Estes 1403 Riptide Launch Set,Brown/A,18 inches

My husband bought this to use with our nieces and nephews (he used to do rockets when he was young). It works great and seems to be holding up okay after a few launches. It's nice that it comes with everything you need to launch. The only downside is the rod. It comes in 2 pieces and fits together. It's hollow, and pretty thin, and has already bent and had to be bent back into shape. You can tell it's just not going to last. I understand they have to make it come apart to fit in the shipping box, but we'll probably be replacing it with a single solid metal rod from the hardware store pretty soon.The rocket itself is what you would expect for an inexpensive beginner rocket. It's ready to use right out of the box, and the whole setup (including launch pad) took about 5 minutes to assemble. Very easy. The kids were so excited. Overall great value, highly recommend!Don't forget the motors! They are not included.

Got this to launch rockets with my daughters and this kit was so easy for them to put together and start launching rockets. It just works and was such a good kit for beginners. Highly recommend if you are just starting out. It can take several different size motors but I recommend for your first few launches use the smaller motors first and then work your way up to the larger ones. With the biggest one on the rocket it really goes high so only do that on a day with very little or no wind. Great first rocket.

I have launched Estes rockets for years, and have had good to great results and satisfaction with them. This Estes 1403 Riptide Launch Set was the best results (Launched first try), and best satisfaction. Two things to note: product description quotes-->"Estes launch pad with launch rod and an Electron Beam Launch Controller included. Requires Estes engines and 4 AA 1.5V Alkaline batteries for the controller - sold separately."Really requires a 9v (Square) battery (the one I ordered did). (Purchased April 2013)Also the launch pad is not like the one represented in the pictures. It's not black, it's orange and you cannot adjust the angle of launch (only straight up), no adjustment screw or hinge to adjust, just locked in place.I admit I used an old launch pad and control box, exactly like the picture shows, but this should not affect the results if you used the supplied one.Used this launch opportunity to honor a fallen surfer friend. Launched off the coast of NC way out into the beautiful blue sky above the Atlantic ocean, with his ashes instead of the parachute. So when the charge went off to eject the parachute, his ashes got spread in the place he loved the most.Launched first try (Used 5-7yrs old C6-5 engine, and igniters, stored inside, in zipp lock bag--still worked flawless )<---not recommended but worked for me.Great flight, straight and true, and blue reflective chrome coating/paint helped to be able to see rocket as it came down into the ocean. Very Cool.Thank you Amazon.

I had not been involved in rocketry in over twenty years, and it is good to see not much has changed. If anything, it seems much more user-friendly.So, my 7 year old expressed interest it the hobby, so we got this awesome starter kit.It came with everything we needed to get going except batteries, and motors. Surprisingly, the motors were cheaper at the local Hobby Lobby.Oh, and a word of advice, don't get suckered into buying the protective wadding. It's single-ply toilet paper. That's it. When I was a kid, we used cotton balls. I thought maybe there was some heat-resistant technology that I wasn't aware of, but nope. Five dollar TP. So, save your cash for more motors!Great ready to go activity, great price. Highly recommended.

I used the recommended engine for the first flight. Launched fine however did not gain enough altitude to deploy parachute until AFTER impacting the ground. It started a FIRE when parachute deployed. I recommend using a “C” engine for first flight

Ordered for a birthday- Arrived a week too late- Order estimated delivery in 5-7 days but took 14 days- beware of estimated delivery dates!Rocket is pre-assembled except for attaching parachute. Good build.Launch tower is good quality, and assembled easily.The cheap red Estes Launch controller did not work most of the time. This appears to be a design flaw rather than a bad lot. The internal metal strips near the safety key and launch switch failed to make contact reliably. (I really miss the days of having REAL push buttons in the launch controller). And yes, we held the safety key down firmly, but couldn't get the continuity LED to light reliably. Alligator clips were properly connected to starter. Batteries were fresh and delivering good voltage. Voltmeter could not register any consistent voltage being delivered to alligator clips. Very unreliable.I'd give the launch controller 1 star. Shame on Estes for using this cheap design to keep cost down! Big disappointment for my grandson when it would fail to launch. Fortunately, I had several older launch controllers in my field bag that still worked, so we just threw the new red controller in the trash and used the old controllers that have never failed.