Estes Summer of Pro Series II
 

Received the following email text from Estes this afternoon. Others I am sure received it also.


PRO SERIES SNEEK PEEK

We are so excited to announce the Summer of Pro Series! We will have a bunch of products coming out this summer to support 29mm fans. Stay tuned because we are kicking it off next week with a great one! Get ready to launch this rocket and others this summer by grabbing some Estes engines below.

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No actual Pro Series rockets were mentioned, new or old, but sounds like some new ones will be released.

Anyone know?


Earl

Sounds like someone wants to sell some 29mm engines. I’m guessing we’ll see the So Long available next week.

The picture on the Estes company FB page shows the So Long in silhouette so I’d guess that’s our first release.

I plan to get that Great Goblin and Black Brant XII as soon as available.

Yeah, the Black Brant looks like a decent scale kit. I'd like to see a few more details about it, but it certainly looks interesting.

Earl

...from A.C.Supply....

I got in on the $12.75 DBRM deal April 1, so not likely to spend another $fitty for the Gobby kit. Would be cool if it has the printed nylon black parachute with Goblin on it that has been seen somewhere. If it's printed plastic like the DBRM, major skip.

Yeah, I have 3-inch tubing, several DBRM nose cones, a CNC router and laser printer decal paper. I'm good. In fact, I'm planning to print a geometrically accurate Goblin cone that's a true upscale of the latest PNC-55AO cone instead of using the DBRM cone. And will probably use the router to airfoil fin cores that will get glassed and bagged. And 38mm MMT. Sooo... I'm not exactly the target audience for the expected Estes kit anyway.

Same here.

The 4-inch nose cone for the Mega Max is available as a part on the site currently, along with some (slotted for three fins) 4-inch BT. Could do a Goblin from it if you were motivated.

ETA
Fin dims are here: https://www.oldrocketforum.com/show...58&postcount=33

That's the one I want to get.

The So Long is on the Estes site now

https://estesrockets.com/products/so-long

Looks like the streamers are plastic surveyor’s tape, which was probably inevitable but still disappointing but you do appear to get a nice looking decal set.

I get a 404 error now.

I just checked the 'coming soon' category at AC Supply (as well as the PS II listings) and none of those show (yet).

Anyone have any idea how the stages of the Too Long are coupled? Are the motors taped together?

It looks to me like they are pop-n-go couplers. But that is a guess

Before Estes realized the mistake and took down the premature So Long product page on their website the instructions showed the motors taped together.

Attached are pictures of a production Estes So Long kit.

The body tubes have a thicker/heavier wall.

It’s most likely BT-52H/29mm motor mount tube. When I first saw the pictures I thought maybe it was made up from BT-55 tube reinforced with a full length section of coupler tubing but using straight BT-52 tubes would definitely be lighter and strong enough for Estes 29mm BP motors.

Maybe, just MAYBE, Estes will also be releasing the "E60" coreburner motors, too ?

Dave F.

AC Supply . . . MUCH cheaper !

https://www.acsupplyco.com/so-long-...tes%20so%20long


https://www.apogeerockets.com/Model...et-Kits/So-Long

Hmm . . . $42.97 ( ABOVE Estes MSRP ) or $27.99 ? . . . Decisions, decisions, decisions .

Two So Long kits (and a few Q-Jets) ordered from AC Supply. I'm in pretty good shape with Estes motors that aren't carried at Hobby Lobby right now.

Thanks for letting us know they're in stock at AC.

So Long is in stock at ACSupply.

https://www.acsupplyco.com/so-long-model-rocket

The new "Ultimate Sanding Bar" looks like the Great Planes & Du-Bro units, to me.

Dave F.

So they're selling 220, 120, and 80 grit strips to go with that thing?

Have they forgotten how to build rockets in Penrose since they've been farming it all out to HCMBanjo?

Also, $8 for 14 inches of sandpaper, vs. $20 for 60 feet of adhesive-backed, 2.75-in wide quality paper on Amazon.

Check out the "Perma-Grit" Tungsten Carbide sanding blocks !

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Perma-Grit

Since Great Planes was also part of Hobbico, I expect it’s the same extrusion. However, it’s a different length in between the two smaller Great Planes units. At some point I’ll find out.

I do not know anything about the DuBro units.

If they're 30-off at AC Supply, it will be by far the best option for something like this in the market.

Agreed . . . I seriously doubt that Estes paid for a "custom extrusion", other than having it "cut to length".

They ARE 30% off . . . MSRP $39.99 . . . $27.99 at AC Supply !

The "Perma-Grit" sanding tools have several advantages . . . TUNGSTEN CARBIDE

(1) No sandpaper to replace or sticky residue from adhesive sandpaper sheets.

(2) They last for decades, when used on soft woods, like Balsa & Basswood.


https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Perma-Grit

Do they load up with primer, paint, and glue? That's what kills my sandpaper, even when wet sanding or cleaning frequently.

I picked one of these up from Scott Hunzicker at NARAM. It is NOT the same extrusion as the Great Planes unit. It's bigger and much heavier.

And actually I'm finding that the 120 grit that came with it is quite suitable for rounding the leading edges of the fins on the So Long I'm building right now.

Interesting. That will help it stay flatter, in case it is dropped, but it will also make it take a little more effort to use, and also mask dynamic variations in the feel as the abrasive cuts.

I'll definitely try it when ACS gets some in, but may end up thinking both is the right answer.

Yes, I'm using both as I'm working on this model. I just put fresh 150 on one of the small GP sanders and 220 on the other.

The Great Planes units are ~2 1/4 inches wide. The Estes one is 2 3/4 inches wide. I'm finding on Amazon that there are lots of rolls of sticky-back sandpaper that are 2 3/4 inches wide. So I'll just have to decide what one or two grits I will want for this thing in the long run, I guess.