Torellian Invader: Difference between revisions
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File:Torellian-invader-catalog.jpg|The Estes catalog page for the Starfighter Combo Kit. Eight dollars!|alt=A page from an Estes catalog around 1980, showing the Torellian Invader and Orion Starfigher sold as a combo for eight dollars. | File:Torellian-invader-catalog.jpg|The Estes catalog page for the Starfighter Combo Kit. Eight dollars!|alt=A page from an Estes catalog around 1980, showing the Torellian Invader and Orion Starfigher sold as a combo for eight dollars. | ||
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[[Category:Rockets]] | |||
Latest revision as of 18:53, 8 May 2023
The Estes Torellian Invader is the only finished rocket I still have that I built when I was a kid. It was sold as a two-pack with another sci-fi kit, the Orion Starfighter, around 1980. I remember that I assembled the Starfighter and might have primed it but hadn't painted it. It might still be in a box somewhere in my house.
I had put so much work into painting the Torellian Invader and getting all the decals on that I was afraid to fly it. My track record with recovering rockets was not great in those days, so this wasn't entirely an irrational fear. I don't know exactly when I built this rocket, but I finally flew it in 2022, so I told everyone it was "about" forty years old. I replaced the shock cord, which had crumbled to dust, and put a good nylon parachute in it. It flew great on an A8-3.
A future project I'd like to do is a 3" or 4" upscale of this rocket. I also have an unbuilt Estes Super Neon XL, a very similar rocket, which I plan to turn into a 1.6" upscale Torellian Invader.
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On the pad for its first flight
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The Estes catalog page for the Starfighter Combo Kit. Eight dollars!
