Vintage Estes Omega build
 

I am waiting on my space shuttle orbiter to dry so I decided to start on a another rocket. Two years ago I cloned the Omega and had some good flights. Recently I gave it to a friend knowing I was going to build an original. This kit is in good shape. The wood and tubes are excellent and decals look brand new. The first thing that I noticed is how heavy the PNC-60Ah nose cone is. This nose comes in two pieces and it is heavy. The one thing I like about the nose is the fact there is no seam to sand. I built the clone as per the plans and never had any problems with ignition or ejection, I heard this was a common problem with the Omega. I am building this vintage one per the plans and hope to have the same luck. Has anyone else had good experiences or bad when building as per the plans?

I built one many years ago, when the kit first came out. A brother built one as well, although he modified his by switching the fins, putting the larger booster fins on the upper stage, and vice versa. I was very skeptical of the 'pop-and-go' staging since with previous two-stagers I had witnessed more than one sustainer ignition failure for something as simple as not using a tape seal between the two engines, but both birds had many two-stage flights, every one completely successful. It was a great design and my first D-powered bird and, at the time, my all-time favorite Estes rocket.

Joe

That's one of my very favorite rockets. I built one as a kid. It's long gone now but not forgotten.

I'm hoping someday to find one on ebay that isn't too expensive.

Enjoy the build! :)

I never had any problems flying my Omegas. I still have the boosters for 3 of the clones I have built. I lost two to the wind gods and another to a D12 cato. This has gotten me itching to build another upper stage again to go with the boosters. Maybe I'll make it a 3 stage.........

Joe W

My original Omega also had the two piece nose cone just like yours and I do remember it being heavier too. I remember I built two Omega rockets and never had a problem with staging them. The stock kit always flew well for me. I flew my original on Estes motors and the second Omega that I built used C-60F FSI conversion kits in both stages. It was stable with an F100 with a couple of inches of overhang in the booster staged to an F7 in the sustainer.

Thrustline Aerospace was offering a clone kit of the Omega for $26.95 but I procrastinated and Thrustline closed before I had a chance to purchase one. I was hoping to get all the parts and decals in one place. Pretty cool that you're building an original kit!

Search the forum ..... Bob {Initiator001} had built an Omega clone in a red/black/silver scheme for boosting the Oracle camera. If I build another I do want to boost a camera with it since I never was able to afford a camera payload when I bought my first Omega as a kid.

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The injection molded cone is not only heavier, but it's almost 1/4" shorter than the modern blow molded version.

I built my Omega Cineroc clone straight from the Omega plans and everything worked out just fine. If you ever do fly a heavy payload with it, be sure to use a long rod and fly on a calm day. It tips off easily, especially if you forget and put a poopy clay D12-0 in there and the nozzle erodes enough to give it vectored thrust. :eek:

The Omega nose cone is the same nose cone that was used on the original Der Red Max.
I have some still photos taken from my Cineroc, if I can get these posted here I will, they are vintage and very interesting.

Thanks for all the information, does anyone know when Estes switched to the one piece PNC-60ah? My Der Red Max regular and Der Big Red Max both have the white one piece nose. Also my Patriot has a once piece nose. My Renegade has the 2 piece nose.

I'd guess it was in the late 70's. I had a blow molded Red Max cone that I bought in 1979.

I have one of the Citation Red Max injection cones. After upscaling based on it and noticing the new cone was shorter than another I turned, I compared them and found the difference in length.

Both cones are lined up at the shoulders.