that table has not changed in years.

Longer delay times have lower max weights because they would coast into the ground if the rocket was heavy and had a long delay time.

For best results, always use a 1/4" diameter by 6 foot long steel launch rod with an E9 rocket. if the rocket is very light and there is no wind, you can use a 5 foot long 3/16" diameter steel rod.

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-Fred Shecter NAR 20117 (L2)
Southern California Rocket Association, NAR Section 430

Yep mr grouchy I know where the max lift off weight that estes recomends info is.....but I wanted to know from some people who have actually launched with the E to let me know. Plus I was kinda tired lastnight and didnt feel like looking it up

Considering that Estes recommends the E9 for their Maxi V-2 and Interceptor E, I wouldn't trust their max liftoff weight recommendation for the E9. For success with the E9 on these two kits, you need near perfect calm and absolute vertical launch. I'd trust a two stage Fat Boy on a B6-0 booster long before an E9 in one of those two heavy birds.

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I love sanding.

Fully loaded for launch with an E9-4, my Eos weighs about 10.65 oz. (302 g). It gets off the pad briskly and goes up straight and true off of a 4' long, 1/8" or 3/16" diameter launch rod* (even in a breeze) and gets about 900 feet. The rocket is 42.5" long with a 1.64" dia. lower section and a 1.34" dia. payload section.

(*It has 3/16" lugs on it, and they slide on my 3/16" rods just fine, but the lugs seem to bind on many 3/16" rods when I take it to launches.)

MarkII

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