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Shreadvector
06-26-2006, 03:29 PM
Any pictures or descriptions?

http://www.hobbylinc.com/prods/t_n.htm

ghrocketman
06-26-2006, 09:17 PM
nah...
I did some sniffin' around the net for any info about these and all I came up with was a whole bunch o' nuthin !

Ltvscout
06-27-2006, 08:42 AM
Any pictures or descriptions?
Here are pics of the Puma and Dragonite. My hobby industry insider is still working on getting a pic of the Patriarch. I'm including descriptions below of each. No info on the bulk pack as of yet.

Nothing has been discontinued and there have been no price changes.

#1895 – PATRIARCH RTF

Skill Level: Ready-To-Fly
Length: 18.0"
Diameter: 1.35"
Weight: 2.7oz
Altitude: 600ft
Engines: A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, C6-5


#1896 – PUMA RTF

Skill Level: Ready-To-Fly
Length: 10.3 in.
Diameter: 0.54 in.
Weight: 0.4 oz.
Recovery System: Hi-Viz Orange Streamer
Max. Altitude: 800 ft.
Recommended Engines: 1/2A3-2T, 1/2A3-4T, A3-4T, A10-3T


#2169 – Dragonite

Skill Level – Snap Together (E2X)
Length: 16 in.
Diameter: 1.09 in.
Recovery: 12” Parachute
Max. Altitude: 1,129 ft.
Engines: A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, C6-5, C6-7

EchoVictor
06-27-2006, 04:42 PM
Snooze.....

Here I had my hopes up that Estes had finally gotten back on track with the fantastic Screaming Eagle (with a unique nose cone, no less). Yet again, we get more 3FNC boredom. Oh well, there's always Sirius, Red River, FlisKits, Semroc, etc... :D

Later,
EV

tbzep
06-27-2006, 04:54 PM
Not only is it 3FN boredom, it looks like RTF or ARF plastic 3FN boredom.

A Fish Named Wallyum
06-27-2006, 06:35 PM
Here are pics of the Puma and Dragonite. My hobby industry insider is still working on getting a pic of the Patriarch. I'm including descriptions below of each. No info on the bulk pack as of yet.

Nothing has been discontinued and there have been no price changes.

#1895 – PATRIARCH RTF

Skill Level: Ready-To-Fly
Length: 18.0"
Diameter: 1.35"
Weight: 2.7oz
Altitude: 600ft
Engines: A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, C6-5


#1896 – PUMA RTF

Skill Level: Ready-To-Fly
Length: 10.3 in.
Diameter: 0.54 in.
Weight: 0.4 oz.
Recovery System: Hi-Viz Orange Streamer
Max. Altitude: 800 ft.
Recommended Engines: 1/2A3-2T, 1/2A3-4T, A3-4T, A10-3T


#2169 – Dragonite

Skill Level – Snap Together (E2X)
Length: 16 in.
Diameter: 1.09 in.
Recovery: 12” Parachute
Max. Altitude: 1,129 ft.
Engines: A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, C6-5, C6-7

Oh, good, new stuff. I'll have vanilla, please. :(

JSP
06-27-2006, 09:19 PM
An "Extra-Medium Vanilla," actually....
Oh well....

CPMcGraw
06-27-2006, 09:34 PM
Here are pics of the Puma and Dragonite... (snip)
Not only is it 3FN boredom, it looks like RTF or ARF plastic 3FN boredom...
Oh, good, new stuff. I'll have vanilla, please...
Oh well, there's always Sirius, Red River, FlisKits, Semroc, etc...

Where does Estes get its market data from, anyway? I've got to think at some point even the major distributors start to look at these horribly bland and lifeless designs and say to themselves "Oh no, not again!"

3FNC and 4FNC doesn't have to be bland and lifeless...

Someone tell me that Estes isn't really trying to KILL this hobby!

Oh, how we need a new motor manufacturer to shake the market up...

ghrocketman
06-27-2006, 10:06 PM
Pure worthless RUBBISH !!!!

I wish Estes would come out with some new (or at least bring back discontinued) MOTORS if they have to bring out something new !
I'm sick of the never ending rehash-trash Plastic 3/4FNC kits they come out with.
I have not bought a new Estes kit in over 10 years and with what they offer I probably never will.
I sure am thankful for Carl and the gang over at Semroc. They (as well as PDR, Rocketpad, and Thrustline) produce interesting kits and parts that are actually worth owning/building.
I sure hope Carl manages to start making motors again.

