 Estes Mars Lander Feb '76 |
 Estes Mini Marz Lander |
Also in the late 90s, I picked up several of the Estes Mini Marz Lander ready-to-fly models. These are the black/red or red/black all-plastic kits.
After becoming a BAR (Born Again Rocketeer) in 2006 one of my very first online purchases was Tango-Papa's 2x upscale Mars Lander. I originally bought it to build and put on static display, however during the ensuing months I built it as a flyer. It is also one of the relatively few rockets I've painted and decaled as a BAR. I earned my high power Level 1 certification in September 2006 at Rainbow Valley with the SSS: Superstition Spacemodeling Society. The 2x Mars Lander flies on H & I Level 1 motors so I decided to put 'er up in early 2007. The first flight on an Aerotech I211 was a great flight. The next month I repeated the flight but the shock cord broke and it came in hot, impacting the desert. Damage was such that I took it out of service and it is unrepairable.
In 2006, my first visit to a SSS club launch was during NARAM 46. The Semroc folks (Carl & Bruce) were there and I picked up a Semroc Mars Lander "Retro-repro" kit based on the Estes Mars Lander. I have built and flown the model several times. I have one more that's been under construction for several years now.
I also bought several Estes "Outlander" kits that were styled after the Mars Lander but painted totally differently. Sirius Rocketry offers water-slide decals so you can paint your Outlander like white and red and decal it to resemble a Mars Lander. I built and decaled THREE of these Outlanders as "Mars Outlanders" back in 2006/2007. These rockets were one of the worst offerings Estes ever designed to fly on 18mm motors. They were too heavy for a C6-3 to fly safely on...not quite sure how this one got past the safety folks at Estes.
I built one with a 24mm for Estes D motors and I built one with 18mm motors to fly on 18mm Aerotech composite or reloads. I got at least one decent flight with the 24mm but my first attempt with a D reload in the 18mm version went unstable off the pad and looped wildly around. I relegated these guys to the display shelf but unfortunately some time ago I lifted the shelf up with the rockets on it not realizing the ceiling fan was poised to take them out...which it accidentally did. I still have one of the Outlanders on a display shelf.
In early 2008 I started working on a 3.2x upscale (12" diameter). Sometime after that I started working on a 4.37x upscale (16" diameter). Both of these are basically structurally complete but unfinished and without the landing gear spring mechanisms sorted out yet.
One of our SSS club members, Tim, graciously gave me an original Estes Mars Lander kit he found! It is basically complete though someone started construction on the main shrouds.
