New Estes Kit
 

I just received my July/August 2021 issue of Sport Rocketry magazine.

The inside cover has a new Estes ad featuring the Super Mars Snooper, DARC-1 and a new kit named Vesta Intruder (#7312).

It uses 24mm motors and stands over two feet tall.

Hopefully more details will be available soon.

I can add some extra info. It will be an "Advanced" skill level kit (formerly SL3), and suggested retail price will be $34.99

Coming Soon: https://estesrockets.com/product/00...r-mars-snooper/

The package lists just C11-3 and D12-5, I wonder why not an E12? Hopefully we can just move the motor block location. It would be nice to at least have the option.

Wouldn't it be easier to use a Quest 24mm D22 or E26? Or the AeroTech/Enerjet 24mm E20 or E30? They are the same dimensions as the Estes D12 and would require little to no mods to the rocket.

I saw the Vesta Intruder prototype test flights in December at a SCORE (Pueblo, CO) launch. Very cool! I’ve been anxious to see the official word about it. Gotta have one! (Or 2-3 ...)

:D

Dan, not sure, but maybe John Boren will chime in. Prototypes often include mixtures of wood and 3D printed parts, and no telling what the final material might be.

Fins are wood with a decorative laser cut thin card stock over them.

My DARC-1 is almost finished. Now that was a TOUGH build! I hope to finish it when I return home from Redlands, CA.

You can.

Not sure that would be a good idea. Big, thin fins with a bit of an odd attachment and part paper, part plastic pods in the middle of them.

I believe if you use a E12 engine in the Mars Snooper you may end up seeing pieces coming off it during flight. The same goes with using a higher impulse composite motor. If you must upgrade the engine at least fly it once on a D12 so you at least get to enjoy one successful flight.