The only thing worth buying from Estes is their motors, but I have been increasingly buying more Aerotech RMS 18/24/29 reloads and Quest motors instead of Estes.
Estes has all but discontinued all of the "interesting" motors. Why ANYONE would keep the C6-3 and discontinue the C5-3 is beyond me.....purely MORONIC.
Who given the choice would choose a C6-3 over a C5-3 ? Only an idiot as I have never seen a rocket perform anywhere near as well on a C6-3 compared to a C5-3.
At least the D12, E9 (would rather have the E15 if they could make it less CATO prone) still exist. I liked the C11 series except for the price...of course they discontinued the C11-5 and C11-0 which I used most...The C11-3 is ok, but I found the C11-7 to be worthless.
I think the problems with the C11-0 for staging were baloney...it is no harder to stage a C11-0 than an A8-0...the key lies with PROPER stage prep.

It would be a major improvement if Estes would repro at least one classic "Astron" kit a year.

A Fish Named Wallyum
06-27-2006, 10:30 PM
It would be a major improvement if Estes would repro at least one classic "Astron" kit a year.

Well, the Orbital Transport and Scissor Wing were steps in the right direction, but I'd be happy if they just continued with the trend of reissuing the parts needed to clone the oldies, like in the Screamin' Mimi, or just kept producing the rockets that are interesting, like the Fat Boy. No on both counts. :(

CPMcGraw
06-27-2006, 11:15 PM
Well, the Orbital Transport and Scissor Wing were steps in the right direction, but I'd be happy if they just continued with the trend of reissuing the parts needed to clone the oldies, like in the Screamin' Mimi, or just kept producing the rockets that are interesting, like the Fat Boy. No on both counts. :(

I can hear some old Country music lyrics in that comment -- "Two steps forward and three steps back..."

A Fish Named Wallyum
06-27-2006, 11:24 PM
I can hear some old Country music lyrics in that comment -- "Two steps forward and three steps back..."

I thought it was Bruce Springsteen -- "One step up and two steps back..." ;)

dwmzmm
06-27-2006, 11:52 PM
Estes caters to the average Wal-Mart types; hence the emphasis on these RTF and easy
to build models they keep coming out with.

I guess in this day and age, most newbies wants the grab and go stuff. Remember when we
(by that, I mean those of us who got started in model rocketry in the 1960's and 70's) got
into the hobby, we had no computers (internet), microwaves in our kitchens, video cameras,
digital cameras, cell phones, etc., when everything we did in those days had to be pretty much done the "hard way." My very first starter set was Estes Deluxe Starter Set I got in
the summer of 1969. This was my first time attempting to assemble any model that consisted of paper and balsa (before that, I had built plenty of Revell and Monogram plastic
models). Had I not faced the challenge of building that first Astron Alpha (which, by the way,
is still on display in my display case), I probably would have quit the hobby right then and
there. I drooled over the 1969 Estes catalog that featured stuff like the Saturn - V's, the
Saturn 1-B, Mercury Redstone, Astron Farside, Mars Lander, Astron Constellation, Camroc,
etc., that really spurred my imagination that I became an addict to model rocketry and the
NAR. That addiction is still with me 37 years later.

Estes probably makes plenty in sales with the lineups they carry at major retailers...at least,
we still have vendors like SEMROC, Hawks Hobby, Red River Rocketry, etc., (to name a few;
there's plenty more out there I have total respect and admiration for!) that can satisfy our
taste for the good old days.

tbzep
06-28-2006, 08:41 AM
Dave's right. It's a world of instant gratification that Estes is catering to, while ignoring us that have been in the hobby for the long haul. If they want to do that, it's fine by me, but they should release the rights of the old Estes and Centuri kits to the public domain so that any and all good manufacturers could legally make clone kits without hassle. Estes would still get the motor business, which is the main money maker for them anyway.

JRThro
06-28-2006, 10:37 AM
I'm sure Dave's right.

I mean, given the volume of customer traffic through a Wal-Mart toy department, just think how incredibly small a percentage of their customers would have to buy any of the starter sets or RTF rockets in order to add up to several hundred thousands of items sold.

