What's a good rocket (or design) for an Estes E9-8?

[Bravo52]

I just received 4 packs of E9-8 motors and am looking for a good kit and or design I can scratch build to fly those motors in. My guess is something in the 10 oz range and slick.....
Have any thoughts?
v/r
Bravo

[STRMan]

I made an upscale model of an old Centuri Stiletto 2 stager designed to boost on a D12-0 with an E9-8 in the sustainer. All I have to do is put on the decals and then I'll send it up in it's maiden flight.

http://i85.photobucket.com/albums/k65/STRMan/DSC01024-1.jpg

[Doug Sams]

I just received 4 packs of E9-8 motors and am looking for a good kit and or design I can scratch build to fly those motors in. My guess is something in the 10 oz range and slick.....
Have any thoughts? A small to minimum diameter bird, with mass optimized for long coast, would be my first swag at a single stage application. I'm thinking something in the BT-50 to BT-55/ST-13 range. Perhaps a Cherokee-E (ie, a Cherokee D with extended motor tube). I bashed a Big Betty into an Astron Sprint-like bird that's a pretty good fit, too:
http://home.flash.net/~samily/betty-bash/bet-spr2.jpg

I mainly use my E9-8's in stagers. For example, I did another Big Betty bash, inspired by the old Aston Apogee, called the Betty-Gee. I have a couple of other stagers that can use it as well. If more people used it, maybe Estes would bring it back ;) Doug
http://home.flash.net/~samily/betty-bash/bet-gee2.jpg

.

[Bravo52]

A small to minimum diameter bird, with mass optimized for long coast, would be my first swag at a single stage application. I'm thinking something in the BT-50 to BT-55/ST-13 range. Perhaps a Cherokee-E (ie, a Cherokee D with extended motor tube). I bashed a Big Betty into an Astron Sprint-like bird that's a pretty good fit, too:
http://home.flash.net/~samily/betty-bash/bet-spr2.jpg.

I love it! That is my next......err...well, one of my next bashes. I also like the idea about a "Cherokee E". Thanks!
v/r
Jerry

[jj94]

For an E9-8, I'd make a one time use rocket. Minimum diameter, around 18 inches long. Or make a cluster and/or stager.

[snaquin]

I just received 4 packs of E9-8 motors and am looking for a good kit and or design I can scratch build to fly those motors in. My guess is something in the 10 oz range and slick.....
Have any thoughts?
v/r
Bravo

EnerJet Nike-Ram

Plans here:

http://www.oldrocketplans.com/enerjet/enjKE-1/enjKE-1.htm

Semroc has all of the needed parts including a laser cut fin set:

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=1425

Excelsior has the decals (and a pic of Bob Sanford's beautifully finished model) Check under waterslide, Centuri classic decals. Search YORF for other variations of the Nike-Ram finish colors. I think Bob built one of each of the suggested finishes as listed in the instructions. I'm still working on my first (but getting closer) :(

http://www.excelsiorrocketry.com/

Simple & straight forward build and with the payload section you can add an altimeter or weight to hold your altitude down some. Use a streamer.

:)

[barone]

On the Betty Sprint....is that an engine hook coming through the boat tail?

[Doug Sams]

On the Betty Sprint....is that an engine hook coming through the boat tail?Yes. Here's a closer look:
http://home.flash.net/~samily/bettysprint/BS-tail3.jpg

Here's a bit more on how it was done:
http://home.flash.net/~samily/stuff/tailconehook.html

Doug

.

[Bob Kaplow]

I just received 4 packs of E9-8 motors and am looking for a good kit and or design I can scratch build to fly those motors in. My guess is something in the 10 oz range and slick.....
Have any thoughts?
v/r
Bravo

Something disposable. Eliminator / Maniac.

[DANLK66]

Get a Blue Ninja with a %40 off cupon at Micheal's. With a little modification it is a great rocket for E motors and won't break the bank.


Dan

[LeeR]

A small to minimum diameter bird, with mass optimized for long coast, would be my first swag at a single stage application. I'm thinking something in the BT-50 to BT-55/ST-13 range. Perhaps a Cherokee-E (ie, a Cherokee D with extended motor tube). I bashed a Big Betty into an Astron Sprint-like bird that's a pretty good fit, too:

[...]
http://home.flash.net/~samily/betty-bash/bet-spr2.jpg


Doug, That is a great paint job, and a nice clean build, I might add. Please share your brand of paint with us. I've used Duplicolor Chevy Orange, and Testors Orange -- but wondering if you've found another bright orange for me to try?

[Solomoriah]

I like the Betty-Sprint also, but I'm thinking a Bertha-Sprint (keeping it all in the family)... maybe this winter.

[Doug Sams]

Doug, That is a great paint job, and a nice clean build, I might add. Please share your brand of paint with us. I've used Duplicolor Chevy Orange, and Testors Orange -- but wondering if you've found another bright orange for me to try?Thanks. I can't remember. I'm pretty sure it was one of the hot solvent enamels (ie, ~lacquers). I think it was RustOleum's Painter's Touch but it coulda been Krylon or Duplicolor .

