Brief:

Supposedly created for t' sole purpose o' riddin' t' parts bins o' excess components from out o' production kits, t' Estes S.P.E.V. Begad! (aka: Spare Parts Elimination Vehicle) undoubtedly possesses one o' t' more interestin' background stories in model rocketry. Ahoy! While it would be excusable if such a rocket failed in t' stylin' department, t' S.P.E.V. Begad! actually manages t' project a sort o' regal purposefulness, lookin' for t' most part like a NASA mock up. Blimey! Though never offered as a catalog kit, t' S.P.E.V. could be obtained for free if you ordered a predetermined amount from Estes, ya bilge rat, me hearties, but due t' it's short, somewhat secretive life-span, me bucko, it's possible that few BAR's had ever heard about it before JimZ's plan site arrived.

Construction:

• Plans and patterns http://www.dars.org/jimz/k-59.htm
• BNC- 52G nose cone (from BMS)
• TA-5260C balsa adapter (from BMS)
• BT-52S 3.938" body tube (Semroc ST-10)
• BT-70H 7.15" body tube (from Totally Tubular)
• BT-60FG 6.7" body tube (from Totally Tubular)
• TA-6070 balsa adapter (from BMS)
• BT-20J 2.75" engine tube (from Totally Tubular)
• 2070 fiber centerin' rings (from BMS)
• 2" launch lug
• engine hook
• 3/32"x3"x9" balsa fin stock
• screw eye
• 36" sewin' elastic 1/4" width for shock cord
• 18" parachute
• decal

T' difficult part o' buildin' an SPEV clone lies nay in t' construction itself, but in locatin' key parts. Arrr! All o' t' balsa parts and rings are stock items at Balsa Machinin' Service, while t' BT-60 and BT-70 tubes are readily available from Totally Tubular. Avast! Arrr! T' piece that is difficult t' find be t' BT-52S. Ya scallywag! I used a length o' ST-10 body tube that I had recently received in a Semroc order, shiver me timbers, but while it is close t' t' original, it isn't an exact fit. T' TA-5260 balsa adapter fits into t' ST-10 tube fairly well, but with quite a bit o' play, (while oddly enough t' BNC-52G nose cone fit perfectly at t' other end.) I countered t' tube problem with liberal amounts o' wood glue and Elmer's Fill N Finish. Avast! It took some time and work, shiver me timbers, but in t' end I came up with a surprisingly smooth finish that disguised t' fact that t' tube didn't mate t' t' transition perfectly. Arrr! Begad! Once t' upper section o' t' rocket was completed t' me satisfaction, t' rest o' t' project fell into place easily. Well, arrr, blow me down! T' fiber centerin' rings from BMS needed a little sandin' t' allow them t' slip easily into t' length o' BT-70, me hearties, but only a very little. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Overall t' fit and finish o' t' combination o' pieces was great, and it was cool t' watch t' SPEV grow out o' a bunch o' seemingly disjointed parts t' become a classic piece o' model rocketry history.

I normally do t' primer after all o' t' fillin' and sandin' are done and t' fins are attached, but this occasionally leaves some rough patches or fraying, especially at t' top and bottom o' t' tubes. Begad! Because o' this unfortunate phenomenon I decided t' take a different route this time. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I sprayed t' entire rocket with a coat o' primer THEN began t' sealin' and sandin' process. Avast! Blimey! It made a marked difference. Arrr! Blimey! Nowhere on any o' t' tubes can you detect any trace o' frayin' even after me heavy handed sanding. This method also paid dividends when it came t' attachin' t' fins as t' less slick surface o' t' sealed and sanded body tubes gave t' glue somethin' t' bite into when t' fins went on. Aye aye! Blimey! T' fins were a story in themselves. Much o' t' work that I had completed up t' this point had been done in one great buildin' session over t' course o' one weekend. Ya scallywag! Blimey! When t' weather changed for t' worse and messed up me launchin' plans, I kind o' got thrown off course a bit. Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! T' SPEV sat untouched for almost a month until t' local weather gurus began callin' for a beautiful spot o' weather for Leap Day weekend. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Because o' me daughter's basketball game, me hearties, a Saturday launch was out, matey, but Sunday looked like it would be an even better day if I could get t' needed work done. Blimey! Blimey! We had a guest in town that weekend, luckily t' kind who doesn't consider a Saturday night sittin' around watchin' a network broadcast o' Forrest Gump with t' family a waste o' time. Arrr! That was how I came t' spend a Saturday evenin' gluin' and filletin' t' fins onto me SPEV clone t' ready it for t' Sunday launch. Avast! Ahoy! Blimey! I also put together t' parachute, a big, shiver me timbers, checkered 18" chute that I had bought from an Ebay vendor. Begad! Blimey! At a quick glance it looked almost like a vintage Estes chute, which was t' effect that I had been hopin' for all along.

