View source for Estes Industries

{{Short description|Functional model rocket company}}
{{infobox company
| name = Estes Rockets
| logo = Estes logo.jpg
| caption = 
| type = [[Privately held company|Private]]
| fate = 
| predecessor = Estes Industries, Estes-Cox Corp.
| successor = 
| foundation = [[Denver, Colorado]], [[United States|U.S.]] ({{Start date|1958}})
| founder = [[Vernon Estes]]
| defunct = 
| location_city = 
| location_country = 
| location = [[Penrose, Colorado]]<ref name="fmcsa/ESTES"/>
| locations = 
| area_served = 
| key_people = {{plainlist|
*Ellis Langford<ref name="prnewswire/300631645"/><ref name="chieftain/9374318007">{{cite news |last1=Harmon |first1=Tracy |title=Hobby turns serious for Estes' buyer |url=https://www.chieftain.com/story/business/2018/04/20/hobby-turns-serious-for-estes/9374318007/ |access-date=2 November 2022 |work=[[Pueblo Chieftain]] |date=2018-04-20}}</ref><ref>[https://www.sos.state.co.us/biz/ViewImage.do?fileId=20181220595&masterFileId=20181220595 20181220595] [[Colorado Secretary of State ]]</ref><!-- https://www.theknot.com/us/kiki-brennan-and-ellis-langford-may-2017/our-story -->
*Mallory Langford<ref name="prnewswire/301363121">{{cite web |author1=Estes Industries |title=Estes and Club for the Future partner to launch New Shepard model rocket |url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/estes-and-club-for-the-future-partner-to-launch-new-shepard-model-rocket-301363121.html |website=[[prnewswire]] |access-date=2 November 2022 |language=en |date=August 25, 2021}}</ref><ref name="citylifestyle/electraaero">{{cite news |last1=Gipson |first1=Melinda |title=John Langford Goes 'Back to the Future' to Change How We Fly |url=https://citylifestyle.com/washington-dc/articles/travel/electraaero-virginias-home-grown-electric-plane |access-date=2 November 2022 |work=city lifestyle |agency=Leesburg Lifestyle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408191512/https://citylifestyle.com/washington-dc/articles/travel/electraaero-virginias-home-grown-electric-plane |archive-date=2022-04-08 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="opengovus/ZVEWNR9S9LQ5">{{cite web |title=Estes Rockets · Estes Industries, LLC · 1295 H St, Penrose, CO 81240-9698, USA |url=https://opengovus.com/sam-entity/ZVEWNR9S9LQ5 |website=opengovus}}</ref><ref name="discovere/mallory">{{cite web |title=Mallory Langford, P.E. |url=http://www.discovere.org/content/mallory-langford-pe-0 |website=DiscoverE Engineering |access-date=2 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190212014533/http://www.discovere.org/content/mallory-langford-pe-0 |archive-date=12 February 2019}}</ref>
*[[John Langford (engineer)]]
}}
| industry = 
| products = [[Model rocket]]s and [[Model aircraft]]
| services = 
| revenue = 
| operating_income = 
| net_income = 
| aum = 
| assets = 
| equity = 
| owner = Estes Industries, LLC.
| num_employees = 
| parent = 
| divisions = Estes Energetics<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://estesenergetics.com/about-us/ |website=Estes Energetics |access-date=2 November 2022 |date=4 June 2021}}</ref>
| subsid = 
| homepage = [http://www.estesrockets.com estesrockets.com]
| footnotes = 
| intl = 
}}

'''Estes Industries''' is a [[model rocket]] company that was started in Denver, Colorado, USA.

==History==

Estes Industries was founded by [[Vernon Estes]] in 1958; in 1961, the company moved to a 77-acre tract of land on the outskirts of [[Penrose, Colorado|Penrose]], Colorado.<ref name="vernestes/Articles">{{cite web |title=Published Articles |url=http://www.vernestes.com/Published%20Articles.htm |website=Vern Estes |access-date=2 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200915215910/http://www.vernestes.com/Published%20Articles.htm |archive-date=2020-09-15}}</ref><ref name="fmcsa/ESTES">{{cite web |title=ESTES INDUSTRIES LLC |url=https://safer.fmcsa.dot.gov/query.asp?searchtype=ANY&query_type=queryCarrierSnapshot&query_param=USDOT&original_query_param=NAME&query_string=3120018&original_query_string=ESTES%20INDUSTRIES%20LLC |website=[[Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration]] |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref> In 1969, Vernon sold the company to the Damon Corporation of [[Needham, Massachusetts|Needham]], Massachusetts, a company which also purchased a number of other hobby companies including a smaller competitor of Estes, Centuri Engineering of [[Phoenix, Arizona|Phoenix]], Arizona.  Damon merged the two companies under the name Centuri Engineering.  The Penrose entity continued doing business as Estes Industries.  Centuri Engineering model rocket products continued to be developed, marketed and sold from the Centuri offices in Phoenix as well, although the actual manufacturing of Centuri products was soon moved to the Estes facility in Penrose.  Sales of Centuri model rocket products were never as successful as Estes brand products and the Centuri Engineering offices in Phoenix were finally closed and the Centuri product line was discontinued in 1983.