Getting a good orange - primarily to match the (old) card art on the Big Betty - was a hot button for me for a while. All I could find were the blush prone paints cited above. And RustOleum's Premium orange wasn't out then. (And while I like it, it's really not as orange as I prefer.)

Anyway, in playing around trying to get the right shade, I even mixed a batch of my own and shot it with an airbrush on one rocket. The first mixing attempts looked more like brown mustard than orange paint :) and had to be tossed. I finally got one good mixing to come out decent, but it was way more effort than it was worth. The rattle cans are much easier.

I also recall that, while shooting the Betty-Sprint, I changed paints in mid-stream. It was one of the rare days here (Dallas) where the humidity was low enough for hot paints. I was literally in the middle of the paint job when the can ran out. There was no choice - I couldn't go out at that hour to get another - and I had to finish it. So I let it dry for a few minutes, then resumed shooting with a different brand and shade I had in my stash, and kept right on going. And that's the paint job you see in the pic.

Doug

.

[mojo1986]

If you like scale or semi-scale rockets, the Estes V-2 that's about 20" or so in length (I believe it was the #1904 kit, might have been #1926.................anyway, based on a BT-80 body tube) gave memorable flights on E engines. Nice slow and realistic liftoffs, and surprisingly high altitudes. I painted mine in a White Sands scheme and launched it one day in winds that were light, and watched as it drifted right out of town. Never recovered it...........should have cut a hole in the parachute. I plan on cloning another one if I can ever get my hands on one of the plastic boat tails from that kit.

Joe

[Solomoriah]

He wants engines for E9-8 specifically; so low-and-slow isn't going to work.

[STRMan]

Get a Blue Ninja with a %40 off cupon at Micheal's. With a little modification it is a great rocket for E motors and won't break the bank.


Dan

I beg to differ. The Blue Ninja is too big and draggy for an E98. I have a Blue Ninja, which flies perfectly on a D12-5. If modified for an E9, it should use an E9-6. With an E9-8, you would have too long of a delay. That baby would be coming in quite rapidly before the ejection charge fired. You could have all sorts of damage under that scenario, like a ripped off chute, a body tube dent or zipper, or in the worst case, so much air pressure holding the nose cone on that, coupled with a weak ejection charge (they do happen on occasion), no deployment at all, and a full ballistic return.

[ghrocketman]

Several rockets come to mind:
Enerjet Nike-Ram

Any of the following with an extended engine mount for the E9-8:
Astron Cherokee D clone
Astron A20-Demon clone
Estes Skybolt clone
Estes Goblin clone
Upper stage of an Astron Omega Clone with a D12-0 or C11-0 booster
Upper stage of a Estes Sea Strike D
Centuri Magnum Hornet clone.

Possibly an Estes Sky Raider clone...this one is borderline between the E9-6 and E9-8

[Rocketflyer]

Custom's "Sport" rocket

[barone]

Custom's "Sport" rocket
Jack,

Isn't the Sport an 18mm rocket?

[STRMan]

Jack,

Isn't the Sport an 18mm rocket?

It is, but it looks like it might be a 24mm BT. If so, just install a thrust ring and friction fit the engine. Now you have a nice, long, sleek, minimum diameter rocket. If the BT is larger than 24mm, just install a larger motor mount.

[Rocketflyer]

It is, but it looks like it might be a 24mm BT. If so, just install a thrust ring and friction fit the engine. Now you have a nice, long, sleek, minimum diameter rocket. If the BT is larger than 24mm, just install a larger motor mount.

It is an 18mmt, but " E's" will fit. Flies very well...and very high! :D I use streamer recovery. Paper laminate the fins.

[Mark II]

These are kits, not scratch-builds, but they all fly great on E9-8's.

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KLV-9

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KV-18

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KLV-16

http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/RocketKits.asp?SKU=KV-52

Mark \\.

[dwmzmm]

Several rockets come to mind:
Enerjet Nike-Ram

Any of the following with an extended engine mount for the E9-8:
Astron Cherokee D clone
Astron A20-Demon clone
Estes Skybolt clone
Estes Goblin clone
Upper stage of an Astron Omega Clone with a D12-0 or C11-0 booster
Upper stage of a Estes Sea Strike D
Centuri Magnum Hornet clone.

Possibly an Estes Sky Raider clone...this one is borderline between the E9-6 and E9-8

I converted my Estes SkyBolt (the original kit, not a clone) to accept the E9's as I wanted to
use this model for the D & E Streamer Duration Event in NAR competition. The first time I tried to use it for E S/D at the Hearts & Darts Regional in Hearne, TX in February 2006, the
E9-8 had a flaming blowthrough right after ignition. The propellant slug with the smoke delay and ejection charge went right through the airframe, blowing the recovery system
(a 24 foot long "Happy Birthday" mylar streamer I got from Wal - Mart) and the nosecone
violently so that the snapback damaged the upper 1/4" of the bodytube.

