Elevate your model rocketry experience to unparalleled levels with the Kestrel, a cutting-edge rocket designed to soar high and fast through the skies. Crafted with precision engineering and attention to detail, this remarkable model rocket promises an exhilarating journey that will leave you awestruck.

The Kestrel is a rocket designed for high speed and high altitude flights. Whether you want to break the sound barrier, or fly a mile high, this rocket can do it. The included payload bay also allows it to carry experiments as it soars skyward. While it will fly all day on an Estes C11 (with the included 24mm adapter) you can also stuff an Aerotech G80 in it and create your own sonic booms.

It is a very "efficient" rocket as it will put on quite a show flying out of sight on inexpensive motors even with experiments in the payload bay. 

What Features Make The Kestrel a Popular Rocket?

Aerodynamic Performance: Thanks to its drag-reducing boattail on the back end, Kestrel's sleek and streamlined design minimizes air resistance, allowing it to effortlessly slice through the atmosphere. With its optimized fins and nose cone, this rocket guarantees optimal stability, ensuring a straight and impressive flight path.

Capable of Using Powerful Propulsion: Equipped with a high-thrust motor, the Kestrel delivers jaw-dropping speed that will leave spectators in awe. You'll be able to reach astonishing altitudes, making it a true standout among its counterparts.

Sturdy Construction: The Kestrel is constructed from premium-grade materials, making it durable and resilient. Its robust build ensures that it can withstand the rigors of high-speed flights and landings, allowing you to embark on numerous thrilling missions without worry.

Easy Assembly: With a user-friendly design and highly illustrated instructions, the Kestrel offers hassle-free assembly, allowing you to spend more time enjoying the experience and less time preparing. The rocket comes with detailed instructions, making it accessible even to modelers with limited experience.

Here Are The Reasons Why You Want The Kestrel in Your Fleet:

Thrilling Performance: The Kestrel rockets through the sky with breathtaking speed, providing an adrenaline-pumping experience like no other. Feel the rush as you witness your creation climb to incredible heights, leaving a trail of awe in its wake.

Inspiring Creativity: Owning a Kestrel model rocket inspires a sense of imagination and creativity. Design your own custom paint job, experiment with different launch configurations, and explore various flight techniques. The possibilities are endless, allowing you to express your individuality and push the boundaries of what's possible.

Educational Exploration: The Kestrel offers a unique educational opportunity for modelers of all ages. Learn about the principles of aerodynamics, propulsion, and physics as you fine-tune your rocket's design and witness firsthand the effects of different variables on flight performance. Plus it has a volumous payload bay where you can install your own scientific payloads. It's an exciting way to engage in hands-on STEM learning.

Community and Camaraderie: Model rocketry is a passion shared by enthusiasts worldwide. By owning a Kestrel, you join a vibrant community of like-minded individuals, exchanging ideas, tips, and stories. Connect with fellow modelers, participate in launches, and create lasting friendships, all while enjoying the thrill of rocketry.

The Kestrel model rocket is not just a product; it's an experience. From its high-speed launches to its impressive flight performance, this rocket offers a journey filled with excitement, learning, and camaraderie. Discover the exhilaration of reaching new heights with the Kestrel and let your imagination take flight!

We rank this rocket as a Skill Level 3 rocket on the Apogee Components complexity scale. That means it is a little more challengeing to build, but can be put together by beginner rocketeers. However, we suggest that it be built by modelers that have built at least one rocket before, or have a mentor around to look over your shoulder.

Because it is built around a 29mm diameter rocket motor mount, this rocket is absolutely a mid-power rocket. It's not a large rocket though; it is deliberately a fairly small, light-weight, rocket and it will go out of sight easily. A lot of first-time fliers without experience will put the biggest motor in it on the first flight, which for this model will probably end up with the rocket just getting lost. It takes a bit of wisdom to know to start with a smaller motor until you get a feel for how fast and high it will go.  It's important to have a good understanding of how to safely and correctly prepare the rocket for launch and to be familiar with the different types of rocket motors available. We highly recommend using the Launch Visualizer app (below on this page) to simulate the rocket on your own launch field, so you can get a sense of how high and where it might drift based on your weather conditions.

Additionally, it is important that the rocket be built accurately and with appropriate fillets on all joints if supersonic flights are to be attempted. These aren't high level skills, but it is important that the rocket be built right or it will simply shread itself when a launch on a large motor is attempted.  

Construction of the Kestrel is generally pretty simple, though the boat tail requires some cutting that will require a steady hand and some careful use of a razor saw to get right. Luckily, this is a step that is pretty forgiving. The payload section is a quick build and the fins are simply surface mounted. This surface mounting makes construction simple, but it increases the need for suitable fillets on the fins for high-thrust flights. The best way to make these fillets is to use a filled epoxy such as our RocketPoxy using a method such as that shown in our Zephyr build series. Moreover, the instructions include a few optional steps that will make the rocket more aerodynamic (like angling the launch lug and smoothing the fins) which add a small amount of difficulty to the rocket.