Following a hostile takeover of the Damon Corporation in 1989, Estes Industries was divested and became part of Hobby Products.  The business name of the company was shortened to Centuri Corporation.  In 1996, Hobby Products acquired the assets of Cox Products of [[Corona, California|Corona]], California, a company involved with the design and manufacture of model airplanes and [[Glow fuel|glow-fuel]] model airplane engines.  Cox's assets were moved to the Estes facility.  In 2002, the combined company was sold again and the company's name was changed to Estes-Cox Corp.<ref>[http://manuals.hobbico.com/est/este44-manual.pdf este44-manual] Estes-Cox Corp. 1295 H Street, PO Box 227 Penrose, CO</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=FCC ID M45-4610 |url=https://fcc.report/FCC-ID/M45-4610 |website=fcc.report |access-date=2 November 2022}}</ref>

On August 30, 2002, Barry Tunick, who had been the [[chief executive officer]] since 1991, acquired Estes-Cox Corporation from the private equity fund, [[TCW Capital]], for $15 million. On January 15, 2010, Estes-Cox was acquired by [[Hobbico]], Inc.<ref>[http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2010/01/22/hobbico_acquires_model_rocket_maker "Hobbico acquires model rocket maker Estes-Cox"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100125151150/http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2010/01/22/hobbico_acquires_model_rocket_maker |date=2010-01-25 }} Champaign-Urbana News Gazette - January 2010</ref>  On January 10, 2018, Hobbico filed for bankruptcy protection under the auspices of the United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.<ref>[http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2018-01-10/hobbico-files-bankruptcy-layoffs-next.html "Hobbico files for bankruptcy; layoffs next?"]</ref> As a result of the bankruptcy, Estes-Cox was sold to Estes Industries LLC on April 12, 2018.<ref name="prnewswire/300631645">{{Cite web|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/estes-announces-ownership-change-300631645.html|title=Estes Announces Ownership Change|website=[[prnewswire]]|language=en|access-date=2018-04-22}}</ref><ref name="chieftain/9374318007"/>

== Accomplishments ==

=== Indoor launch of model rockets in Astrodome===
Along with several smaller rockets, Estes sponsored an indoor launch of a model of a Saturn V at halftime of the [[1969 Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl|Bluebonnet Bowl]] in the Houston Astrodome on December 31, 1969.<ref name="Indoor_Launch1">{{citation |title=Model Rocket News Volume 10, No 1 February 1970}}</ref><ref name="Indoor_Launch2">{{cite web|title=Article in Model Rocket Man|url=http://www.vernestes.com/images/LAUNCH%20Articles/Launch%20-%20Bill%20Simon%20Interview-Correccted.pdf}}</ref>

== Estes rockets ==
{{main|Model rocket}}
[[File:Estes rockets 1969.jpg|thumb|Five rockets from Estes in 1969: the Alpha, Saturn V (Semi Scale), X-ray, Aerobee 300, and Astron Ranger]]
Estes produced a wide variety of rocket model kits, normally using [[paperboard]] tubing for the [[fuselage]] and [[balsa wood]] for fins and [[nose cone]]s. Early models tended to be relatively simple in design, differing in size, number of stages and recovery method. The first kit Estes offered was the Astron Scout (Rocket Kit K-1) which sold for $ 0.70. It was followed by the Astron Mark (K-2) and the Astron Space Plane (K-3). A more advanced rocket, the Astron X-Ray, featured a see-through plastic payload compartment. Another particularly well-known design from this era was the Camroc, a small camera that replaced the nose cone of larger models that was designed to take a single image on a small disk of film when the motor had burned out and the rocket was facing downward. The Cineroc used a small movie camera that could be launched from larger rockets, taking a series of frames as the rocket ascended. In the 1960s, Estes featured scale models patterned after the popular NASA designs such as the Gemini-Titan and Saturn-V crewed rockets.

Later model kits from the late 1970s and early 1980s tended to be more for show than performance, including a series of scale or sport-scale designs and "exotics". The 1981 Estes catalog featured  a replica of the Space Shuttle. Centuri was also well known for these sorts of designs, and the two companies often copied design elements from the other's latest models. The downturn in the hobby in the later 1980s led to [[consolidation (business)|consolidation]] of the two companies. During the 1990s the model line was dramatically reduced, and the ones that were left were typically very simple "three fins and a nose cone" designs that were partially or entirely preassembled.