In contrast, how many 'old rocketeers' who long for the good old days are there, or even new rocketeers like me who appreciate the actual 'build it yourself' kits? Surely not even a hundred thousand.

ghrocketman
06-28-2006, 11:04 AM
A business strategy to over the short term satisfy the masses while alienating your long term customers that actually made the business what it is totally lacks long-term vision.
That is something that us in the USA could learn from Japan....#1 is to focus on long term goals/vision without worrying about short term quarterly fluctuations in profits or knee-jerk reactions from wall street analyst morons that devalue a stock by 20% whenever an imaginary trumped-up profit target is missed by 5 freekin cents a share in a quarter.

There is no reason why Estes cannot satisfy the masses while continuing to satisfy their core long-term customers.

JSP
06-28-2006, 11:20 AM
Wouldn't it be cool if they had an "experienced modeler" line? Or a complete "classics" line? It could actually be marketed completely seperately from the Walmart crowd stuff (own catalog, places to advertise, etc). Kind of a complany within the company kind of thing. It seems they've toyed with this before with their classics series and pro series... OR they could open up all the rights to the models for other companies- but it seems to me they wouldn't due to loss of potential income....

dwmzmm
06-28-2006, 12:42 PM
Estes caters to the average Wal-Mart types; hence the emphasis on these RTF and easy
to build models they keep coming out with.

I guess in this day and age, most newbies wants the grab and go stuff. Remember when we
(by that, I mean those of us who got started in model rocketry in the 1960's and 70's) got
into the hobby, we had no computers (internet), microwaves in our kitchens, video cameras,
digital cameras, cell phones, etc., when everything we did in those days had to be pretty much done the "hard way." My very first starter set was Estes Deluxe Starter Set I got in
the summer of 1969. This was my first time attempting to assemble any model that consisted of paper and balsa (before that, I had built plenty of Revell and Monogram plastic
models). Had I not faced the challenge of building that first Astron Alpha (which, by the way,
is still on display in my display case), I probably would have quit the hobby right then and
there. I drooled over the 1969 Estes catalog that featured stuff like the Saturn - V's, the
Saturn 1-B, Mercury Redstone, Astron Farside, Mars Lander, Astron Constellation, Camroc,
etc., that really spurred my imagination that I became an addict to model rocketry and the
NAR. That addiction is still with me 37 years later.

Estes probably makes plenty in sales with the lineups they carry at major retailers...at least,
we still have vendors like SEMROC, Hawks Hobby, Red River Rocketry, etc., (to name a few;
there's plenty more out there I have total respect and admiration for!) that can satisfy our
taste for the good old days.


Found a fairly recent pic that shows my partial collection in my display case. Read the caption and you'll see where to find my very first Astron Alpha...

http://www.nasarocketclub.com/gallery/album17/FH000024_001

EchoVictor
06-28-2006, 12:57 PM
As satiated as I am by the wonderful offerings coming from the smaller vendors, the one thing about Estes leaving us behind that still burns me is the unique plastic nose cones. I've always been a fan of the models without the usual cone/ogive/parabola on the nose, such as the PNC-50 (AC Orion, Manta Bomber), PNC-50SP (Argosy, Skytracer), and of course the PNC-50F (Starship Nova, Nimbus).

It obviously takes a bit of capital to tool up for a blow-molded plastic nose cone, and the fact that the Screamin' Eagle had a new design really had my hopes up. I really long for some more of the wild designs that those mid-'80's birds had. I do my scratch stuff, but my supply of oddball cones is running low...

Later,
EV

JSP
06-28-2006, 02:13 PM
Don't forget the Odyssey! That nosecone was very cool...I'd love to clone that model....

Ltvscout
06-28-2006, 05:12 PM
Where does Estes get its market data from, anyway? I've got to think at some point even the major distributors start to look at these horribly bland and lifeless designs and say to themselves "Oh no, not again!"
The new stuff is RTF because Wal-Mart wanted them that way.

ghrocketman
06-28-2006, 07:40 PM
The Odyssey nose cone was also used for the 2-stager Rigel 3.

A Fish Named Wallyum
06-28-2006, 07:49 PM
I've got an Odyssey and I'll be glad to lend the cone out if anyone can figure out how to reproduce it. Mike Schmidt already gave it a shot, but it's a monster.

JSP
06-28-2006, 07:58 PM
Yeah, I remembered that they used that nose cone on something else, but I couldn't remember what.

I can see how it would be really tough to reproduce. There are tons of small details on it. Unfortunately, mu Odyssey is long gone....

