The Launch Pad - Anubis {Kit}

The Launch Pad Anubis

The Launch Pad - Anubis {Kit}

Contributed by Jeff Cowles

Published:	2011-03-01
Manufacturer:	The Launch Pad

[Picture] The Anubis is the first time I've attempted a kit from a company other than Estes. It arrived in the common long clear plastic bag, and upon inspection all of the parts were there, although there was no actual parts list with the kit. The instructions are basically two pages. The first page being a diagram of the rocket, fins, and motor mount. The second page was instructions on how to assemble the parachute on front, and a shock cord mount with instructions on shock cord assembly on the back of the page. One thing I noticed that I felt the kit lacking was that there are no decals with the Anubis.

The kit reminds me of older Estes and Centauri kits. Very basic parts, and plain sheets of balsa wood for fin material. A fin pattern on thick paper is also included. Since the kit has no step by step instructions I began with the fins. It was fairly easy to cut out the fin patterns and trace out the fins on the 1/8" balsa stock. Once finished I would caution anyone to pay careful attention to the grain of the stock. I cut the fins so that the grain goes parallel to the root edge, but due to a small knothole in the balsa I cut one of the fins with the grain diagonal to the root edge. This fin seems to be the strongest of them all, and the other three "main" fins have a little too much flex in them. The smaller bottom fins are made from 3/32" balsa.

The most tedious part of the construction has been the fairings that go around the top of the body tube. Two 9" long, 1/8"X1/16" strips are cut into eight two inch strips which are then sanded to taper the ends. Since there is an extra inch of material on each strip I cut them to 2 1/8" so that there would be a little extra for sanding down to the correct size. [Picture]

After sealing the balsa parts it was time to assemble the model. Which leads to another thing I found the kit lacking... There was no fin alignment guide or fin placement wrapper. I made a guide and wrapper using VCP Then it was just the process of gluing the fins and fairings in place. I used white glue on the fin roots for quick drying, and used wood glue fillets for strength. There are no through the tube slots, so the glue strength is important on this model. I used the fin guide to mark positions for the fairings, and lined them up so that each one lines up with one of the eight fins.

The internal structure is a simple matter as well. The motor mount is a standard 24mm D sized mount. The centering rings are laser cut and slightly stronger material than the average Estes centering ring. There is also a baffle disk in the kit, but here there is a discrepancy with the diagram. It shows a plain cardboard disk that needs to have holes punched into it using a 1/4" hole punch, but the disk in the kit had a single 24mm hole punched into it. The hole was just small enough that it couldn't be confused with the motor mount centering rings. Since there is only one baffle disk I assume that it's only purpose is to separate the parachute compartment, and keep the parachute/ shock cord from falling down to the bottom of the tube.

The recovery system consists of 35" of 1/4" elastic as a shock cord, and an 18" copper colored mylar parachute. I am a little worried about the parachute as it seems like very thin material. It feels almost like the foil packages that trading cards are sold in. A snap swivel, and a barrel swivel are included to connect the parachute and shock cord to the nose cone. The shroud line is similar to that used in Estes models except that it is gray instead of white, and is held to the parachute with self adhesive paper reinforcement rings.

The last touch is the launch lug which is 2 1/2" long and made for a 3/8" launch rod. The finished model without paint or motor weighs in at 3 oz. A little light for a D engine rocket in my opinion, but I plan on weighting it down with a lot of paint.

The finish I've chosen is tan with the tips of the main fins painted black, and the secondary fins completely black. Giving it a desert type of look. As an added touch The tip of the nose cone is silver reminiscent of a Phoenix type missile.

The Anubis builds into a very nice rocket, but definitely not for the beginner. I would classify this as a skill level 3 model. I'm a little worried about putting a D engine in such a light model, but as shown in the in the instruction sheet it can use an 18mm adapter to fly on C engines. Just make sure you have a large field for this one.

I would rate this kit as 3 points

Think The Launch Pad just needs to add a decal sheet, and improve the instructions.

