| Construction Rating: | starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border |
| Flight Rating: | starstarstarstar_borderstar_border |
| Overall Rating: | starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border |
| Published: | 2013-04-11 |
| Diameter: | 2.60 inches |
| Length: | 22.40 inches |
| Manufacturer: | Estes  |
| Skill Level: | 3 |
| Style: | Scale |
Brief
A semi-scale, D and E motor powered model of the German V2 Rocket
Components
Plastic nose and tail cones, balsa fins.
Construction
This kit is lacking in several aspects. As a 40-plus year veteran of rocketry, I've seen far better instructions that came with Estes kits of years past. I've noticed a severe decline in the quality of the instructions included with many Estes kits, this one included.
There were also pronounced seams in the nose and tail cones which never used to be as much an issue with the older Estes kits.
Having to cut the slots in the tail cone for the fins was a sure disappointment!! This is one area that I really think Estes could have given more objective thought and supplied a tail cone that had pre-slotted fin slots.
Finishing
The balsa fins supplied with the kit are of decent quality and finishing was fairly easy. This is one aspect of building such a model that requires patience.
Flight
Flew well on a D12-3 motor.
Recovery
The supplied parachute worked well and recovery was successful.
Summary
Pros: Good quality balsa fins
Good flight characterisitcs.
Cons: Instructions severely lacking in clarity in certain areas.
Extremely annoying to have to cut out the fin slots in the tail cone. This is something that Estes should have supplied pre-slotted.
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Flights
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Steve Lindeman (April 15, 2013)
I agree that a preslotted tail cone wold have been better as I had a minor issue with mine that required a lot of filling to fix. Instructions were poor and they had a "Gotcha" in the engine mount assembly that required me to send an email to Estes asking for replacement of the engine tube and centering rings. Body tube to tail cone fit was horrible, barely able to hide it under the decal. Very disapointed that they are Chinesse made kits. Maybe they should go back to American made so they can control quality better. Otherwise the balsa was first rate and it's a great flier once built.
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Hans "Chris" Michielssen (April 12, 2013)
I didn't find it hard to cut the fin slots in the tail cone, just a little time consuming. The nose and tail cone was from the old V2 kit # 1926 from 1984 - 87.
The instructions use very little copy so they can distribute worldwide with no language barrier. I prefer more descriptive copy too, but I understand why Estes has gone to this format.
Considering the size of the model, I thought the price was very reasonable and would have rated it higher than a 2.