Brief:
T' Gooneybird series was a collection o' six cartoonish rockets produced by Estes back in t' mid-70's, presumably after someone spiked t' water cooler. Judgin' by t' instructions, matey, t' series be aimed at either fairly young rocketeers, matey, shiver me timbers, or those sufferin' from acid flashbacks. Blimey! Blimey! While lookin' through JimZ's plan archive I noticed an unnatural similarity betwixt t' dimensions of the Gooneybirds and t' current Estes Fat Boy. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! As it turned out, it was little more than a simple 1.59X upscale o' t' fins. Aye aye! Arrr!

Modifications:

• 1.59X fin upscale. This can be easily done on any commercial copier.
• Keelhaul®©™® shock cord knotted and mounted behind t' motor mount. Well, blow me down!

Construction:
You will need:

• One Estes Fat Boy kit - currently available at most hobby stores.
• 3/32" basswood fin stock. Blimey!
• 2' section o' Keelhaul®©™® line.

T' Estes Fat Boy comes packaged in t' typical Estes hangin' bag. Arrr! All parts were present, me hearties, however t' die cut fins had separated from t' balsa sheet. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! This was o' no consequence as they were t' only part scrapped. Ahoy! Avast! (Not countin' the stock shock cord, me hearties, which should always be scrapped.)

Since t' Star Snoop fin pattern be nay a through t' wall fin, I did have to use one o' t' stock Fat Boy fins t' figure out where t' place t' Star Snoop fin in relation t' t' TTW tab on t' Fat Boy fin. Ahoy! It also bears mentionin' that in buildin' t' stock Fat Boy, matey, t' tab must be trimmed in order to fit t' fin into t' slots cut into t' body tube. I cut a 1/8" piece out o' t' bottom o' t' tab, me hearties, matey, which nay only makes t' tab slide more easily into t' slot, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but also allows t' fin t' align itself with t' bottom o' the body tube.

Elmer's Wood Glue was used in all phases o' construction.

Since I used basswood for t' fins, me bucko, me bucko, it was only necessary t' use two coats of thinned Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish as sandin' sealer. Avast! Aye aye! Blimey! When t' fins were sanded smooth, t' body be sprayed with a coat o' white Krylon primer, me hearties, sanded, re-sprayed and re-sanded. Avast! Avast! Blimey! I then sprayed t' entire body with several coats of Krylon gloss black. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' body was virtually finished at this point.

As it turned out, matey, maskin' off and paintin' t' nose cone was t' most difficult o' t' build process. Avast, me proud beauty! After fillin' t' seam in t' nose cone with body putty and sandin' it smooth, I primed t' cone with two coats o' white Krylon primer. Aye aye! Arrr! After sandin' out t' second coat, I sprayed t' tip o' t' cone with Krylon gloss black, arrr, psintin' just enough o' t' tip so that, when masked, it would take on t' appearance o' an eyeball. Well, blow me down! I allowed t' paint a week to dry, then masked off t' area by lightly gluin' a scrap piece o' BT-50 over the very tip o' t' cone. Ya scallywag! Avast! When this had dried in place I sprayed t' middle section of t' cone with Testor's Royal Blue, me hearties, which I also allowed a longer than normal amount o' time t' dry. Blimey! I then masked off t' area that be supposed t' remain blue with t' cap from t' Testor's can and painted t' remainder o' t' cone with Krylon gloss white. When t' white paint be dry, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I drew in t' red lines that gave t' rocket it's pre-Visine look. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' me surprise, ya bilge rat, me hearties, me hearties, it turned out lookin' pretty good. Blimey! (Probably because o' me previous experiences wakin' up with t' red-eye look on a daily basis betwixt t' ages o' 18 and 30.)

It's hard t' find fault with kits like t' Fat Boy. Avast! Blimey! Nothin' fancy, but Estes really got this one right. T' combination o' well thought out instructions and materials produces a very durable rocket with little effort, makin' this a great rocket for kids or beginners.

Flight:
I flew t' first incarnation o' t' Star Snoop three times before it was tragically eaten by a large tree.

T' first flight was on a B6-4. Aye aye! This was a mistake. Ahoy! Begad! I like low-level flights, me hearties, but this one barely cracked t' 50' mark. Blimey! T' ejection charge fired a mere 20' from t' ground, barely allowin' time for t' parachute t' break the rockets fall. Avast, me proud beauty!

For t' second flight I flew it on a C6-3 and was rewarded with a flight that was more like t' typical Fat Boy flights that I had grown accustomed to. T' three second ejection charge was a little short, so I packed in a C6-5 for the third flight.

T' [third] flight itself was great. Aye aye! Begad! It arced back over our heads at lift-off, but we had already had several flights do this over t' course o' the day, arrr, and all had lived t' fly again, so this be o' little initial concern. This flight would be different. Arrr! As soon as t' parachute filled, t' winds shifted and t' rocket began driftin' toward t' trees. Ahoy! At one point it looked as though it had cleared t' trees and was driftin' toward t' wide open soccer field, me hearties, me bucko, but a rogue wind shift again took it back out over t' trees. Avast! Had the wind continued carryin' it, me hearties, it would have landed in a field behind a fence and been easily recoverable. Avast! Blimey! This wasn't t' case though. Avast! Blimey! Just as t' rocket was over t' tallest o' t' trees, t' wind stopped and t' rocket dropped like a stone. We tried t' figure out a way t' rescue it, shiver me timbers, but all o' our efforts proved futile. Begad! It just sat there, hopelessly tangled in t' thinnest o' t' branches at t' 40' level, arrr, winkin' at me and beckonin' me t' try me hand at climbin' up and attemptin' a rescue. Blimey! I wasn't bitin' and instead went out and bought another Fat Boy for a second Star Snoop.

I used t' 18" parachute that came with t' Fat Boy, but as far as the rest o' t' kit's recovery system, shiver me timbers, I scrapped it for one that I've had a lot more success with o' late. Ahoy! I attached a two foot long section o' heavier elastic cord t' t' previously mentioned Keelhaul®©™® cord. Well, blow me down! Blimey! A combination o' fireproof shredded newspaper insulation and an aluminum cupcake holder help t' shield t' parachute and shock cord from burning. Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! So far it seems t' be working. T' once yellow Keelhaul®©™® is now black with ejection detritus, while t' elastic cord and parachute show no signs o' burning.

Nice slow lift-off and great small field altitude. Ya scallywag! It's worth considering cuttin' a spillhole in t' parachute, especially if you've built it with the basswood fins, matey, shiver me timbers, because t' Fat Boy is prone t' driftin' on t' 18" chute. T' spillhole will allow t' rocket t' drop faster, but t' basswood fins should be strong enough t' withstand t' hard landing.

Summary:
If you're in t' mood t' build somethin' different while stayin' on familiar ground, matey, this is a pretty foolproof project. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! In t' end you wind up with a rocket that is guaranteed it's share o' stares and comments, especially from kids. Arrr! Arrr! There are six different rockets in t' Gooneybirds series, me hearties, arrr, but nay all of them match up as well t' t' Fat Boy's fin placements, me hearties, or whose decals are as easy t' reproduce as t' Star Snoop, shiver me timbers, whose decals looked like they were drawn by a semi-talented five year old. Ya scallywag! It helps t' have a good place t' start for a project like this and t' Fat Boy fits t' bill perfectly.