Below are some generic videos from our library of construction techniques that may be useful to you when building and flying this kit. They will help you take this already great rocket, and make it even better with a smoother surface and give it that "wow" experience that other people drool over.

• Sealing Balsa Wood Fins so you get a glossy surface
• Sanding the fins after applying the sealer
• Positioning Pressure Sensitive Decals
• How to put Fillets on Your Rocket Fins
• How To Fill Body Tube Spirals
• Model Rocket Engine Code Explained for Beginners
• How to Prep a Rocket for Launch
• Selecting a Launch Controller
• Using the Estes Igniters and Plugs in black powder motors
• Preventing Parachute Line Entanglement
• Motor Mount Assembly
• Attaching Balsa Fins to a Tube using a fin alignment jig
• Drawing lines down your body tube
• Attaching Strings to Plastic Parachutes

We think you'll enjoy this model if you choose to buy it. We think its a sleak bird and it absolutely screams off the pad.

<== Click on the image to the left to automatically start the RockSim Launch Visualizer. There is no software to download -- try it right now for FREE!

The RockSim Launch Visualizer is an interactive 3D environment where you can test fly this rocket kit. Here are some things you can try right now:

• Pick any rocket motor and a ejection delay (from 1/4A to a D-size engine)
• Change the launch angle
• View the rocket and the trajectory from any perspective
• See how high it flies, and how far it travels from the launch pad
• Get a perspective on how fast the rocket flies
• Share your launch simulations with your friends

If you create a Launch Visualizer account, you can do even more things:

• Use larger rocket motors (up to a G-size)
• Pick any launch site on the earth
• Adjust wind speed and direction
• Upload your own RockSim files to test in the Launch Visualizer

For help with the features of the RockSim Launch Visualizer, click here.

Want to put the launch visualizer widget on your website? Contact us for details.

 The Kestrel uses many of our high-quality tubes, precisely cut and manufactured to ensure easy assembly and an accurate model. The tubes are coated with white paper (except for the coupler tube) which allows for easy visibility of pencil marks. They are also extremly smooth and posess small spiral groves for easy finishing.

The white high-impact polystyrene nose cone (3-to-1 ogive shape) and conical shaped transition are strong, smooth, and light-weight. These blow-molded pieces are custom made for Apogee and are highly accurate to ensure minimal mold lines, speeding up finishing. Also, being made of polystyrene, the plastic takes paints extremely well and many finishes adhere with no chipping even with shocks. This ensures that your finish will survive even those less than perfect landings.

The Kestrel fins are made of basswood so that they are strong enough to handle high-speed flights and are still light enough to allow the rocket to fly high on even D and C class motors. Also, since they are accurately laser cut to the profile of the boat tail an excellent fit is guaranteed.

With a bright plastic parachute and a generous length of Kevlar shock cord, the recovery system for the Kestrel is simple, but rugged and it will ensure safe recovery even in flights to extreme altitudes.

The Kestrel motor mount is unique as it crams a 29mm motor into a 41.6mm (BT-60) tube in the same space as a boat tail and the fins. Despite its unique form, it is quick and easy to assemble being composed of little more than some laser cut centering rings and a threaded rod for motor retention.

One of the key features of the Kestrel is the 9" (230 mm) long payload bay that can be used for experimentation or it can be replaced by one of our BT-60 ebay kits to give the Kestrel dual-deployment capabilities. As capable as the payload bay is, however, it adds almost no complexity to the kit.

The bread and butter of the Kestrel is soaring nearly out of sight on 29mm motors, but because it is such a light and streamlined craft, we include the parts to make a 24mm motor adapter. With a motor mount tube and a few rings, this kit gives you the ability to fly just about anything from a 24mm C class motor up to 29 mm G class motors.

In combination with some judicious use of paint, the vinyl decals provide a beautiful and robust finish to the Kestrel with a minimum of effort. The design of the decals only highten the feeling inspired by the birdlike form of the rocket.

Use the chart below to help determine which motor to use for this kit.

Estimated Altitude Predictions generated using RockSim

Not All Data Shown. Expand your browser or select options above.

This rocket kit includes an adapter to fit 24mm motors

Use the chart below to help determine which motor to use for this kit.

Estimated Altitude Predictions generated using RockSim

Not All Data Shown. Expand your browser or select options above.

A:

An ogive is the 3-dimentional shape that is defined by a chord line of a circle. If you have a chord line on a circle, and you revolve the curve of circle around the chord line, it will create the ogive shaped nose cone. The length-to-diameter ratio gives you an indication of how long the nose cone will be. The higher the ratio, such as 5-to-1, means that the length is five time as long as the diameter of the nose cone. 

There is nothing really special about the shape. The popularity of this shape is largely due to the ease of constructing its profile, as it is simply a circular section. It also has a very nice look to it.

A:

At the top of this page, where the kit dimensions are, you'll find the location of the CP. This is the important number you should be looking at for stability. You want the CG location to be in front of the CP by about one tube-diameter. A greater distance between the CG and CP is OK. For more information on rocket stability, please click here.