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-   -   Estes Cruise Missile RTF (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=16522)

blackshire 03-10-2017 01:41 AM

Estes Cruise Missile RTF
 
Hello Doctor (and all others here),

I have an Estes Cruise Missile #1847 RTF (Ready-To-Fly) model rocket, and I have two questions about its (13 mm) motor retainer ring:

Is it turned counter-clockwise (when facing the rear of the model) to remove it, or clockwise? Also, is it supposed to be pushed inward (like some child-proof pill bottle caps) while turning it, or should it not be pushed (or pulled) at all? Here is why I ask:

I have never been able to remove the model's motor retainer ring, or even budge it (it's as if it was glued in place when the model was made--has anyone else had this problem with theirs?), and I don't want to break either it or the model.

Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help!

frognbuff 03-10-2017 12:00 PM

Turn counter clockwise to remove. No need to push down.

A Fish Named Wallyum 03-10-2017 12:04 PM

Is this the same retainer as in the Estes Jinx? Just this week I was able to get the motor out of the Jinx, which last flew almost a year ago in March, 2016. I turned the retainer with the screwdriver of a multi-tool until it was lined up in the exit position, then used the pliers to work the whole thing out. No way I could have done it with the little plastic tool they provide. If the Cruise Missile is made the same way, just resign yourself to the fact that this will be better off as a shelf queen. Made for looks, not function.

ghrocketman 03-10-2017 01:28 PM

WTH is this "Shelf Queen" concept you speak of ?

ALL model rockets should FLY at LEAST ONCE.
No Fly=NO GOOD.

Better to fly and POWR-PRANG CRASH than never to fly.

The ONLY POWR-PRANGS I have ever had though have been DELIBERATE ones. Best way to do that is to use a C6-7 or C6-5 in a multi-stager as a BOOSTER engine with the clay above the ejection charge broken up a bit.
The rocket WILL be pointed straight DOWN when the 2nd stage ignites.
POWR-PRANGG/LAWN-DART/CORE-SAMPLE TUBE-CRUMPLING FUN !!!!

blackshire 03-10-2017 09:15 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by frognbuff
Turn counter clockwise to remove. No need to push down.
Thank you for confirming the rotation direction that I'd suspected. Unfortunately, the motor retainer ring appears to have been cemented in place (just as the fuselage halves were cemented together) when this particular RTF model was made, because the motor retainer won't budge at all, and it was this way right out of the package.
Quote:
Originally Posted by A Fish Named Wallyum
Is this the same retainer as in the Estes Jinx? Just this week I was able to get the motor out of the Jinx, which last flew almost a year ago in March, 2016. I turned the retainer with the screwdriver of a multi-tool until it was lined up in the exit position, then used the pliers to work the whole thing out. No way I could have done it with the little plastic tool they provide. If the Cruise Missile is made the same way, just resign yourself to the fact that this will be better off as a shelf queen. Made for looks, not function.
No, this model's (see: http://www.rocketreviews.com/cruise...tf---estes.html ) motor retainer ring doesn't have a slot for the plastic tool/launch controller key (which *disarmed* rather than ^armed^ the "Firing Line" launch controller's circuit when it was inserted), as the motor retainers in the Jinx (formerly the Vampire), Banshee, and X-15 did. The Cruise Missile's motor retainer is styled to look like a variable-area afterburner nozzle, which isn't scale but still looks nifty! (If Estes still has the molds for this RTF Cruise Missile model, I'd love to see them re-issue it [and the RTF "Mini Marz Lander," too].)
Quote:
Originally Posted by ghrocketman
WTH is this "Shelf Queen" concept you speak of ?

ALL model rockets should FLY at LEAST ONCE.
No Fly=NO GOOD.

Better to fly and POWR-PRANG CRASH than never to fly.

The ONLY POWR-PRANGS I have ever had though have been DELIBERATE ones. Best way to do that is to use a C6-7 or C6-5 in a multi-stager as a BOOSTER engine with the clay above the ejection charge broken up a bit.
The rocket WILL be pointed straight DOWN when the 2nd stage ignites.
POWR-PRANGG/LAWN-DART/CORE-SAMPLE TUBE-CRUMPLING FUN !!!!
Well...I suppose I -could- unfold the RTF ALCM's (Air-Launched Cruise Missile's) wings (and use putty or tape to lock them in the deployed position), mount it on a long, stable rocket, and fly it as a parasite boost-glider, although its narrow-chord swept wings would give it a very realistic power-off Lift/Drag ratio in its glide. Flying it over a soft, yielding surface (or maybe over a shallow, "wade-able" body of water, if the model will float [as should its water-proofed carrier rocket]) would be advisable! :-) (Actually, a larger-scale ALCM model made of lighter materials, and with wings that would deploy after the model reached apogee, would make a fine scale boost-glider kit.)


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