Big Daddy 'E' Model Rocket Kit

I have built several of these kits and they are awesome! The kit goes together more like a mid-power kit than a low-power model rocket. The fins are slotted through the body tube wall and attach to the engine tube for extra strength. The giant 3 inch nose cone is very thick and over-all the design is very strong. I do recommend the Estes E12 over the E9 (the E9 REALLY CHUGS off the launch pad and if your lunch rod is not exactly vertical you risk a lawn dart!) and always use the shortest delays possible! I modified mine with new laminated balsa fins to look like a fatter version of the old Estes Goblin - Flies well and looks good!

I'm on my second Big Daddy, not because my first one died, but because I wanted to make a Der Grosse Vati out of the Excelsior kit. My first one was the original D powered BD. A D was definitely too much for the field I normally fly on, but that didn't stop me from flying the BD there several times. After the last flight where it wound up on a neighboring roof, I decided I needed to find a bigger field. (The homeowner let me use his ladder to get it down, so I cleaned his gutters while I was up there.) Next flight was at a club launch at field not much bigger than my field, but it was a straight up, straight down flight. Literally. The Daddy came in ballistic out near where the cars were parked, almost skewering a Mazda. (The owner thought it would have been cool.) The Daddy suffered greatly from the impact with the nose cone base shattered and the body tube compressed, but it could still fly today if I wanted to bring it out of retirement. The new E-powered Daddy is a nice upgrade if you have a field big enough to hold it. This kit is Estes done right.

Haven't flown yet but it was an excellent fun build. A friend sent me an additional set of decals for free so I had enough to do all four fins. The kit only includes enough to cover two fins, and it looks kinda incomplete with just those. Due to the diameter of the body tube it is definitely gonna require a lot of wadding. Someone mentioned using a nomex sheet instead of wadding and I think that's a great idea. Other than that it's gonna require a lot of wadding to prevent chute melt. Through the wall fins add strength and allow easy alignment. I've also read to definitely not launch with anything less than a D12-3, which I'm starting with, or you'll end up with a hard landing or a lawn dart. I used a blue scheme with the yellow decals covered with clearcoat. She's beautiful and I will post pics as soon as I get my desktop hooked up and get them off of the hard drive as that's where they're at. Looking forward to the slow, majestic launch.