Blue Ninja E2X Model Rocket Kit

Great rocket, low price and fast shipping. Hopefully it lasts for many flights

This is a simple-to-assemble kit and is a great introduction to 24mm motors. It features a nice fin system that assures straight fins and also has a simple plastic motor retainer to fit in your motors. You can easily build this kit in an hour or so and be out on the field to launch in no time. It is a really good kit for smaller kids to help with since the large parts and assembly method allows them to help and not lose interest while building. The size of the rocket makes for a great demonstration bird for a moderate-to-large sized field. The C-11 sized motors give it a nice slow boost and keep the altitude low enough to recover in a soccer or baseball field. The D-12 motor gets the rocket to 700-800 feet and is easy to track the whole way - you just need to make sure that you have the recovery room as it tends to drift a bit further than expected. A great rocket with only one catch - you cannot use any of the reloadable motors in this due to the plastic motor retainer. However, this rocket is more suited to the C-11 and D-12 rocket motors anyhow and the recommended motors yield great flights.

My son and I have been flying this rocket for 2 seasons now. I liked how it came prepainted and utilized a (preslotted) fin canister for fin mounting along with a twist on motor retainer. All of these are real time savers for working with small kids who are still learning to build models. The trade off is extra weight, which you will notice immediately if you compare it to a similar size rocket with surface mounted fins, even if they are made out of birch ply. We replaced the plastic chute with a lightweight nylon version and the elastic shock cord for a non elastic nylon version that was about 2.5 times as long. The model went together nicely with the exception of one fin that was slightly out of spec for it to fit into the slot, or vice versa but we made it work. We have flown it on many D12-5's, usually as the first flight to test the winds. Lately my son has been opting for using an Aerotech E20-7W composite motor on days with little wind when we can launch vertical. This little composite motor is perfect for this rocket given it's heft. The 7 second delay puts it right at apogee for ejection. One thing to note is that the motor retainer will not fit over the composite motor nozzle so the motor needs to be friction fitted using masking tape. Alas, on the last flight, the chute tangled resulting in a hard landing which crumpled the body tube just above the motor mount. We will buy a new Ninja and use the nose cone for building a scratch Der Red Max as the nose cone is identical. The fin assembly will be used in another project as well. Jamie