Green Dragon
06-30-2006, 09:17 AM
The new stuff is RTF because Wal-Mart wanted them that way.

And Wal Mart is trying to ruin every other business and take over the world already, so rocketry must be the next logical step for them .

tbzep
06-30-2006, 12:27 PM
And Wal Mart is trying to ruin every other business and take over the world already, so rocketry must be the next logical step for them .

They need to get in line behind Microsoft for the world takeover business.

CPMcGraw
06-30-2006, 02:22 PM
And Wal Mart is trying to ruin every other business and take over the world already, so rocketry must be the next logical step for them...

They need to get in line behind Microsoft for the world takeover business.


You mean, something like...

"...So what are we going to do tonight, Bill?..."
"...Same thing we do every night, Sam. Try to take over the world!!!..."

(Musically...) They're Sammy and Da Bill, they're Sammy and Da Bill...One's a local nightmare, the other's a pill...They suck your wallet dry, then poke you in the eye...They're Sammy -- They're Sammy and Da Bill...Bill...Bill...Bill...BILL...

Carl@Semroc
06-30-2006, 02:26 PM
You mean, something like...

"...So what are we going to do tonight, Bill?..."
"...Same thing we do every night, Sam. Try to take over the world!!!..."

(Musically...) They're Sammy and Da Bill, they're Sammy and Da Bill...One's a local nightmare, the other's a pill...They suck your wallet dry, then poke you in the eye...They're Sammy -- They're Sammy and Da Bill...Bill...Bill...Bill...BILL...Craig,
I told you to stop sniffing Fill 'n Finish! :D

Tweener
06-30-2006, 02:29 PM
You mean, something like...

"...So what are we going to do tonight, Bill?..."
"...Same thing we do every night, Sam. Try to take over the world!!!..."

(Musically...) They're Sammy and Da Bill, they're Sammy and Da Bill...One's a local nightmare, the other's a pill...They suck your wallet dry, then poke you in the eye...They're Sammy -- They're Sammy and Da Bill...Bill...Bill...Bill...BILL...I have never posted this before in any forum, because it's never been true..... LOL!!

That was great! :D :D Thanks for the lift!

CPMcGraw
06-30-2006, 02:36 PM
Craig,
I told you to stop sniffing Fill 'n Finish! :D

(sniff)...Aww, OK...(sniff)...I won't do nomore...(sniff)...after this batch is empty...(sniff)

Takes all the fun away, though...(sniff):D

dwmzmm
06-30-2006, 02:37 PM
And Wal Mart is trying to ruin every other business and take over the world already, so rocketry must be the next logical step for them .

If we all do our part in supporting our excellent lineup of modroc vendors (using mainly the
"made in USA" components), these vendors will continue to exist and expand to fill our
REAL needs. If I had the money (with plenty to spare), I'd purchase tons of stuff from many
of these vendors right now...

Solomoriah
07-03-2006, 07:08 PM
I guess I'm bad... I buy engines at Wal-Mart when I can find the ones I need, because they're, well duh, cheaper.

But Hobby Lobby gets most of my walk-in business, as well as a little local hobby shop... the guy that runs it is a bit freaky but he has a good selection.

On topic: they are bland, aren't they. Gah. I'm an exotics fan myself, and my daughter really likes gliders... I suppose I need to think up an exotic glider. Aerodynamics vs. looks...

JSP
07-03-2006, 08:02 PM
Actually, the engines at Hobby Lobby and Walmart are the exact same price around here...and Hobby Lobby is often cheaper because of specials (1/2 off sales, 40% off internet coupons, etc...) I just wish they had something other than Estes!

JRThro
07-03-2006, 09:10 PM
Actually, the engines at Hobby Lobby and Walmart are the exact same price around here...and Hobby Lobby is often cheaper because of specials (1/2 off sales, 40% off internet coupons, etc...) I just wish they had something other than Estes!
The ones at Hobby Lobby don't come with wadding, though, for what that's worth.

Shreadvector
07-04-2006, 07:25 PM
C5-3 was discontinued because it was extremely difficult to manufacture. Near the end, they had a batch in year "X" that CATO'd really badly nearly 100% of the time by splitting the casing. It was traced to a defect that only appeared many months after manufacturing - they make them damp and allow them to dry or "cure". This defect showed up long after normal curing. It was a crack directly related to the deep counterbore in the motor.

They dropped other motors because people were not buying them.

Pure worthless RUBBISH !!!!