By 2019, Estes was offering a much wider range of rockets for sale, including models as complex as the Saturn V.

== Estes Rocket Engines ==

=== Estes rocket engine color-coding ===
[[File:Estes Model Rocket Motors.jpg|thumb|Estes Rocket motors. From left, 13mm A10-0T, 18mm C6-7, 24mm D12-5, 24mm E9-4]]
Estes engines are color-coded for recommended use. 
* Green engines are for use in single-stage models.
* Purple engines for the top stages of [[multistage rocket]]s and very light single-stage rockets; they have the longest delay times.
* Red engines for all [[booster rocket|booster]] and intermediate stages of multi-stage models.
* Black (current) and blue (older) engines are "plugged" and are used for rocket-powered racers, aerobrake recovery rockets, simulated strap-on boosters, and [[radio control]]led [[Glider aircraft|gliders]]; they contain no [[delay composition|delay]] or [[ejection charge]]. Black was also used in the past for static test engines.

It can be dangerous to use upper-stage engines in normal single-stage rockets. The long delay in ejection can be problematic. The rocket may already be halfway through its descent when the parachute or streamer is ejected, and the rocket may not slow down enough before it hits the ground.

=== Estes number coding ===
{{main|Model rocket motor classification}}

Each rocket engine has a code printed upon the outer jacket. This code is defined by the [[National Association of Rocketry]] (NAR). An example of one such code is '''A8-3'''.
{|class = "wikitable" style = "float:right; font-size:85%; margin-left:15px"
!Type<ref name="estes_catalog_engine_page">{{cite web |title=Estes Engine Chart |url=http://www2.estesrockets.com/pdf/Estes_Engine_Chart.pdf |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106011738/http://www2.estesrockets.com/pdf/Estes_Engine_Chart.pdf |archive-date=2015-11-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
!&nbsp;Total Impulse (Newton seconds)
|-
!{{frac|1|4}}A
|align="center"|0.31–0.62
|-
!{{frac|1|2}}A
|align="center"|0.63–1.25
|-
!A
|align="center"|1.26–2.50
|-
!B
|align="center"|2.51–5.00
|-
!C
|align="center"|5.01–10.00
|-
!D
|align="center"|10.01–20.00
|-
!E
|align="center"|20.01–40.00
|-
!F
|align="center"|40.01–80.00
|-
!G
|align="center"|80.01–160.00
|}
The capital letter (''e.g.'', ''A'') indicates total [[impulse (physics)|impulse]] produced by the engine.  Each succeeding letter represents a power range with maximum total impulse twice the impulse of the previous letter.  (Example: A single ''C'' engine can produce anywhere from 5.01 to 10 newton-seconds of impulse, a ''G'' engine 80.1 to 160 newton-seconds.) Model rockets are considered using motors up to a ''D'' engine.  Mid-power rockets use engines from ''E'' to ''G.'' Anything over a ''G'' engine is considered [[high powered rocket|high power]] rocketry.

The first number (''e.g.'', 8) specifies that engine's average [[thrust]] in [[newton (unit)|newton]]s or the average push exerted by the engine. Thus a B6-0 and a C6-0 will both produce the same average thrust of 6 newtons, but the C6-0, having twice the total impulse, will fire for twice as long.  The rocket engines produce maximum thrust shortly after ignition and thrust declines to a steady-state which is maintained for up to 2.5 seconds prior to burnout.<ref name="estes_catalog_engine_data">{{cite web |title=Estes Model Rocket Engines, Engine Time/Thrust Curves |url=http://www2.estesrockets.com/pdf/Estes_Time-Thrust_Curves.pdf |access-date=2012-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106011606/http://www2.estesrockets.com/pdf/Estes_Time-Thrust_Curves.pdf |archive-date=2015-11-06 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The final number (''e.g.'', 3) indicates the delay between the thrust and the ejection charge, in [[second]]s. Engines with a delay of zero are typically used as booster engines in multi-stage rockets and there is no ejection charge.  In this case, the burning propellant ruptures through the top and hot bits of propellant enter the nozzle of the upper stage engine, thus igniting that engine and forcing the booster assembly away, hopefully to tumble safely to earth.

=== Estes engine construction ===

Estes produces single-use engines with compressed black powder propellant. They come in industry-standard sizes of 13mm (1/4A through A), 18mm (1/2A through C), 24mm (C through E), and 29mm (E and F) in diameter. The engines are constructed within a sturdy cardboard tube. Inside are placed a [[clay]] [[nozzle]], solid [[propellant]], [[delay charge]], [[ejection charge]], and a clay retainer cap.

