Edmonds Aerospace - Ecee Thunder {Kit}

Edmonds Aerospace Ecee Thunder

Edmonds Aerospace - Ecee Thunder {Kit}

Contributed by Todd Williams

Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Manufacturer:

Edmonds Aerospace

[Rocket Pic] Brief
A BIG rocket glider kit that is easy to put together, looks and flies great.

Construction
The instructions are both sides of a single 11x17 sheet of paper. They may be just a little sparse for a complete beginner, but are adequate for anyone who has built a couple of rockets. They do not include any instructions on balancing and trimming for glide, which would be helpful to those without glider experience. I needed only to make a minor adjustment to add "positive motor retention" points for holding in my 24mm reload casing. Other than that they are complete and accurate.

The laser cut balsa parts fit like a good jigsaw puzzle. I was able to complete construction in one evening, which is amazing considering the size and sophistication of the model.

My finished model was balanced almost perfectly without any trimming when built according to the instructions. Very easy - time to fly it!

Finishing
This kit looks good as is, and I chose not to paint to keep weight down and get longer glide times.

Construction Rating: 4

Glider Flight
The Ecee Thunder requires a 3/16" launch rod.

The instructions say to tape the motor in, which is adequate for D12s, but I added a more positive retention for the 24mm reload casing. The added weight is minimal, and I think it would be a nice addition to the kit to include some more secure motor retention system as standard. Preparation is simple: Slide the piston back, secure the motor and fly.

The Ecee Thunder needed no extra trimming for glide - it was ready to go as built. It is large enough that it was was still in pretty good trim after adding a couple of blind nuts and wiring in a 24mm reload casing. To fly with the F12 reload does require some reinforcement - pay special attention to the wingtips and be sure of all glue joints. Boost is nice and straight, and glide is impressive looking, if not of "competition" duration (but then, how many big competition RGs have you seen?).

Flight Rating: 5

Summary
The Ecee Thunder (like the Deltie Thunder before it) is a show stopper and will get attention even at high power launches. Easy to build. Fun to fly. Recommended!

Pros: ease of construction and flight, great looking, easy to trim
Cons: could use some sort of motor retention, kits hard to find

Overall Rating: 4

Flights

Comments:

D.U. (August 1, 2000)

The first thing you see is that it's BIG. Then when you hold it, you realize that it's really light! I would have liked to see more about balancing and motor selection. I saw a guy try to fly this on an D12-5. Big mistake, much too much delay. Perfect on a D12-3. Things I would improve: Bigger vent hole for ejection gasses. I saw three ETs blow off pieces of themselves if the ejection charge was too robust. Piston is REALLY hard to get back in hold and will quickly get crudded up. Grain on canard flap is the wrong direction and breaks too easily. Not one ET at NARAM 42 escaped broken canard syndrome. Reasons you should buy it anyway: It's a great flyer. It's a show stopper. The construction is amazingly easy. It's a marvelous, unique design. You'll fall in love with it. Try Totally Tubular to get one, they had a good supply of all the EA stuff last time I looked.

R.G. (March 4, 2002)

I had a canard failure on the first flight, it landed safely but due to mis-alignment of the locking arm the canard was split from the center just behind the notch for the arm to one edge. the only thing holding it together was the tape hinge. Also you must try this bird on an Estes E9-4, It's my favorite motor for this bird!

T.M. (October 14, 2005)

After nearly a dozen flights of my Ecee Thunder, I had a bizarre flight on what is my favorite motor for it, the Estes E9-4. I have flown this motor a half dozen times before, but on the last flight, the rocket re-kitted itself! It literally came apart along all the glue joints in the wings and stabilizers! My only guess is that the glue failed due to the extreme heat at Plaster Blaster 2005! It should be easy enough to reassemble. Good thing I wasn't flying the F21 that I had planned for the next flight!

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