Intro

The Venom model rocket kit is a basic sport rocket with a unique nose cone and snake graphics to set it apart from the rest of the four-fins-and-a-nose-cone sport rockets. This was a Father-Son project with my 12 year old son doing all of the work with the exception of painting the model. The style of the rocket appeals to this age group, I like the looks as well.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

This is your basic Estes rocket kit. It came in the clear plastic bag, with all of the parts intact and none damaged. The kit consists of a paper tube for the body, a sheet of die cut balsa fins, motor mount, parachute, shock cord, a plastic nose cone, and a sheet of self adhesive decals.

The instructions are printed on one 11 by 17 and one 8.5 by 11 inch piece of paper. They are the typical Estes instructions, copiously illustrated, logically laid out and easy to follow. The Venon is an easy to build kit. It is in Estes' beta series rated as a skill level 1.

All of the parts fit together well, and the kit is a straight-forward construction. The only critical step is the attachment of the through-the-wall fins. Step 6 shows that a "small gap" should be left, this is the thickness of the body tube. No mention of this is in the instructions, as the body tube could be used to gauge the gap. In any event, the resultant fin-body tube-motor mount assembly is very sturdy. It will survive many hard landings and still give you years of service.

My son decided to round the edges of the fins, this gives the rocket a better appearance than the squared edges. Your basic rocket building tools are needed, hobby knife, scissors, sandpaper and glue, no special tools are needed.

Finishing the rocket is as simple as painting the body and fins red, and the nose cone black. The decals take care of the rest. The instructions even show the shock cord attachment after the two parts are painted separate colors, that is an example of how logically the instructions are laid out. I coated the rocket with a clear gloss coat after the decals were applied, this keeps them from curling, as well as giving the whole rocket that shiny appearance that is in the Estes literature. The unique nose cone and decals set this model apart from your standard 4F&NC rocket kit.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

The Venom uses the well known folded paper shock cord mount and a parachute for recovery. Standard preparation instructions are included in the kit, which calls for three squares of ejection wadding.

The recommended motors are the: A8-3, B4-4, B6-4, B6-6, C6-5, and C6-7.

The motor is held in place with a metal clip, which allows quick release of the motor and easy prep for flight. We have used the A8-3 and B6-4 motors to date. The flights were great with parachute ejection close to apogee, the parachute is sized correctly and gives a slow stable descent to the rocket. The sturdy through the wall fin construction makes certain that this rocket will fly another day, even if the parachute doesn't work.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Everything considered, this is an interesting variation on the basic rocket. The younger generation will enjoy the snake graphics and all will enjoy the sturdy construction. This is an excellent starter rocket as it is easy to build, large enough to see well, but still small enough to really move on a C6-7 (Estes claims 1100 feet), and has parachute recovery.