Monday, March 27, 2017

Coming Soon from Estes

This is the one John Boren was hinting about -  All one color, a nose cone you couldn't turn on a lathe and plenty of decals.
The Starship Nova is on the "Coming Soon" page on the Estes website: CLICK HERE
Also listed is a skill level 3 folded "paper" model called the Hex-3. This should be a low altitude, small field model.

Another bring back is the Air Walker, a single stage, clear payload rocket that reminds me of the Quest Payloader One. The Air Walker has a body tube diameter of 1.1". So what body tube size would that be?

Three kits and a bulk pack listed in the Coming Soon section might mean some older models could end up in the clearance page.
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9 comments:

  1. LonnieMarch 27, 2017 at 10:49 PM

    Starship Nova...I figured it was going to be that or the Blackbird.

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    1. Chris MichielssenMarch 29, 2017 at 10:43 AM

      Hi Lonnie,
      I doubt Estes would bring back the Blackbird. it was a terribly hard kit to assemble. I wonder how many of those were started then shoved into a closet or thrown away.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousMarch 27, 2017 at 11:48 PM

    About the tubing....that's likely HBT-1090, which Estes used in the early/mid 90's in a buttload of E2Xish rockets.

    Starship Nova is neato, but even back in the day, I thought it should have been BT55 based instead.

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    Replies
    1. Chris MichielssenMarch 28, 2017 at 11:28 AM

      Hi Anonymous,
      Now that I'm home I had the chance to check the Ninfinger catalogs. I thought the 1.1" tube might be a leftover from Centuri but that tube wasn't listed in their old catalogs.

      Delete
  3. AnonymousMarch 28, 2017 at 3:20 PM

    I believe 30mm Quest tubes are near 1.1 inches

    Mike Ruf

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  4. BAR GeezerMarch 28, 2017 at 6:15 PM

    Could be either Semroc series 11 or Quest T30, although the technical specs listed on the Airwalker page says (28 mm) after the 1.1 in.

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  5. BAR GeezerMarch 28, 2017 at 6:43 PM

    After further research it appears that Anonymous is right re: the HBT-1090 tube. Used in the Dragonite. Specs are 1.1 in. (28 mm) also. Probably of Chinese manufacture.

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    Replies
    1. Chris MichielssenMarch 29, 2017 at 10:41 AM

      Hi BAR,
      I've only built one of the older kits that used the 1090 tube. I did like the thicker walls on that tubing, much stronger than the standard BT-50.

      Delete
  6. Bernard CawleyMarch 29, 2017 at 7:09 PM

    I have an unopened Airwalker starter set that I acquired as part of my eBay collecting of older GSE a year and a half ago. It lists the body diameter as 1.0 inches and I was thinking about the heavy-walled tubing (for example, current Dark Zero). I may just have to open it up to satisfy my curiosity and answer Bob Sanford's question posted on YORF about the payload section lengths seeming to be different between old and new....

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