Estes helicopter recovery rocket, offered as more of a competition style kit. Sized to fly on 13mm “Mini” A motors. The rotor blades require shaping, and the attach points are constructed from multiple laser cut cardboard pieces. An enjoyable build, something definitely outside the norm for Estes, and hopefully not the last such project.
| Flight Date: | 2018-10-06 |
| Rocket Name: | Estes Mini A Heli |
| Kit Name: | Estes - Mini "A" Heli {Kit} (7272) |
| Flyer's Name: | Matthew Bond |
| Motors: | A10-3 |
| Wind Speed: | 3.00 mph |
| Launch Site: | SEARS |
First Flight of the new Estes helicopter model. Decent boost, pretty straight off the rod. Ejection charge went off at apogee but the rotor blades did not deploy. Rocket tipped over and proceeded to dive back to the field and stick nose first into the dirt. Luckily the field we were on had been recently plowed and the rocket suffered no real damage. Upon inspection the burn string had burned and released as designed, but I had not routed the rubber bands for the blades properly so they never had enough leverage to open the blades (this can be seen in the pre-launch photo). There is a small hump in the hinge that the rubber band must be routed over to give them enough leverage. Lesson learned.
| Stage | Motor(s) |
|---|---|
| 1 | Estes A10T-3 |
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