Estes Cosmic Cobra

Estes - Cosmic Cobra {Kit} (1262) [2002-2008]

Contributed by Jared Elliott

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Diameter: 1.33 inches
Length: 19.50 inches
Manufacturer: Estes
Skill Level: 1
Style: Helicopter

Brief:
This is an E2X kit single stage with parachute for t' body and helicopter recovery for t' nosecone.

Construction:
T' kit consists o' a pre-molded fin/MMT unit, 12" plastic parachute, single BT-60 tube, arrr, and plastic nose cone.

This is an easy kit t' assemble. Begad! Begad! Instructions are straightforward and easy to follow. Aye aye! Assembly can take betwixt 30 minutes or so, dependin' on the modeler's abilities. Begad! T' Cosmic Cobra is a very sturdy kit with pre-colored body tube and self-adhesive decals. Avast! Blimey! T' molded plastic fins feature an integrated MMT. Ya scallywag! T' engine is retained by a twist lock retainer. Ahoy! Assembly is straightforward with little use for a hobby knife. I used Testor's plastic cement t' assemble t' fins/MMT section. Aye aye! Blimey! You can probably use CA t' assemble the unit, shiver me timbers, but I chose nay t' out o' concern that it might be too brittle. Ahoy! The nose cone has a blade rin' that attaches where t' chute/shock cord normally would. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! T' fins are made o' flexible plastic and are easily attached. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! T' kit comes with small rubber bands that cause t' blades t' extend when t' NC is ejected from t' rocket. Begad! I used thick CA t' attach t' blade rin' t' the nosecone. Arrr! T' launch lug is a molded plastic piece that is glued t' t' body tube at 6.5" from t' aft end o' t' rocket. Begad! I used Testor's plastic cement t' attach t' lug t' t' body tube and after some time, I checked t' see if it was adhered properly however it snapped off with ease. I then used thick CA t' attach it after scrapin' some o' t' leftover cement, arrr, and after about 10 minutes, ya bilge rat, all be well. Ahoy! Aye aye! T' shock cord attaches with t' usual tri-fold method and connects t' t' chute via a loop a t' end.

Finishing:
Just apply t' self-adhesive decal and you are done! Blimey! All left is load t' motor and launch. Begad! Blimey! T' rocket looks good with t' fins forward swept. Arrr! Blimey! With its black and yellow scheme, it's an eye catcher.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
If moderate t' high winds are normal for your area, I recommend cuttin' the spill hole from t' center o' t' chute as it may drift away. Arrr! I used 6 squares of waddin' for me first launch and it may have been too much. Avast! First launch is with a B6-4 and an approximate altitude o' 125 feet. My observation concludes that 6 squares is too much for this rocket.

T' second flight was on a C6-3. Aye aye! Arrr! This flight was perfect. Well, blow me down! T' rocket went straight up and ejection was just after apogee. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I estimate this flight be at around 300 feet. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! I used 4 squares o' waddin' on this flight and also placed the chute into t' blades without rollin' it up. Ya scallywag! I'm nay sure but I think this method is nay t' best due t' 3 shroud lines rippin' from t' holes in the chute. Begad! Begad!

Recovery:
I also recommend foldin' t' blades for t' nosecone around t' chute due to the fact that on me first launch t' chute be burned away completely and the rocket recovered without a chute. Blimey! T' kit is o' sound structure so this wasn't a concern as it recovered without damage. Ahoy! It may however take damage if it were to land on a hard surface like concrete or asphalt. T' nosecone recovered smoothly just like on t' package, arrr, spinnin' fast and soft landing.

T' nose cone recovered perfect each flight. Arrr! On t' first flight, shiver me timbers, the nosecone was tip down on descent and t' second flight it be tip up. Aye aye! Begad! No damage to t' rubber bands so far. T' shock cord is holdin' up well after 2 flights. I replaced t' stock rubber one for a longer piece made o' polyester/rubber. T' overall assembly o' this kit is a snap. Avast! T' parachute shroud lines were burned into on t' first flight for unknown reasons. Arrr! On t' second flight the shroud lines were torn from t' holes in 3 places. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! T' chute be lost on the first flight. Aye aye! Begad! No meltin' o' t' chute on t' second flight. Arrr! Aye aye! T' blades on the nosecone are holdin' up nicely. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' second flight led t' nosecone t' land in the middle o' t' street with no damage.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a good kit for those who are new t' this hobby. Begad! Ya scallywag! I recommend this one.

PROs: ease o' assembly, ease o' finishing.

