Estes 2169 Dragonite Rocket-Building Kit, Beginner Snap-Together Flying-Rocket-Model Kit for Ages 10+

Cool to play with

I'm an experienced modeller...and this kit is not EX...it's more like skill level II

We bought this rocket for a Boy Scout campout rocket launch.This rocket is easy to put together. My 10 year old with a little help was able to put it together in a short amount of time. Instructions were clear and there were not too many pieces. My son enjoyed decorating the rocket with the stickers provided.We launched the rocket three times using the size A engines. They gave this super light rocket enough lift to make it entertaining while still being able to recover the rocket. In a wide open space, I would even use size B engines but nothing more unless you are just looking for one spectacular launch and then plan on saying "goodbye" to your rocket. My son wanted very much to keep his rocket and to fire it over and over, so we stuck with size A engines.This kit only comes with the rocket and the recovery parachute.You will need to purchase engines, recovery wadding, a launch pad and a launch controller.We used the Estes 302215 Porta-Pad II Launch Pad with the Estes 302220 Electron Beam Launch Controller and these items worked well together.Be careful with engines you purchase. This rocket uses Estes A8-3 Model Rocket Engines and Estes B4-4 rocket engines. They can be purchased in packs of 3. For some reason the A8-3 rocket engines came with the recovery wading, but the B4-4 engines did not.The recovery wadding is necessary if you want to fire your rocket more than once. Without it the recovery chute is melted on the first try. We used 6 pieces of wadding with each launch and the recovery chute was never damaged. Another boy used the same rocket but no wadding and the first time it was fired, the chute to the rocket came down with a large hole melted in the middle. DO NOT skip the wadding step unless you want an unhappy child after the first launch. In fact, buy extra wadding. Not enough really comes with the engines. (With the size A engines there was only enough wadding for 4 pieces to be used per launch.)Overall this is a great first rocket.

We put this together in under a half hour. The instructions were easy to follow. We used "A" engines. The rocket really worked great. We were able to launch and recover 4 times and it's still in excellent condition for next time! If you need a quick and easy to assemble rocket, this is it!

Easy to fly. Great color. Fun for the family.

Shock cord loop on back end of nose cone needs to be opened up with a drill, X-Acto knife, and/or file.

This was simple to build, looked sharp and performed well.

All I know about this item is that our grandson loved it! That's good enough for me!!