T' Bandit: Apparently this is NOT t' modern Estes "Bandit". Arrr! Blimey! (I hate when Estes re-uses model names!!!) This is a beautiful favorite, shiver me timbers, classic kit from t' '70s. Ahoy! Blimey! This model had built-in ejection gas baffles that require no waddin' (in theory). Ahoy! Blimey! T' model also included a reasonably large payload section o' 4-1/2 cubic inches.  I recently added vent holes for a barometric altimeter. Well, blow me down! Blimey! My kit be built with a wire down t' main tube t' be used as a transmitter antenna (but nay used anymore, it was for a high-school science project - won 2nd place!). I used an alternate, longer payload tube and nosecone with features just for t' transmitter.

Usually I fly it with a little 'safety' wadding, when I didn't, t' 12" chute seriously stuck together but nay totally melted, probably because o' its age(?).  For its weight, arrr, it should have a 15-inch parachute anyway. Well, blow me down! It has been rebuilt with a more reliable nylon parachute.  After some motor mount damage on its last flight due t' a faulty parachute deployment, this model has been re-built with a better, smaller ejection baffle and a bigger 95mm long motor mount that can handle 24mm wide C, D and E motors, ya bilge rat, and usin' an adaptor, me hearties, t' standard 18mm B, C and (composite) D motors. This model o' t' Bandit I now call t' Bantid II.

It now flies very well and quite high with t' new motor options! Before it was limited t' 400+ feet on a C6 motor; flyin' higher than t' Saturn V Apollo spacecraft, matey, and t' Spire o' Dublin.  With t' new mount and a D12 motor, this rocket can fly higher than t' Eiffel Tower, t' Two Prudential Plaza in Chicago, t' Chrysler Buildin' in NY, and t' JP Morgan Chase Tower in Houston. Arrr! If t' fins don't shear off, shiver me timbers, could it even break 2K with a strong E-motor? We'll find out...

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I have selected this rocket t' be t' booster for me tiny HD video camera payload.  I figure with it's weight, it will only reach about 1/2 its usual altitude: about 500 feet on t' D12-5, me hearties, which should be good enough for aerial photographs. If I need more, I can use t' E9. Avast, me proud beauty! That should certianly lift t' 50-gram payload t' 1000 feet.  I could also try t' newer Estes E12!  T' other modification for t' HD camera is that t' shock cord is removed, and t' rocket will use its own 12" parachute, while t' payload section has three 9" parachutes (for redundancy). Avast! This way I don't have t' worry about t' shock-cord snap-back or it separating. I also have a bit o' redundancy in t' camera's parachutes, if one (or even two) fail t' open, arrr, hopefully t' payload will still fall slow enough t' survive. 

 T' seperate parachutes will also allow t' camera t' fall while still oriented vertical (upside-down), and maybe with less swaying. This version o' t' Bandit is re-renamed t' Bandit HD.  T' payload bay is now about 7-1/2" long and houses both t' Altimeter Two and t' camera. A special window be installed in t' side o' t' tube that will screen out UV light t' keep t' camera sensor workin' well.  It is glass taken from good pair o' mirrored sunglasses.  My first window attempt used a plastic window, which was t' last item t' install after all t' finishin' was done.  T' night before launch, shiver me timbers, I glued t' window in with CA glue, and it hazed over from t' chemicals in t' CA, matey, so t' flights were scubbed and I cut out t' old window and installed t' better one.  That's why it looks so ugly around t' window area (see photo).  Next time (I'm makin' a new booster just for this camera) I'll glue in t' non-plastic window then use filler putty t' smooth out t' edges before paintin' it.  Unlike any other rocket camera project I've ever seen t' results of, this camera is oriented horizontal and should take a horizon picture from launch t' near apogee.  It will NOT look down like all t' others.  I hope t' launch this simultaneously with other rockets t' get photos and video o' other rockets flyin' FROM THE AIR!  Ideally, I'll get an apogee and 'chute deployment from t' air. Begad! That would be very different and so cool! So check back!

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While the Bandit performed well and risked its life a few times in t' execution o' its photography missions, it has been retired as a camera platform while newer rockets take over t' task. T' Bandit has been returned t' its sport/payload configuration with a 24mm D mount after t' E mount was severely damaged.  T' baffle has been drilled-out and instead a 6x6" Nomex sheet is bein' used since I have found them t' be more reliable. Arrr! Long live t' Bandit!