Estes Saturn V 1:200 Scale, 0.5 Liters, Multi

My son was obsessed with rocketry and spaceflight, and with the Apollo program specifically, so we got him this for Christmas a year ago. It's a really nice replica that lives on his desk when not in flight, but the whole kit is great, and not unlike the Shuttle / launchpad I had as a child. The only downside was that on our maiden flight, the parachute/wadding was a bit tight, so the parachute did not fully deploy correctly. This caused the tip of the rocket and one of the supplementary clear fins to break off on landing. Luckily, we were able to recover the tip, and the rocket flew mostly ok with a fin missing for the second flight, and we were able to reduce the wadding a bit to make sure the parachute deployed correctly. This is likely mostly user error, but instructions on how tight the nose cone section should fit would be helpful. (They do sell replacements for those parts, though, so it's probably not an uncommon issue) Pros: * Great replica of the Saturn V rocket, with stand for display * Pretty much ready to go out of the box, with minimal setup * Flies as expected to specified height, with easy parachute recovery for multiple flights with quick turnaround Cons: * Getting the wadding/parachute stuffed in has to be done carefully or you risk damaging the rocket, but instructions aren't very clear on how to manage that without guessing and testing

This is an impressive model rocket in size and detail. If you are looking for a rocket where you have to build it, (creating a nice bonding event between you and your children) move along. Nothing to see here. If you want an impressive take off, this is your rocket. Unfortunately it only reaches about 200 ft which in comparison to other big rockets (Big Daddy) is not too impressive. However when you remember that you just sent $75 worth of plastic upward, maybe 200 feet is a good thing in that it won't drift too far, and hopefully will land in one piece. It makes a great model sitting on it's launch pad in the TV room or your child's bedroom. Once a year, as a rite of spring, we bring it out to launch. The rest of the time we use our other rockets, big and small to wow the neighbor's kids.

This is my 4yr old son’s favorite rocket. It’s preassembled and beautiful. The only issue is that the clear fins required for flight stabilization are very thin and will break after several landings or any hard landings. We’ve actually upgraded the parachute to help with that. Also recommend using C6-3 or C5-3 engines. Anything longer than a 3 second delay will cause it to crash. It only goes about 200ft high due to size & weight. So at least you’ll never lose sight of it.

I like this model. It did not require any assembly which was actually a bit disappointing, but it flew exactly as expected the first time. Second time it ripped the parachute strings loose and landed hard, breaking the nose tower off. But it’s ready to fly again.

Daughter loves this!

Wife got this for me as something to remember a trip to Johnson space center. In one of the offices I seen a model of the Saturn v5 rocket. So she got this and I must say it is nice. Looks just like the one in that office. Oh by the way they got a real one there on display! It has it's own building.

Has that kind of slow but deliberate takeoff just like the real thing. Super cool to launch. If I had a negative it would be that the clear fins that you have to attach are a bit brittle and cheap but it's still super cool.

disappointed that it was not clear that you needed to purchase the launch kit separately