Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Brief:
A three fin 18mm rocket with streamer recovery. Minimum diameter with swept
back fins. A small rocket designed for speed.
Construction:
Kit consists of:
To build the kit I used:
The quality of the components are very good, the body tube had no grooves etc, so finishing was easy. The instructions are very clear, and this rocket builds in minutes plus glue drying time.
The only part of the rocket design that I did not like is that the motor mount sticks out of the rear end of the body tube. I assume that this is so the motor clip can flex, however, it does spoil the simple clean look of the rocket and does bring the CG back. I would be tempted when building another, to ditch the clip and move the motor mount up the tube so that the two tubes were flush at the rear.
The fins need a bit of sanding and filling. I attached them using white glue to the body tube after I had sanded the finish off the area of contact. I used an Estes fin alignment tool to hold the fins in place whilst the glue dried.
I trimmed the edges off the launch lug at a 45 degree angle at both ends. Apparently this significantly lowers the drag on a rocket.
All joints were triple filleted with white glue.
Finishing:
The design on the insert card shows a plain yellow rocket with one orange fin.
I chose an all purple design.
Two coats of gray primer were applied, sanding between each coat, followed by two coats of purple spray paint.
Construction Rating: 4 out of 5
Flight:
With its low mass, this rocket leaves the pad in a flash. My first and last
flight was straight and true.
Recovery:
The streamer brought the rocket to a safe landing in a tree! That was the end
of this rocket!
Flight Rating: 5 out of 5
Summary:
Built, flown, and lost all in a flash!
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
( Contributed - by Norbert Lis) Brief: Light weight is perfect for high-altitude flights and dependable streamer recovery returns your rocket for one exciting flight after another! Construction: The kit contains: 1 body tube 1 motor mount tube 3 fins die-cut for easy assembly Plastic nose cone 2 foot recovery streamer Kevlar ® shock cord The instructions ...
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B.C. (September 1, 2001)