I've flown it several times since then for the D Streamer Duration with good results. The
SkyBolt flies very well on the 24 mm engines.

[sandman]

I converted my Estes SkyBolt (the original kit, not a clone) to accept the E9's as I wanted to
use this model for the D & E Streamer Duration Event in NAR competition. The first time I tried to use it for E S/D at the Hearts & Darts Regional in Hearne, TX in February 2006, the
E9-8 had a flaming blowthrough right after ignition. The propellant slug with the smoke delay and ejection charge went right through the airframe, blowing the recovery system
(a 24 foot long "Happy Birthday" mylar streamer I got from Wal - Mart) and the nosecone
violently so that the snapback damaged the upper 1/4" of the bodytube.

I've flown it several times since then for the D Streamer Duration with good results. The
SkyBolt flies very well on the 24 mm engines.

The one in the middle flys on an E9-8 but...well it's my third one...the others sort of...went away... :(

I now fly it on C11-5's and I always seem to get it back now.

[dwmzmm]

The one in the middle flys on an E9-8 but...well it's my third one...the others sort of...went away... :(

I now fly it on C11-5's and I always seem to get it back now.

Well, you should know the Sprint design is a classic, high performace one. A lot of the models
used in NAR competition uses similar designs.

I was also going to mention in my previous post (about the Estes SkyBolt) that the Squirrel's
Work Gremlin can be modified to use the E9-8. That is, if you're not worried about losing it!
Mine flies high enough on the "little" D12-7 (or even on a C6-5).

[Phred]

I LOVE my Sandman Sprint (BT-56 upscale by our good friend Sandman...)

I fly it only on E9-8s, using a 6" x 60" streamer made from a space blanket.

here is a link to a video of the liftoff of my Sandman Sprint on an E9:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz_rOUQn5LM

Phred

[PaulK]

A fellow at a local launch last year put an E9-something in a baby bertha. The delay didn't really matter, since we never saw it again...

The delay might be a bit long for the Arapahoe-E, but would be worth a sim.

[Doug Sams]

The delay might be a bit long for the Arapahoe-E, but would be worth a sim.I bet that it's about right. My experience with boat-tailed birds, such as the Sprint, is that they have really long coast times. So I bet the Arapoe-E will be a good E9-8 candidate.

It seems like they don't fall off right after motor burnout like other rockets do.

Doug

.

[maricopasem]

A fellow at a local launch last year put an E9-something in a baby bertha. The delay didn't really matter, since we never saw it again...

The delay might be a bit long for the Arapahoe-E, but would be worth a sim.
Who makes that one? It's a great looking rocket and your finish is very nice.

[jj94]

Who makes that one? It's a great looking rocket and your finish is very nice.

Thrustline used to make them and a bunch of other great kits until he had to shut down the business due to his wife's cancer. It's a shame that the company went, but then of course, family comes first.

[moonzero2]

I miss Thrustline.

[PaulK]

Who makes that one? It's a great looking rocket and your finish is very nice.Thanks! I really like this kit, mostly because of its heritage with the Cherokee-D, and the story John (the Thrustline owner) told about his native-american friend that motivated him to design this kit; it flies very nice on D9, D12, and E9 motors. I could scan the fin templates & post them here if you're interested. The most difficult part is the white thunderbird decal; since excelsior did these for thrustline, you might get these from Phred.

Scott, have you had any contact with John regarding posting plans of his kits here? I see a few of them are posted in the plans section.

I hope John & his wife are doing ok these days.

[Phred]

Yep, I did these decals, as well as many others for Thrustline.

I would be glad to make them for Forum members, bur I would need clearence from John, as these were his designs.

Phred

[Ltvscout]

Scott, have you had any contact with John regarding posting plans of his kits here? I see a few of them are posted in the plans section.
I haven't heard from him in awhile. The plans I have online are the ones he intentionally decided to stop selling while his business was still active. My guess is he's hoping to bring Thrustline back again at some point in time.

[Mark II]

I haven't heard from him in awhile. The plans I have online are the ones he intentionally decided to stop selling while his business was still active. My guess is he's hoping to bring Thrustline back again at some point in time.
John can take all the time he needs, and should not worry about what will happen to his business. He should know that if or when he ever decides to restart Thrustline, he will not need to rebuild his client base. We, his customers, have not gone away, and we will not go away. We will always remain loyal to him.

The Arapahoe-E was one of the kits that I was right on the verge of buying when John put Thrustline on hiatus. It is still right up there as one of my "must have" kits. I agree with others who have posted; this would truly be one great rocket to fly on an E9-8. I am very fortunate to have one of John's Cherokee-D parts packs.

Mark \\.