Review: Estes Tandem X Rocket Launch Set
My kids had a blast building and flying the rockets from the Estes Tandem X Rocket Launch Set.
Matthew, who was three years old at the time, built the skill level “E2X” (easier than skill level 1), nearly three feet long Amazon and it was plenty easy enough for him with my help. The fin can is plastic and the fins snap in so you don’t have to worry about alignment or jigs. We replaced the parachute with a party streamer and that worked well. He did not keep it the original black but instead painted it green and covered it with stickers. He flew it six times on C6-5 motors at the first launch without any issues at all.
The C6-5 provides enough power to get the rocket up high enough, but the rocket is fairly large and heavy so it is nice and slow. There is something to be said for a rocket you can track with your eye and camera. I really enjoy a slow, majestic launch.
Miranda who was eight years old at the time built the more complex Crossfire ISX. This is a skill level 1 kit and she was able to build it with my help. We replaced the parachute with a party streamer. Unfortunately, we also used a shock cord I had laying around that turned out to be too short. It broke during the first four launches, but the rocket did not suffer any damage despite falling without any form of recovery system. It’s pretty sturdy. Once we put in a longer shock cord it worked fine. Miranda did not use the original white and red color scheme or original decals. Instead she painted it dark blue and covered it in smiley face stickers. She named it “Giggle Powered”.
Giggle Powered flew six times at that first launch on B4-4 motors. Despite using the smaller motors her small Crossfire ISX was much faster than Matthew’s larger Amazon. It was plenty fast and high enough. Although it can take C6-5 motors, you should only use them if you have access to a very large field.
The launch pad and controller are cheap but work fine. No complaints there, but I’ll probably never use them.
All in all I was quite pleased with this kit. Everything worked well.