Estes Designer's Special

Wow, what a great kit! My wife got me the Alpha III starter set with launcher as a surprise for my birthday. Then after building a couple other Estes kits purchased from a local hobby store, we started launching and the rocket bug has bit hard - after forty years of first flying rockets. This kit has everything you need to start designing your own. I watched some how to videos on YouTube, mainly by Apogee Components. Then I purchased the Make: Rockets book here on Amazon. By this time at least one of my rockets needs repairs. That's another reason I purchased the Estes Designer's Special kit. I feel confident enough now to fix a broken body tube for example. My kit arrived well packaged and in a sturdy box. When I opened it up it gave me that undeniable kid in a candy store feeling. All the components come grouped in separate sealed bags. There is also a pretty comprehensive instruction book which was a nice surprise. I would say this kit is not for the novice as is, however. Also a very young person will need supervision, in my opinion. Get a little experience with a ready to fly kit and launcher system then build a skill level I (one) kit from a manufacturer to get used to working with balsa and gluing techniques. Experiment with different engines. Then the sky's the limit. I can't wait to get started on this kit!!!

I have made rockets from scratch and also repaired other damaged rockets using this kit.

Great for rebuilding or creative constructions of your own model rockets

There is a lot to recommend this product; a wealth of parts, many ways to put them together, and an economical price are among them. I would, however, caution potential buyers that they need to know something about rocket assembly and design before purchasing, as there is nothing in the kit that will help the neophyte builder very much. This worked very well in a class, as I was able to help guide the less experienced students, and I would certainly buy it again.

NOTE: I will not cover launching yet due to a fire ban in my state. I'll add that as soon as the ban is over.The Designer's Special comes with enough parts to make 8 rockets. I went to my local hobby store and bought a few more parts: 2 engine hook kits, a standard engine mount kit, and some BT-5 body tubes. I also had a few nose cones and other parts leftover from broken rockets and that enabled me to build 12 rockets. I spent a total of about $70 on this kit plus extra parts, making for amazingly cheap $6 rockets. If you just use parts included in the kit, each rocket comes out to be about $7. Still great value.The only downside to this kit is that it requires a seasoned builder. It requires knowledge of stability, drag, design, flight, and more. It comes with a manual on how to achieve those items, but ultimately one has to have a lot of rocketry experience. It would be nice to say that this isn't rocket science, but it really is.

Looks to be a great product for those interested in model rocketry and wish t o build their own, or find plans on the internet. Plenty of parts to create several rockets.

Great price, fast service. Everything as advertised.Definitely would do business again!!!

We received the product without the launch pad and launch controller. Is that supposed to come with this this package?Also the instructions are very confusing and you have to look into different other sources. Very unsetasfying.