The solid propellant is ignited by a [[electric match|coated wire]] inserted through the nozzle and in contact with the propellant. An electric current heats the wire and ignites the solid propellant. An engine can also be ignited by the hot gases from the propellant of a booster engine.

From 2013 to 2018, Estes carried certain AeroTech E, F and G impulse 29mm single-use [[APCP]] (ammonium-perchlorate composite propellant) motors relabeled as Estes Pro Series II for their new, larger rockets of the same name. One feature of these motors is rear retention, which is the addition of a molded-in thrust ring at the base of the motor body on the aft (nozzle) end. This made Estes include a new style of screw-on retaining rings with the Pro Series II kits to accommodate rear retention. However, once the AeroTech motors were discontinued, Estes 29mm black powder motors need a ring of thin tape, about 1/4" in width, around the paper motor case on the nozzle end to simulate the AeroTech aft thrust ring. Even now, some currently-produced kits include screw-on 24mm and 29mm motor retainers, and thus require the tape ring.

==== Mabel ====
Vern Estes created "Mabel",<ref name="estes_mabel">{{cite web|title=Vern Estes using Mabel| website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgKxQqDGrrA&t=26s}}  - 1961 - [[YouTube]]</ref> a machine designed to safely and inexpensively manufacture model rocket engines for [[G. Harry Stine#Model rocketry|Model Missiles Incorporated]]. Primarily using compressed air for machine operations, it effectively eliminated the risk of electrical sparks inadvertently igniting rocket propellant. Mabel was capable of producing a completed model rocket engine every 5-1/2 seconds.

The operation began with an engine casing tube being loaded onto a rotating table.  The table then advanced through multiple stations where the nozzle, propellant, delay and ejection components were added. A paper end cap was then cut from a roll of heavy paper tape and inserted to retain the loose ejection charge.  The completed engine was then ejected from the table, sent through the printer and dropped into the finished engine box below.<ref name="estes_mabel2">{{cite web|title=Reference information about Mabel|url=http://www.vernestes.com/Photos%20and%20Videos.htm}}</ref>

=== Engine Performance ===
Measurements reported by a group at the University of Central Arkansas found that Estes rocket motor models A3-4T, A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, C6-5, and D12-3 have a measured impulses from 15.4% to 22.8% below the claimed impulse.<ref name="TPT">Penn, Kim and William V. Slaton, Measuring Model Rocket Engine Thrust Curves, The Physics Teacher -- December 2010 -- Volume 48, Issue 9, pp. 591.</ref>  A study at the Australian Defence Force Academy found Estes D11-P motor to have an impulse 11.4% below Estes specifications and the C6-0 motor to be 4.45% below Estes' specifications.<ref name="Carter">[http://seit.unsw.adfa.edu.au/ojs/index.php/juer/article/download/108/69 An Investigation into the Combustion and Performance of Small Solid-Propellant Rocket Motors] M.G. Carter.  University of New South Wales at the Australian Defence Force Academy. 2008.</ref>  A third study found the A10-PT motor to have a total impulse 20% below Estes' claims.<ref name="Courtney">[https://arxiv.org/abs/0903.1555 Measuring thrust and predicting trajectory in model rocketry] M. Courtney and A. Courtney. Cornell University Library. 2009.</ref> A research project conducted in 2000 by Ellis Langford (who later became president of Estes Industries, LLC) investigated the performance of black powder model rocket motors at higher altitudes.<ref name="Langford">
*[http://nar.org/member-only-reports/rd/NARAM_42_Reports/Effect%20of%20Altitude%20on%20Engine%20Performance%20(E.Langford,%20NARAM%2042,%202000).pdf  Effect of Altitude on Rocket Engine Performance] [[National Association of Rocketry]]
*[https://www.nar.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/WSMC-2006-Sport-Rocketry-Article.pdf THE 16TH WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS OF SPACE MODELS] [[National Association of Rocketry]]
</ref> Langford's findings indicate that total impulse and average thrust increase significantly with increased elevation. Estes Industries claimed specifications are based on testing at the Penrose manufacturing plant at an altitude of approximately 5000 feet, versus the three studies and National Association of Rocketry certification tests, all of which were performed at altitudes much nearer sea level.

==Reception==
Estes model rockets are popular and used by a large number of hobbyists and educators.


== Notes ==
<references/>

==External links==
{{Commons category|Estes}}
* [http://www.estesrockets.com Estes Industries]

[[Category:Model rocketry]]
[[Category:Model manufacturers of the United States]]
[[Category:Rocket engine manufacturers of the United States]]
[[Category:Companies based in Colorado]]
[[Category:Fremont County, Colorado]]
[[Category:Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2018]]