Estes Rockets Model Scale 1:100 Replica of SpaceX Falcon 9

2015~2016 I spent some time with model rocketry, and SpaceX was very exciting to me at that time. I scratch-built a model Falcon 9 with the primary goal of actually using a cluster of 9 motors[1]. I had access to a friend&#x27;s 3d printer for the nose and landing legs. I ordered laser-cut parts for the motor mounts and other details like the grid-fins. I even printed out custom decals and spent some time on the paint job.<p>The timing worked out that I got to enter it in the local model rocketry club&#x27;s &quot;sport scale&quot; contest, and the judge dinged me for having windows--at that time there was no crew dragon that had flown. (I still won the contest).<p>The rocket has only flown once, but I still have it. Eight of the nine A10-3T motors lit, and the chute deployed just before hitting the ground. It really could use a shorter delay time but you don&#x27;t have many options with motors of that size.<p>I had ambitions of building a falcon heavy, but I really wanted the boosters to fall off and have the central core continue under thrust. Then I had kids and haven&#x27;t had time for rockets, but I still have hopes of doing that build--probably with high-power motors--at some point in the future.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;PBdyEmA" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;imgur.com&#x2F;PBdyEmA</a>

I loved Estes rockets as a kid. I grew up poor in a rural area in the late eighties&#x2F;early nineties, and kids could show up with rockets in strangers&#x27; fields. You usually knew if you needed permission, and it was always freely granted. While I still live in a small town (not my hometown), I find the culture has changed a lot, and it&#x27;s much more difficult to find somebody with adequate space who will give you permission to light off rockets. And that&#x27;s with parental supervision. In my experience, the days of eleven year old boys with rocket kits are largely over. Just another sad facet of a changing America. I&#x27;m old.

Man, they&#x27;re hosing folks on the price here. Twice the cost of their Saturn V; most of the rockets are $20-40. It&#x27;s a cardboard tube with some plastic molding.

&gt; This scale model rocket can lift payloads to LEO and geosynchronous orbits, or even to Mars.<p>Someone needs to do some copy editing hehe, as they seem to be confusing the scale model for the real thing.

If you want to try your hand at building one yourself Apogee has downloadable plans and a parts list: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apogeerockets.com&#x2F;Falcon-9-Crew-Dragon-Plan" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.apogeerockets.com&#x2F;Falcon-9-Crew-Dragon-Plan</a>

At that price it should land too (shout out to BPS)! I am shocked it took them this long to release a Falcon model. And no Falcon Heavy either.

I&#x27;m quite tempted to buy three and try and hack together a Heavy.

What are the regulations around flying these? I remember doing it as a kid, but I could also walk to the store as a kid and play unsupervised with fireworks.

This is awesome. Definitely miss building and launching these as a kid. Hope young people are inspired to be builders and have interest in space and flight!

I love launching rockets with my 11 year old but it&#x27;s so hard to find a good spot these days where you don&#x27;t end up with a police visit (that happened, worked out fine) or a risk of starting a wildfire, etc.

Oh man, my father and I used to shoot model rockets off as a kid. I recall losing one on the roof of the local Middle School once and I thought it was the coolest ever.<p>This price is a little steep, in my opinion.

Man, I miss model rocketry.<p>Around 2010 in Ireland the motors became virtually unobtainable - there were a handful of shops importing them, and one day they stopped as customs had seized their stock.<p>Apparently what was a growing hobby with puff pieces in national media was now gone because someone decided to classify the motors as fireworks (illegal, under the same laws that ban importing your own Semtex).<p>There was a national rocketry club that managed to import motors for a few more years for club launches, but that seems to have fizzled out a few years back with the loss of their launch site.<p>So many good memories of trying to build my own rocket bodies, trying to get fins cut from balsa wood aligned, doing math, painting the things, etc. Estes have a whole guide on building em yourself. Then going down to some field and launching it, seeing if it worked, etc...

I <i>just</i> got my kids their first model rocket. This might have to be their second.

Anyone know what’s the fuel combination of Estes? I live in a country where shipping this is probably impossible. As a high schooler I was very keen on rocketry, we ended up cobbling one using a deodorant can as the body, a slurry of potassium permanganate and sulphur or sugar as the fuel (which was hypergolic at the wrong times) and an igniter which was a trail of the same fuel about 30 cm long. They’d take off and explode about 3m up (burn rate?). It was stupid and fun but the chemistry teacher killed it as soon as they became aware of it. Good times though.

This looks great and is at a reasonable price. I tried to buy it but it only ships to Guam, Puerto Rico and U.S. whereas I&#x27;m abroad now. I got as far as the checkout though. Nice homage and looks fun to play with.

I built and launched countless model rockets as a kid and a month ago took my son out with my dad to relive the experience and it was downright magical.<p>Beyond that I&#x27;m really happy to see this model simply because it&#x27;s REALLY HARD to find toy or model SpaceX rockets.<p>Science stores and museums are still packed full of the same old space shuttle and rocket models and toys that were there in the 90s which is kind of ridiculous considering we have way cooler rockets now and the space shuttle has been retired for over a decade.<p>The official SpaceX store only sells t-shirts and hoodies.

The page states:<p><pre><code> &gt; The SpaceX Falcon 9 is the world’s first human-rated reusable launch vehicle. </code></pre> Was not the Space Shuttle a human-rated reusable launch vehicle?

I loved model rocketry as a kid. They even did it at my school (I won a contest in my class!) until a kid’s rocket landed on a neighboring house’s roof and burned it down.

Just to chime in among all the other nostalgia stories, I think I remember getting started with these in Boy Scouts and had an absolute blast with them. I enjoyed assembling, painting, and then launching these things. The ones I started with didn&#x27;t go that high and were easy to retrieve. I just hope it&#x27;s still possible to do these things with my child one day.

Can it land on a spot though.

Most impressive to me was the model rocket that lands.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=SH3lR2GLgT0">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=SH3lR2GLgT0</a>

I feel like any of us with a 3d printer will only have need of the rocket engines, some igniters, and a fast car to stay ahead of the law.

I remember getting one a decade ago for like $30. It wasn&#x27;t as detailed, though.

I would love to load a D12 into this baby and see how high it would go!

bummer, it doesn&#x27;t land itself.