The M2 Mars Challenger

A Sci-fi classic comes to life!
Pemtec's M2-Mars Challenger harkens back to the days when sleek, silver, tail landing spaceships freely roamed the universe. Always manned by big white guys in silver suits, the M2-Mars Challenger is ready to nip off for a quick lunch on Neptune or head toward Venus so you can hang with the Amazons.

The M2 is a hand-filling 2.6" in diameter, is over 34" in length, sports groovy boomerang shaped wings and has extended landing legs.

This is a true builder's kit! The builder cuts the tail cone, the fin slots in the tail, and the angles on the fin struts. The through-the-wall fin and wing tabs must be carefully custom-fit using a razor saw. Plan on spending some quality time with the epoxy fillets along the fin/body tube, spine/body tube, and strut/fin joints to give everything that fluid, seamless, sleek, alien look. It takes patience. When you're done, though, your M2 will impress every other custom hot rodder on the field. All it needs now is too much power...

The resulting showpiece is otherworldly. Some of the guys we showed the Challenger to at our last launch just said, "Oh, man, that's incredible!"

The destruction step you may spend the most time on is getting the fillets just right. The sanding, filling, and more sanding is quickly rewarded when you get to the range, though, when your fellow rocketeer's eyes bug out, like some alien's eyes viewing Earth's vegetation for the first time. The M2 is an engineering marvel, with sturdy materials and through-the-wall fins. You'll find yourself flying this model after just a few days of build time.

I recommend that you do not fly this kit when the ground is hard and dry. No matter how much epoxy you have on the landing struts, they will break off if the rocket lands on hard ground. It's just physics.

With altitudes of 500 to 1600 feet depending on which F or G motor you use, you have great options for altitude, loudness, and color of flame.

When you do your Level 1 Certification with the M2, you can step up to an H motor. With the extreme-altitude Rocksim predictions, though, you might want to bring binoculars.

This is a phenomenal kit! It's one of my favorites. It makes me want to spend the day reliving my misspent youth watching old sci-fi shows on Hulu. It's tall, cigar-shaped, fun, and no mere mortal will ever mistake it for a "regular rocket".

Pemberton does creative things with the visual impact of this kit that most rocket companies won't even consider. Those long dowels, the curvaceous fins, the spines running forward from the dowels, through-the-tail-cone fin mounting, and wings: all of these things are audacious engineering accomplishments that give this kit a flavor like no other.

An interesting engineering step is the addition of 2-part expanding foam inside the tail cone where the fin tabs go. This is a lightweight engineering solution to a heavyweight problem: how to provide enough structure to keep those cool fins attached. 2-part foam is a standard building technique in high power rocketry, and this is a great kit to try it on for the first time.

Creating the tail cone from a nose cone, slotting the heavy plastic tail cone for the fins, custom-fitting the plywood fins, and lots of sanding and filling mean that you need to plan on spending some time on this model. I highly recommend mounting a dowel through the nose cone to retain the nose cone weight (see photo in the features section below).

I made a calculated choice when I built our display/photo model not to smooth out all the joints with fillets completely, because you the buyer need to know what you're getting. This kit, if built according to the destructions, looks almost alien in its shapely smoothness, to the point that a person who hasn't built one won't know what shape the parts were before they are all smoothed out. Done right, this finished piece of art has an almost metallic-organic look and feel.

Some construction requires epoxy adhesive and/or fillers. This can be messy and cause an allergic reaction in some people. Adult supervision and wearing rubber gloves is recommended when working with epoxy.

The M2 is a big rocket that uses a high power heavy wall body tube. It also has substantial interior lead and epoxy nose weight to provide stability. While the tubes and weight don't make the rocket any harder to assemble, extra safety precautions are required when a rocket this big is flown. Patience and acquired flying skills to know when and where NOT to fly are just as important as quality construction techniques.

From out of that Wonder Bread world of the 50's, Pem-Tech brings you the coolest science fiction spaceships of all time: Sleek, silver, beauties like the King Krãken and the glorious golden hotrods like Bucky Jones Space Cadet.

Layne Pemberton is famous for his "destructions". The humor infects everything from motor selection to your household pets. Trust us, they're fun. The photos could use some upgrades to good quality line diagrams to improve legibility, but the destructions are otherwise good.

Super Strong Plastic Nose Cones - The tail cone is built by cutting off the tip of one of the nose cones. Made from polyethylene plastic, these heavy-wall nose cones can really stand up to any amount of abuse you might give them. The 12.5 inch exposed length is just one feature.

They have a molded-in shock cord attachment.

You'll need a Dremel tool to cut the tip and the fin slots in the tail cone.

Tools needed to assemble this rocket kit:

• Pencil
• Ruler
• Masking Tape
• Razor saw
• 2-part expanding foam (optional)
• Micro balloons (epoxy additive, optional), helps to thicken and lighten epoxy fillets
• Fix-it epoxy clay (highly recommended)
• Hobby Knife
• Dremel tool
• Finishing Supplies like paint and sandpaper.
• Wood Glue or 5-Minute Epoxy

To Launch This Rocket Kit, You'll Also Need:

• Rocket Motors (Not included with this kit - See the motor selection above)
• Launch Pad (see below for suggestions) & Launch Controller (Not included with this kit)
• Recovery Wadding - Disposable | Reusable

Q. What launch pad should I use to launch this rocket kit?

A. Since this is a big rocket, you'll need very stable launch pad. We offer the Aerotech Mantis Launch Pad and the Estes Porta Pad-E.

Q. What launch controller can I use to ignite the motors?

A. We offer two different controllers that can be used for mid and high-power size rockets. The Aerotech Interlock and the Pratt Hobbies GO-BOX Controller.

Q. How do I go about getting High Power Certified?

A. Click here for more information on getting Level 1 certified.

Q. Where can I get the 2-part foam for building the fin can?

A. We recommend talking with local rocketeers in your area to find a source closest to you. You can find a list of clubs in your area by clicking here.

Q. I need help selecting motors. What should I do? Can you teach me how to select them myself?

A. Watch this YouTube video - How to Select Model Rocket Engines

We encourage you to learn the proper motor selection technique. Please watch our YouTube video that will walk you step-by-step through the process