Estes - Firestreak SST {Kit} (806) [2004-2008]

Estes Firestreak SST

Estes - Firestreak SST {Kit} (806) [2004-2008]

Contributed by Karl Kalbaugh

Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Diameter:	0.86 inches
Length:	10.20 inches
Manufacturer:	Estes
Skill Level:	1
Style:	Sport

Brief:

A very simple ARF rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Plastic snap together construction. Avast! This would make an excellent first rocket for younger rocketeers or for a low altitude demo.

Rocket Pic Construction:

Inner body tube: Paper. External airframe is plastic.

Fins: four pre-screen printed with art.

Motor mount: intnerior small paper tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Also houses t' streamer and engine.

Nose cone: also plastic. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Snaps together like t' rest o' t' airframe and comes in 2 halves.

Engine retainer ring: Is a bit tricky t' use as it turns then locks onto t' airframe. Arrr! Very easy t' break. Begad! Begad! Fortunately, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, arrr, our kits contain two o' these rings.

Construction took about 1/2 hours with me son. Avast, me proud beauty! No special tools needed although some muscle is needed t' snap t' body tube together snugly. I opted t' use plastic cement on t' nose cone halves t' keep it firmly together.

Finishing:

Finishin' be with a full body self-adhesive decal. Ahoy! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Decal application is required as it helps t' hold t' outer plastic airframe together. Arrr! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Final look is a high gloss purple rocket with orange flames. Arrr! Blimey! Perfect "kid colors"

Construction Rating: 4

Flight:

We flew this rocket on 1/2A3-4Ts. Blimey! This put t' rocket up about 80 feet or so. Avast, me proud beauty! Very smooth straight flight with ejection at apogee and landed perhaps 20 feet from launch pad every time.

Waddin' or dog barf is a must. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' inner tube made packin' t' streamer and shock cord a bit tight. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I was afraid it be in too tight, matey, but t' ejection charge handled it fine.

Recovery:

Shock cord be attached betwixt t' plastic outer airframe and t' inner tube. Nay your conventional method. Avast! Assemblin' t' recovery system be t' most complicated part o' this kit. Begad! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Streamer be so tightly packed that when it come out for recovery, it stayed somewhat crumpled.

We did experience slight singin' on t' shockcord and streamer.

Flight Rating: 3

Summary:

This is a simple build and would be excellent for kids. If you don't want a pure RTF rocket, this is a nice intermediate step.

Overall Rating: 4

Other Reviews

Estes Firestreak SST By John A (December 30, 2020)
Estes Firestreak SST is part of Estes snap together line. These are simple plastic body, plastic fin and nose cone rockets that are designed to go together in a matter of minutes and get you out on the field flying. Overall it is a pretty nice kit. I can't leave anything alone so I went ahead and made some tweaks during assembly. While this kit isn't perfect, it will get ...
Estes Firestreak SST By Chris Tarpley
This rocket from Estes is a "Simple Snap Together" kit that can be quickly assembled and flown. It is a single stage, streamer recovery rocket. There are few pieces to this rocket. There are two body tube halves, one motor tube, four fins, nose cone, shock cord, motor retainer and streamer. I purchased this rocket one Saturday morning to cure boredom. I was looking for a small, ...
Estes Fire Streak By Spinal
(Reprinted, with permission from Spinal's Fun & Hobbies Page---http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/3913) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Company: Estes Price: $11.89 Series: BETA Rating: (*)(*)(*)(*)(*) Engines: 1/2A6-2, A8-3, A8-5, B4-4, B4-6, B6-4, B6-6, B8-5, C5-3, C6-3, C6-5 Nosecone: Plastic ...

Flights

Comments:

D.C. (March 28, 2004)

This is not a very good rocket. It does fly nice, straight and high on A103T's but the shock cord keeps getting ripped out inside. First time I used their through-the-side knot method but on the second launch it yanked that right out. Nose cone was lost for a few days while I looked for it.. Next time around I used a tri fold inside that tiny body tube. First launch ok, second one it just broke the cord where it goes into the fold mount. This launch also resulted in the engine blocking lugs breaking loose. Rocket is under repairs at this moment. I don't think I would recommend it to anyone.

M.M. (November 7, 2004)

My 9 yr old purchased this rocket on the way to a launch. He assembled it in the backseat of the car (no gluing allowed back there!) and only needed help with extra pressure on the main body tube snaps. He flew it on A10-3Ts in a 10mph wind and had a great time. The two items he found to be a problem: the retention piece was too tight for him to secure and the wadding, streamer, shock cord had a tough time fitting inside the tube and having the nose cone fit securely on the body.

L.M. (May 7, 2007)

Discontinue this rocket, Estes.. Don't they test these things? I bought it so my son would have something he could help me build, but I ended up doing all of the building myself. When I was constructing it, it looked so flimsy and weak I knew I would only get 3-4 flights out of it, so I bought a pack of A3-4t's. I ended up getting about half a flight. One of the little notches in the side of the inner body tube (that the plastic tabs poke through) was forced open by gases from the ejection charge, causing the rocket to explode. I'm mailing the remains to Estes.

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