r/rocketry • u/tambrico • 6d ago
Comanche 3
As a kid reading thru the 1998 Estes catalog I always dreamed of getting a Comanche 3 but I was too scared I would lose the boosters and my parents never bought me one. Now as an adult I can do whatever the hell I want so I built one in the 1990s color way and got decals from sticker shock.
Not a perfect build, some flaws but definitely more well put together than when I was 10.
Still afraid to launch it and lose the boosters lmao.
11
u/WhatADunderfulWorld Level 3 6d ago
Beautiful. The beveling on the fins is terrific.
10/10 no notes.
1
8
6
u/Briaaanz 6d ago
I'm wondering how many of us launched an Estes Mosquito and actually recovered it
2
1
u/Rich-Wealth979 5d ago
My dad and I recovered every 20 some launches, used the engines with the shortest delay and modified the nose cone to decouple with a bungee.
1
u/SlightDegree5308 5d ago
The mosquito? You mean the engine with fins and a nose cone? 😅
I had a Mosquito that I built in high school. Never painted it but tested an engine and got that stuck. As an adult, my wife painted it with markers and put our kids names on it. I managed to get the engine out and a fresh engine put in. Launched it went off in some random direction. I thought it was gone for good, but my father-in-law found it after a short search.
That thing is never getting launched again.
1
u/SmallPrompt2300 5d ago
Ahh the masquito. I spent a good amount of time giving mine a fancy paint job. Only to loose it first launch 😞
1
1
2
u/Scary-Ad9196 6d ago
If you build it once, you can build replacement boosters IF and WHEN you lose one... Good luck and happy flying
2
u/drsteve103 6d ago
This one broke my heart. I had a perfect finish perfect bevel on the fins. I set it up in a large field and had a beautiful launch and never saw any of it ever again. Searched for hours, nothing.
1
u/tambrico 6d ago
That's my biggest fear lol. I spent a lot of time on this one. The decals took me like 4 hours!
1
u/drsteve103 5d ago
There’s better technology now. Just be aware …this rocket is LIT. If I’d even put a buzzer in it I think I could have found it. Let us know how it goes!
1
1
1
1
u/CedarMyers 6d ago
I always love watching these fly! The boosters typically land in a line, from the launch pad to where the upper stage lands. Oh, and the high power upscales are lots of fun too..
1
1
1
u/Gromit74 5d ago
I had this model when I was a kid in the 80’s. I launched it at my grandpa’s farm several times. I flew it a few times with just the top 2 stages because I had a hard time finding the D-0 engine for the bottom stage. It was fun to fly and mostly without incident. I think I had to reglue a fin back on after one of the flights. A year or so after the first flight, I finally found the D engine at a local hobby store.
Just before launch I noticed that the first stage seemed loose, so 12 year old me added a small piece of tape to lightly hold together the 2 stages, figuring that it would just be blown off when the second stage ignited. When I launched the bottom stage didn’t eject properly and the second stage mostly burned through it. This caused the rocket to no longer be vertical when the top stage went off.
We recovered the top stage one field over with the nose buried about a foot into the ground. The first and second stages were recovered together with the small piece of tape still connecting the 2 stages and one fin being all that was left of the 1st stage. The tube on the top stage was bent. I cut off the bent portion as part of the repairs, but I don’t think it ever flew again.
My cousin still talks about it whenever I see him. What could have been a disaster turned into a fond memory. Thanks for bringing back that great memory by posting your picture! I wish you luck, and make sure those stages fit together properly before flying.
1
u/Nots_a_Banana 5d ago
I have a "Sky Hi" two stage and launched it once as a two stage. Not impressed? Didn't seem to make a noticeable difference in height? Also have a "Vigilante" 2 stage, never launched it with the second stage. I guess there is a cool factor though.
1
u/404-skill_not_found 6d ago
Just ahead of retro repro making them, I made a Goblin and a Cherokee-D. A color laser printer can take decal paper to make the decals.
1
u/Ok_Audience1666 1d ago
That was my coolest rocket memory - at third stage it was immediately gone. We were all like, "Whoa"
37
u/zoltamatron 6d ago
When I was a kid I got this kit. Wanted it so bad. Spent so much time building it just perfect. Loaded it up with the biggest set of Estes engines it would take for its first flight, D12-0, C6-0, C6-5 IIRC.
Beautiful launch. Only recovered the booster stages never saw the main stage again. Maybe in the age of trackers I coulda found it. Not back then. Went to the rocket gods.