Estes Cruise Missile (RTF)

Estes - Cruise Missile {Kit}

Contributed by Bubba Sligar

Construction Rating: starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstar_borderstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstarstar_borderstar_border
Manufacturer: Estes
Skill Level: 1
Style: RTF

Brief:
This rocket, like its older Estes and Centuri brothers, me bucko, is based on t' AGM-86 A.L.C.M. Ya scallywag! Cruise Missile. Although it isn't 18mm, it sure get's up there! (Estes should have made it 18mm, trade-off in a RTF world.)

Construction:
This is a Ready-to-Fly model. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' only thin' that I would CON about it is that the shock cord wasn't long enough, and that t' 13mm motor wasn't adequate power for this plastic wonder.

Construction Rating: 2 out o' 5

Flight:
When I flew t' A.L.C.M., on its first flight t' shock cord snapped t' nose cone into one o' t' fins. Ahoy! Blimey! After I fixed that with epoxy, matey, t' other superglue, it flew okay except that t' motor rin' kind o' started t' melt. Ya scallywag! A tip would be to put in a motor tube{13mm}, me hearties, otherwise after 4 flights, me bucko, it's goin' t' go into retirement. I plan on gettin' one more t' modify and see what happens!

Recovery:
Not countin' t' fin breakin' and after puttin' in a longer shock cord, it recovered better.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
Pro: Pre-made, me bucko, ya bilge rat, RTF, and cool looking.
Con: Short shock cord, 13mm powered, and goin' t' replaced after 4-5 flights. Well, blow me down!

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5

UPDATE: 02/03/00 After buyin' 1 more RTF CM, I took a 13mm tube [Estes BT-5] and cut it t' length with t' 'motor compartment', me bucko, me bucko, took a round metal file and sanded around t' 'motor braces', super glued t' new motor tube in there, me bucko, then grinded t' 'motor retainin' nozzle' t' fit over t' 13mm tube. Ahoy! After that and a coat of primer gray and new decals, it looks like t' C.A.L.C.M.

Other Reviews
  • Estes Cruise Missile (RTF) By Eric Truax

    Single stage, all plastic rocket with the screw on plastic back to hold the motor in. The rocket is all plastic, with the standard elastic shock cord. 3 molded fins. Construction is really straight forward. The only bug in the ointment I had is that my kit came as a 2 set with a Maverick Missile. I bought the kit at Wal-Mart and the whole thing was under 8 dollars. It's made of a plastic ...

  • Estes Cruise Missile By Chan Stevens

    I'm almost ashamed to admit having an RTF in my fleet, but this rocket actually looks pretty cool and flies much better than any other RTF I've seen lately. With a half-off coupon and already owning everything else in the store, I just couldn't walk away empty handed and picked this up for about $6. The rocket is all plastic, with "menacing" decals already applied and a 12" chute. ...

Flights

Comments:

avatar
D.B.Jr. (June 1, 2001)
I normally hate RTF. I first bought this rocket when I saw it at a local Wal-Mart, I was impressed with the styling and knew I had to have it. The first launch took place after a heavy rainfall earlier in the day. The rocket acually landed in a big mud puddle. After removing the motor, I left it open to let the wet shock cord and parachute dry. Because of the all plastic construction absolutely nothing was ruined. A good kit to fly on wet ground.

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