Back in 1978 I had an unfortunate habit of buying rockets and losing them on the first flight. The Estes Wizard was the first of these rockets. Mine came in a Deluxe Starter Set that I got as a birthday present. I built the Alpha Friday night, painted it on Saturday, (white spray paint and red and black bottle paint that was still tacky when I loaded the engine,) and flew it on a C6-5 after church on Sunday. The calm winds on the ground weren't any indicator of what was blowing up higher, and my Aplha was last seen floating off into a grove of trees on the back side of the Northern Kentucky University campus. Years later I'd park in a parking lot near where those trees were, and I always thought of the Alpha. In the years since I've flown Alpha IIs, IIIs, IVs, and a Super Alpha. It's a great design that translates well up and down. It's a great place to start honing your skills.

I've been into rocketry for almost two decades, and I have built and flown many Alphas over the years. This a great first real builder kit, especially for kids, when you are ready to step up from the E2X stuff. It is a simple, straightforward three fins and a nose cone rocket that looks good on display and in flight. I recommend that younger rocketeers try building this kit before other Skill Level 1 kits like the Yankee or Wizard. While those kits are fairly simple to build as well, their components are a little smaller sometimes a little more difficult to position and work with. Plus, those kits go really high even with an A8-3! Depending on where you intend to fly, this might limit your engine selection as well as reduce the chance of you getting your rocket back. The Alpha can use a wide range of engines from a 1/2A6-2 all the way to a C6-7. It is great for school playgrounds and small parks with an A engine. At the top end, a C engine will put it at or about 1000 feet. Building this kit is simple and teaches the fundamentals of model rocketry. It can easily be built in an afternoon by a novice. Flying it is fun and you have great engine selection to choose from. When built correctly, it is a reliable performer. At least one of these deserves to be in every fleet! TIP: Use a snap swivel to attach the parachute to the nose cone. Not only does this help prevent tangles, but it also make the Alpha more flexible. You can very quickly remove the parachute and attach a 24-30 streamer to this rocket for high altitude flights and recovery on small fields!

I built my first model rocket in the early 80's, the classic Alpha. Now, my nine year old daughter just got her first model rocket kit: you guessed it, the same as Dad's, the Estes Alpha. Her eyes grew with anticipation as we scoped a couple of launch areas before getting home and letting her get started on construction. Here were the ground rules: SHE built it, not Dad. Yes, I was there to supervise, but I wanted her to do the work, from reading the instructions in detail, to explaining what she was going to do, to then actually performing the construction task. What I probably could have done in one day, took her a few days (given she couldn't work on it during school), but now it's ready and she's raring to go to our selected launch site and get the same thrill I had 30 some odd years ago. This is a great little kit for first timers. I may even get another one so I can join the flight fun, too.