I wish Estes would come out with some new (or at least bring back discontinued) MOTORS if they have to bring out something new !
I'm sick of the never ending rehash-trash Plastic 3/4FNC kits they come out with.
I have not bought a new Estes kit in over 10 years and with what they offer I probably never will.
I sure am thankful for Carl and the gang over at Semroc. They (as well as PDR, Rocketpad, and Thrustline) produce interesting kits and parts that are actually worth owning/building.
I sure hope Carl manages to start making motors again.

The only thing worth buying from Estes is their motors, but I have been increasingly buying more Aerotech RMS 18/24/29 reloads and Quest motors instead of Estes.
Estes has all but discontinued all of the "interesting" motors. Why ANYONE would keep the C6-3 and discontinue the C5-3 is beyond me.....purely MORONIC.
Who given the choice would choose a C6-3 over a C5-3 ? Only an idiot as I have never seen a rocket perform anywhere near as well on a C6-3 compared to a C5-3.
At least the D12, E9 (would rather have the E15 if they could make it less CATO prone) still exist. I liked the C11 series except for the price...of course they discontinued the C11-5 and C11-0 which I used most...The C11-3 is ok, but I found the C11-7 to be worthless.
I think the problems with the C11-0 for staging were baloney...it is no harder to stage a C11-0 than an A8-0...the key lies with PROPER stage prep.

It would be a major improvement if Estes would repro at least one classic "Astron" kit a year.

Solomoriah
07-09-2006, 09:50 PM
Actually, the engines at Hobby Lobby and Walmart are the exact same price around here...and Hobby Lobby is often cheaper because of specials (1/2 off sales, 40% off internet coupons, etc...) I just wish they had something other than Estes!
I went to Hobby Lobby in Quincy, IL yesterday. It happens that they were having a sale on model rocket kits... so my daughter and I stocked up on the lower-priced, lower-skill-level models for us to build together. (Sadly, though I still seem to know how it all works, my manual building skills have rusted... I'm working my way back into "shape" right now.)

BUT... I discovered that, while 18mm A through C Estes engines are the same price at both Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart (to wit, $4.97 per package of 3), the Wal-Mart packages include 12 sheets of wadding as well as 3 engines and 4 igniters (with plugs).

So they aren't the same price, after all. All my current stockpile of engines come from Wal-Mart, and as long as I have to pay extra for wadding at Hobby Lobby, they probably will continue to come from there.

A Fish Named Wallyum
07-09-2006, 09:57 PM
I went to Hobby Lobby in Quincy, IL yesterday. It happens that they were having a sale on model rocket kits... so my daughter and I stocked up on the lower-priced, lower-skill-level models for us to build together. (Sadly, though I still seem to know how it all works, my manual building skills have rusted... I'm working my way back into "shape" right now.)

BUT... I discovered that, while 18mm A through C Estes engines are the same price at both Hobby Lobby and Wal-Mart (to wit, $4.97 per package of 3), the Wal-Mart packages include 12 sheets of wadding as well as 3 engines and 4 igniters (with plugs).

So they aren't the same price, after all. All my current stockpile of engines come from Wal-Mart, and as long as I have to pay extra for wadding at Hobby Lobby, they probably will continue to come from there.

I guess no one has told you about dog barf wadding. You can get a bale of it at most home improvement stores. It's fireproof cellulose blow-in insulation and a bale will cost you about $5 and last for YEARS.

Solomoriah
07-09-2006, 10:07 PM
I guess no one has told you about dog barf wadding. You can get a bale of it at most home improvement stores. It's fireproof cellulose blow-in insulation and a bale will cost you about $5 and last for YEARS.
"Dog barf," eh? Gee, you make it sound so appealing...

But seriously, as long as I get it for free, why do I care?

Bob H
07-09-2006, 10:36 PM
.......So they aren't the same price, after all. All my current stockpile of engines come from Wal-Mart, and as long as I have to pay extra for wadding at Hobby Lobby, they probably will continue to come from there.

You can get a Blastoff Flight Pack at Michaels... With a 40% coupon it costs $30 for 24 motors, 75 sheets of wadding, and 30 igniters. Works out to $3.75 for three motors with wadding.

When they have a 50% coupon, the price drops to $25. Tough to beat that price

Solomoriah
07-10-2006, 07:31 AM
You can get a Blastoff Flight Pack at Michaels... With a 40% coupon it costs $30 for 24 motors, 75 sheets of wadding, and 30 igniters. Works out to $3.75 for three motors with wadding.