CONs: t' blades on t' nosecone protrude into t' body tube in a manner that it pushes t' parachute close t' t' motor. Avast! Avast! If nay enough waddin' is used, it will either melt t' chute or sever t' shroud lines. Wrappin' t' chute in a couple squares o' waddin' could possibly alleviate this problem. I also recommend cuttin' t' spill hold from t' chute t' reduce drift. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' kit is strong enough t' handle t' landings.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5

Other Reviews
  • Estes Cosmic Cobra By Wendy Hartmann (September 13, 2013)

    Launched five times successfully after packing modification. Components Parachute would not deploy if I packed it how the directions indicated.  Instead of folding the parachute down to the bottom I folded it in half two more times to makea narrow triangle shape.  Then I tucked this long version in the blades attached to the nose cone.  The end of the parachute ...

  • Estes Cosmic Cobra By David Sindel

    Brief: The Cosmic Cobra is a low power rocket that recovers in 2 pieces: the nose cone returns on helicopter-like blades and the body tube recovers by parachute. Construction: The kit contains: 1 12" yellow body tube 2 piece fin can nose cone with 3 helicopter blades 12" chute This kit was easy to build and took less than one hour to complete. ...

  • Estes Cosmic Cobra By Greg Deeter

    Editor's Note: This review does not consider the helicopter portion of the rocket. This is one of the new ones from Estes. This kit seemed to to yelling "STREAMER" to me. The plastic forward swept fins are strong, and just seem perfect for streamer recovery. So, I took the helicopter parts and put them away for a later day. This reduced the weight, so now my Cosmic Cobra is only 2.4 oz ...

  • Estes Cosmic Cobra By Bill Eichelberger

    The Cosmic Cobra is a combination parachute/helicopter recovery rocket. The nose cone ejects and returns via a rubber band actuated, 3 blade rotor system while the rest of the rocket returns by the more conventional parachute method. While the Cosmic Cobra model itself is new, the idea isn’t, having been done previously by the Estes Heliocopter and HeliCat.   In true E2X ...

Flights

Comments:

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G.A.D. (September 3, 2002)
We have had a hard time figuring out how to get a good clean deployment from this rocket. On the first flight the nosecone separated but the ?copter blades barely had time to fold out. The parachute was partially melted and failed to deploy fully. The second flight was a good one. On the third flight the combination of chute and ?copter blades was too much to eject and it lawn-darted. [Note to EMRR, I'll send a Pic] I'm considering how rebuild this for more consistent ejection. I may lengthen the body tube and use a piston of some sort.
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J.R. (December 11, 2003)
I think this is an excellent rocket. It's fun to fly and watch this rocket's recovery. Especially on a C6-5. The parachute melting annoyed me a lot though.
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unknown (December 18, 2003)
This is a great rocket. But it's basically a E2X version of the Hyper X.
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F.H. (April 6, 2004)
The picture above looks EXACTLY like mine after just one flight. Everything just packs way too tight. If Estes replaces this kit I will build it with a streamer to reduce the amount of stuff to pack into the body tube.
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B.A. (March 8, 2006)
Once you get the knack of how to lead the blades and a chute, this is a great rocket. All of the kids love it, and I've had the nosecone take over 2 minutes to come down at times.
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M.S. (October 23, 2006)
After a couple of failures using the rotors, we have scrapped the helicopter retrieval completely and added a streamer to all 3 Cosmic Cobras that my kids own. Much easier to load and higher percentage of recovery. We have flown one of the Cobras at least 15 times. They all look like they will last a long time. With less weight, a C motor makes a really nice flight!
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J.G. (June 15, 2008)
This rocket is what I refer to as a "Titanic". Very first flight was also its last flight. I read the flight logs and reviews prior to flying this, and for some reason, thought mine was going to work. It didn't. There is just too much stuff to cram into a BT-56 tube here. Others that witnessed the ballistic arc that our rocket did (when ejection charge failed to even get the nosecone out) said "that must have been a Cosmic Cobra". Tells you something. The suggestions we got were that this rocket needs to be "stretched". We concur. A longer body tube will allow for chute to be packed underneath the folded helicopter blades. Stay tuned in the mods section.
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G.P. (June 25, 2008)
I'm not sure why some people are having trouble with this rocket - I've had good recovery every time. The trick is to fold and roll the parachute in a long wedge so that it fits inside the rotors. This was my mom's favorite of all my rockets - she loved watching the rotor/nose cone deploy and autogyro down.
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C.G. (July 2, 2008)
As G.P. said, you need to fold the parachute rather flat and place it between the rotors. My daughter has one and has never had a bad deployment. However, the nose cone doesn't spin all that well in the default build; it starts to spin, then flips over, then starts to spin again, and so on. I resolved this by putting a few grams (probably around 15) of weight in the tip of the nosecone, enticing it to remain pointed downward for a more satisfying spin.

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