Have not flown so I can't help out there... Yet.

Flights

Comments:

J.M. (September 1, 1999)

Both myself and my son each built an Anubis. We enjoyed building the rockets as they were a bit more demanding than most Estes kits. The instructions were detailed and easy for us to follow. In my opinion, the balsa for the fins was a bit weak. We tried to strengthen the fins by coating them with CA then sanding them. This helped. My son's Anubis flew moderately well, veering somewhat to one end of our launch field in spite of the fins being very straight. The mylar parachute worked very well, and was much better than the cheap plasic Estes chutes. MY Anubis fared less well. I launched it at a club launch here in Denver. On ignition of the D motor, the rocket leaped up the launch rail, but took a sharp right angle at the top of the rail. The rocket flew (very well for what it is worth, and arrow straight) in a path parallel to the ground. It went several hundred yards before plowing into the earth. The rocket did not survive the crash (Not unexpected). Overall a fun kit to build, but I would strengthen the fins. Building: 4 out of 5, flight: 3 out of 5 for my son's kit. My rocket flew straight and well, just in the wrong direction. I do not think that it was the fault of the rocket that it veered off the rod at a right angle.

D.W. (April 16, 2002)

The Anubis is one of the most attractive missile designs out there. One of our club members brought out a beautifully finished model to the range for its maiden flight. However, after witnessing a "right angle" like the one described in the review I was asked by the owner to do an analysis on the airframe using RockSim. Here's what I found out: 1) With a D12 installed the CP/CG relationship is .75 calipers positive. This makes the Anubis marginally stable if built following the instructions. 2) To bring the CG forward to a more stable configuration all that is required is .3 ounces of weight in the nose cone. Since the Anubis uses an Estes PNC 60AH, there is plenty of room for this modification. In summary this is one of the Launch Pad's "cool" kits. It looks like a killer on the pad and really moves under D12 power. The addition of just a little nose weight will help avoid those right angle turns off the rod avoiding a lost or broken rocket. Fly safe and have some fun, Duane Wilkey

B.A. (March 17, 2006)

This was a decent kit. Which means I was actually able to put it together. The balsa wood I got with my kit was completely unusable. It was of such poor quality, that I went out to my local craft store and bought some regular balsa for it. And the bulkhead ring is, in my opinion, not needed. This is a BT-60, you don't need a bulkhead for that small of a tube. Instructions need to be much clearer though. A diagram is not instructions.

G.B. (August 16, 2008)

This was the first Launch Pad kit that I built, way back around 1993. It's flown great on C6-3's, and really screams on D12's. As with almost all LP kits, flying in anything but a slight breeze can be an adventure. I've always womdered one thing though...just what the heck is an Anubis???

R.J.J. (August 17, 2008)

This was my first "D" rocket and the first kit I've purchased from The Launch Pad. After building several rockets from Custom, Quest, Semroc, Estes, etc., I felt it was time to step up to something a little more challenging. The Anubis caught my eye because of it's unique design (similar to the Lacrosse missiles of the late 1950's), flies on mid-power motors, and it's low price tag. Construction wasn't difficult but I did take my time on the fins, painting them with CA glue as suggested in the instructions. I chose to laminate the fins with printer paper and CA glue. This resulted in the fins being as strong and stiff as plywood. For the finish, I chose a camouflage pattern using Testors Afrika Mustard for the base coat, followed by Testors Dark Tan and Euro Gray. Three black stripes were added followed by two coats of dullcoat laquer. It looks great. After reading some of the other reviews, I did add some clay to the nose. Since this was my first flight using D motors, I was more than a little apprehensive. My fears went away as the rocket took off straight as an arrow and came down within 50 yards of the launch site. With the wind picking up and not wishing to tempt fate, I packed my things and will fly Anubis again another day. Overall, I had a lot of fun building this rocket and am more than impressed with the way it flies. Thank you, TLP.

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