Brief:
This is Estes new egg launcher with dual parachute recovery. The main body is the 24mm motor mount with a 18mm adapter. It is said to fly on every thing from a B4-2 to a E9-4. It comes with two parachutes a 12 and a 18 inch standard ready to use plastic chutes.

Construction:
The kit comes with one body tube and a heavy duty egg nose cone with rubber egg cushion, 2 E engine hooks, 1 18mm engine hook for the 18mm motor mount, 3 laser cut balsa fins, launch lug mount, 2 of Estes rubber shock cords (one 18 inches long and one 30 inches long), and a set of decals.

Estes says this is a level 2 kit and I believe them on this one. This kit was straightforward on how to build it. The directions were very well laid out and easy to follow. Was a very fast build; the only thing I did different was to throw out the rubber bands and go to a longer set of nylon cords for my shock cords.

Finishing:
With a little bit of care this one it can look just like the photo on the package and I am no model builder. So if I can do it, anyone can. The decals are the newer stick on types so a little care is needed to get it right the first time. I do wish they would go back to the waterslide type.

Construction Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Flight:
I tried a C6-3 for the first flight and I am glad I did. It was just a little windy and a breeze caused it to weathercock badly on the first flight. It only went about 100 feet up then turned into the breeze.

It ejected about 50 feet up and the chute came out--lucky for me there was no damage. It did not even break the egg. If I had used the B4 motor, it never would have made it. The rocket is too heavy for B motors with an egg load. Without an egg it would be fine, but what is the point of having an egg launcher if you don't fly an egg? Well, the next flight was good. I got the launch off between wind gusts and had a nice straight flight with perfect deployment of the chute. On the third launch the chute tangled and the egg was lost but the rocket survived without damage. It's a tough little rocket and nose cone. I will try it on an E motor next time or maybe even an AeroTech D13 motor. I might even get brave and put a F motor in it.

Recovery:
Good flights although the chutes are too small for competition. Even with the 18 inch chute, the hang time was only 20 seconds. From what I have seen at some competition launches, this would never make it. However, if you are looking for fun, then this is your baby. I definitely do not like the Estes new rubber band shock cords. Throw them out and get something better.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
This is a very good design and is fun to fly. The only bad thing is it will never make it at competition flights for B motors with the parachutes provided.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Brief:
Estes' latest egglofter...single-stage single-motor with an ENORMOUS range of power options and a classy clear egg capsule.

Construction:
The kit consists of the egg capsule, a very heavy 24mm body tube, an 18mm adapter, a pair of long motor-retainer clips (suitable for Estes' blackpowder "E" motors), a heavy ring to reduce the motor mount length inside (so you can use "D" motors as well), a pair of parachutes (12" and 18"), a sheet of laser-cut balsa fins, two lengths of rubber-band shock cord, a 5mm launch lug, and a sheet of press-on decals.

Construction was fairly standard. Estes provides their usual topnotch well-illustrated instructions. They rated it as a Skill Level 2, which I agree with as far as the construction goes. I used the old-fashioned tube-slit method for attaching the shock cord instead of the mount included.

This is one sturdy bird...the laser-cut balsa fins were hard enough to make me wonder if they weren't basswood instead, and the airframe tube makes me think LOC instead of Estes! The dual-hook motor retention setup seems overkill, but looks classy. The wrap-on alignment guide was spot-on...I used gel CA to attach the fins and filleted them with white glue.

Construction PRO's:

--Concrete-solid design, wide range of propulsion options.

Construction CON's:

--None I noted.

Finishing:
I did a minor color-scheme change on my Eggscaliber...the yellow egg capsule I painted red instead, and painted the roll-pattern decal red to match it.

Tube spirals vanished as I applied spray black, and the hard balsa fins were smooth enough as they were without any sealing.

The stick-on decals were a nice additional touch (although I still like waterslide decals better). A fair number of the decals were supposed to be applied to the egg payload...a good chuckle generator.

Construction Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Flight:
Flew it at the DARS McGregor launch site on the 26th of May, 2007.

My first flight was on a C6-3 with an empty payload section. It required four squares of TP wadding and I used a 12" plastic parachute. It flew straight up to an estimated 450 feet.

Second flight was with an egg and on a D12-3. I ran into my only GOTCHA here--the body tube is nice and slim for low drag, but not roomy enough for a really big parachute! Wanted to use a 24" chute...had to use an 18" for reasons of space. Still got the egg back unbroken...and an estimated 425 foot flight.

My third flight I went for broke on an E9-4 with the same egg...no pun intended. Nice straight flight to 550 feet estimated...recovery successful!

AARG does an egglofting competition they call "Huevos Launcheros" on occasion...I may buy a second Eggscaliber and add its main airframe tube to this one for extra parachute room and try it.

Recovery:
I used the old "tube-slit" method on the shock cord mount on this one.

It recovered fine each flight.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
Main PRO's---Good egg-capsule design and sturdy design with lots of motor options.

Only real CON---not enough parachute space for a big chute.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5