When they have a 50% coupon, the price drops to $25. Tough to beat that price
The closest Michaels to my residence is a 2 hour drive... with gas as high as it is, the 45 minutes to Quincy seems bad enough.

I'm not sure what the problem is here... everyone seems to want me to go somewhere else.

tbzep
07-10-2006, 11:38 AM
The closest Michaels to my residence is a 2 hour drive... with gas as high as it is, the 45 minutes to Quincy seems bad enough.

I'm not sure what the problem is here... everyone seems to want me to go somewhere else.

Walmart is fine for engines. Don't worry about what the others think. Most of the people who want you to run to the local (insert whatever store here) live in cities where all of that stuff is handy. I'm out in the boonies like you, so any trip is going to cost me a small fortune in gas and time... money and time could be spent building and flying rockets. If I can't find it at the local Walmart, hardware store, grocery store, or dollar store, I order it online or do without. The only time I go to Hobby Lobby, Lowes, Home Depot, real hobby shops, etc. is when the wife or I have to make a treck to the larger cities in the first place.

Order your kits from cool places like Semroc, Fliskits, HawksHobby, PDR, etc. because they are trying to give us good stuff instead of mass produced kiddie junk from China.

JRThro
07-10-2006, 01:08 PM
Oh, good, new stuff. I'll have vanilla, please. :(
And vanilla soft-serv (TM) at that, not even real ice cream.

ghrocketman
07-10-2006, 02:02 PM
Their kits don't even qualify as soft-serve Vanilla.....more like melted, refrozen, freezer-burned, 20 years past "best use" date soft-serve Vanilla.
If they did not have a virtual lock on BP motors in my area they would get $0.00 out of me.
Their kits have all but totally alienated traditional hobbyist model rocket builders.
While I enjoy ARF (as well as kit-built) R/C aircraft, I do not enjoy ARF rockets.....I rarely have time to build (or fly for that matter)R/C aircraft any longer, but the most complex model rocket kit rarely has even 10% of the parts of the most simple R/C kit.

They even managed to mangle the re-issue of the Orbital Transport by using PLASTIC nose cones....in my book that is borderline blasphemy....I bought the PDR version instead, that by the way uses correct BALSA cones, and adds laser-cut fins as a bonus.
I wanted to buy the Estes kit, but as soon as I saw it was not a true re-issue JUST LIKE THE OLD ONE, I passed on it.
I did buy the re-issue Scissor-Wing Transport, which is not a true clone (due to wing-pivot changes), but ONLY because nobody else offered it.

Bob H
07-10-2006, 06:46 PM
The closest Michaels to my residence is a 2 hour drive... with gas as high as it is, the 45 minutes to Quincy seems bad enough.

I'm not sure what the problem is here... everyone seems to want me to go somewhere else.I was just trying to save you some money. ;) But, I wouldn't drive 2 hours to go there either. :rolleyes:

I have bought plenty of motors at Walmart. The problem with my Walmart is that all they ever have are A8-3's, C6-3's, and C6-5's. I haven't seen a B6-4 in there for probably 2 years. Same with the mini motors. They only have the A10-PT's for the cars. :(

Without a coupon, Michaels is expensive for motors and their rocket selection leaves a lot to be desired. I have to drive past one on the way home from work and my co-workers give me their coupons so I pick up 24mm and 13mm motors with the 40% coupons.

From home, Walmart and Michaels are just as far (25 min) but in opposite directions so I don't go to either store just to pick up motors.

Solomoriah
07-10-2006, 07:55 PM
I have bought plenty of motors at Walmart. The problem with my Walmart is that all they ever have are A8-3's, C6-3's, and C6-5's. I haven't seen a B6-4 in there for probably 2 years. Same with the mini motors. They only have the A10-PT's for the cars. :(
The Quincy, IL Wal-Mart had B6-4's and some rocket (not car) mini-motors (I don't remember which, I'm not flying any of the little ones right now). I had to go to Kirksville, MO to get A8-3's, but they had plenty of them.

My residence is about equidistant from Quincy, IL, Hannibal, MO, and Kirksville, MO, all of which have Wal-Marts. I don't go to Hannibal for good deals (you won't find any there) but I do have a customer there so I'm in town from time to time. They have the least number of rocket kits but last time I was there they had a pretty good supply of engines.