Ye Olde Rocket Forum - View Single Post - Estes Space X Falcon 9 ad w/ price

Quote:

Originally Posted by astronwolf

My experience with these scale RTF offerings from Estes is limited to the Saturn V. It was kind of fun to fly, but the C6-3 doesn't boost it very well. The first flight was familiar sort of under-powered looping flight that had me imagining $50 worth of small plastic bits for me to pick up, but the parachute came out after a 1-2 heart pounding seconds. I never bothered to burn one of those Quest motors to see if it flew any better. I flew it twice and now it sits among all the other clutter on my work bench.

What did I expect? Pretty much what I got. I'll fly it again sometime. I still have some leftover D21 motors. For the $50 price tag, I think I would pass. I didn't get the SLS or Blue Origin because, even though the subject matter is very interesting, the execution is probably more of the same "RTF" experience. That doesn't mean at all that these products "suck" or that they are "a rip off." They just don't offer the kind of rocketry experience that I look for in model rocketry.

So now here is the Falcon 9, another injection molded RTF product that seems to offer the same "RTF" experience. Having recent experience with these kinds of models combined the inflated price tag sticks in my craw. Triple the price? Clearly there is something different here. I finally read Thomas Beach's product review in the Nov/Dec 2022 issue of Sport Rocketry. I was hoping that his review might reveal that there might be more than meets the eye here. But no. "The flight was stable and the model landed near the launch pads..." The model does have a cardboard inner lining, which is nice. Thomas had a photo of the 1:100 Falcon 9 displayed with other 1:100 scale models, and it was a pretty sight. This is probably the best use for the Falcon 9 - a display model. It is a very good looking scale model. I'm sure that Estes and SpaceX will sell all of them.

The clear plastic fin unit that comes with the Saturn V is available separately from Estes, and makes for a ready-made clear fin unit for any modeler who wants to build finless scale models. That's a nice spinoff from these RTF products. I imagined using one to build a sport scale Thor missile.

Agree... not really interested in RTF at this point. I'd rather scratch build, and considering kit prices, that's mostly what I do. I'll get around to my own Falcon 9 at some point.

I got in on the special price they had on the Estes Saturn V years ago ($99 bucks IIRC) and ended up with two-- the one they sent the morons delivered it and left it on the front steps in a full-on monsoon rain-- we were in Indiana and my nephew who was living with us at the time called me after work when he got home and finally saw it, asked what to do... I had him bring it in, open the box, and stand all the tubes up over the heater vents in various parts of the house to dry them out. I called whomever I bought it from that was doing the specials at the time and they sent me another kit free, which was delivered PROPERLY. I managed to salvage the one with little/no apparent damage, the tubes were dry when we got home a week later as they'd had plenty of heater cycles blowing warm air up the tubes to dry. Who knows about the longevity though...

Anyway, not really interested in RTF. Not really interested in ANY rocket at $150 bucks +, I know my craftsmanship skills and I can do better at a lower price in the end, even if it takes me longer... Oh well...