Estes 1301 R2-D2
 

This was an opened and partially started kit I bought 12 years ago. The motor mount was already built, but I did reglue it. The adhesive on the decals was still good. It was a fun quick build, most of the time was painting the dome and legs. I'm sure it flys like brick. I think this will be a good candidate for the newly release Estes C5-3.

I flew one this afternoon on a C6-3. Mine typically flies like a wobbling brick but today it became a skywriter as soon as it cleared the rod. Altitude was less than 20 feet, and the flight ended with a power prang and wimpy motor mount eject. I'd really like to see how it performs on a composite D16.

That must have been a HILARIOUS powr-prang.

It really was. The only thing missing was Wile E. Coyote. :D

Did you check the motor for an "Acme" or "Ajax" label ?

The C5-3 would be a great improvement, as would a slightly longer and thicker rod than the short 1/8" rods that Estes sells these days.

Definitely an Acme motor. ;)
Agree that the Super C would be an improvement.
The 3/16" rod won't fit the lugs that are moulded into the body. I used a 3 ft. X 1/8" mild steel rod.
I could remove the lugs with a Dremel and fit larger ones since my 3/16" rod is 4ft. long. Good idea, Tim.
My issue with this model is that I just can't get enough altitude out of it and it only accepts 18mm motors.
Mine is perhaps slightly over built and the dome is heavily repaired with epoxy. It weighs almost 5 ounces flight ready.
I will continue to experiment to see if it's possible to get a decent flight from it, but for now the only thing I'm sure of is that it's underpowered.

Sounds like a job for Quest Q-Jet D16 motor if the C5 can't do it satisfactorily. I don't know how much better the Q-Jet C12 would be over a C5. Someone with a heavy later production Mercury Redstone could do a quick eyeball study if they have both motors.

I've got a couple of the early run R2 kits still in the bag. I've been planning to build one, but just haven't got around to it yet. Several folks modded Semroc Mars Landers for 24mm motors in the months after Carl released it. I'd have to dig into the kit to see if that's possible to do with the R2 kit. It would allow use C11 and D12 BP motors for folks that like BP or don't have local access to Quest products.

If I had built this more towards when I bought it I probably would have done the 24mm R2-D12 conversion. But knowing about the Quest motors and the release of the C5 I went ahead and built it stock. It's actually the C5 release that jogged my memory that I bought one of these and resulted in me digging it out of the stack last Thursday night to build.

If I can find some decent paint for his dome, I may build one of mine over the next few weeks. C5's are starting to ship from sources other than Estes' website now.