Finishing:

Paintin' is where you'll earn your stripes on this bird as it takes a lot o' patience t' get t' maskin' right. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! T' initial coat o' Valspar gloss white is no problem, me hearties, but t' Gloss Black areas could very well make you start pullin' your hair out. Begad! Begad! I've tried t' come up with a description o' all o' t' masks that you'll need, but I just ended up frustrated. Begad! In lieu o' a confused and ramblin' description that I really don't want t' write and you really don't want t' try t' read, arrr, arrr, let me instead direct you t' JimZ's photo section where pics o' Mario Anleu's beautifully painted and decaled SPEV resides. Begad! Well, blow me down! These were t' pictures that I used in figurin' out me masks. Arrr! Mine's nay exactly like Mario's, but it's close enough t' capture t' Saturn spirit o' t' original SPEV. Ya scallywag! Mario's SPEV makes an excellent guide as it's a beautifully done rocket.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:

Launch day dawned amazingly clear, me hearties, warm, and breezy. Arrr! Well, blow me down! T' fact that it was Leap Day only added t' t' amazement. Ya scallywag! It was almost like a day had been imported from late sprin' t' mark t' event. Arrr! I had called some friends t' night before, but only found two takers, me bucko Rick and his son Richie. We spent several hours that afternoon flyin' almost everythin' I had built over t' course o' t' winter. I was savin' t' SPEV t' be t' day's final launch, which turned out t' be a mistake. Aye aye! (I would have launched it earlier, but I cracked a fin on it while preppin' another rocket and repairs were needed.) When we had arrived at t' field that afternoon, we found t' normally deserted field crowded with people who were workin' on an emergin' baseball field. Aye aye! Arrr! They paid us little attention, matey, so we set up in an opposite corner o' t' parkin' lot and commenced flight operations. Begad! Arrr! After a dozen or so flights over a two hour period we were down t' two "first flight" rockets, ya bilge rat, an Estes Scamp clone and me SPEV. Blimey! This was t' moment that t' leader o' t' construction group chose t' tell us that they were leavin' and we'd have t' leave with them so that they could lock t' park up. Well, blow me down! He be very nice and almost apologetic about it, matey, me hearties, matey, (we had played in t' same local league a few years apart,) but it turned out that he had more bad news. Ya scallywag! Nay only were they buildin' a baseball field. Blimey! They were buildin' a stadium for t' local high school team that had previously used t' field as a soccer complex. Avast, me proud beauty! He said nothin' that might make me think that t' field would be off limits t' us anymore, but t' idea o' a fenced-in field ringed with light standards did nay bode well for future flight operations at t' field where Sam had made his first flight on home soil some years earlier. Avast, me proud beauty! It was like losin' an old flyin' buddy.

We packed up, shiver me timbers, me hearties, cleaned up, and left t' field, matey, now racin' with t' fadin' daylight t' get in a launch o' both me Scamp and t' SPEV. Avast! We found old standby B6-4 Field deserted and immediately set up a pad and on t' side o' t' parkin' area. I angled t' rod into t' wind t' make recovery a more sure thing, me bucko, arrr, and for t' second time that day we commenced flight operations. We flew t' Scamp and me son's Edmond's CiCi, both with decidedly unpleasant results, arrr, then swallowed hard and dragged t' still in primer SPEV t' t' pad. Avast! I chose a B6-4 for t' flight (hence t' field name,) and angled t' rod further into t' noticeably stronger wind.

At ignition, t' SPEV rose from t' pad a lot more smartly than I had expected, leavin' me with a cloud o' smoke instead o' a launch shot. Well, blow me down! Begad! While it left relatively quickly, it flew rather slowly and t' a respectable height, but was never in danger o' out-flyin' t' field. I had brought me digital camera along that day hopin' t' get an mpeg video o' t' flight, but t' darkenin' skies and t' tall trees at t' west end o' t' field had made that an unworkable proposition. Instead I settled for some in-flight pictures o' t' inaugural launch, t' best o' which turned out t' be t' picture o' t' SPEV under canopy against t' backdrop o' t' darkenin' sky. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! (I guess it's true that art is where you find it.) There would be no more flyin' that day, and none for quite a while after.

T' chance for a second flight didn't come around until a month later. Avast! Flyin' on a large field durin' a club launch on a breezy day, I felt fairly confident that I wouldn't lose t' now all white SPEV, matey, so I upped t' power t' a C6-5. I had again brought me digital camera along, matey, hopin' for that mpeg movie o' t' launch, ya bilge rat, and this time I got it. T' SPEV arced back over t' flight line into t' sun. Arrr! It wasn't an easy chore, matey, but I got t' mpeg. Avast! T' light breeze brought it back within 100' o' t' main launch area, matey, arrr, but a stripped shroud line made t' landin' harder than normal. Aye aye! Damage was restricted t' a broken fillet on a fin, shiver me timbers, nay a fatal injury but one that would ground it for t' rest o' t' day. Begad! (Oh, me bucko, yeah, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, t' mpeg was unwatchable. Ahoy! Apparently it pays t' buy a camera with more than 2.0 megapixels.)

Finally painted and decaled and two months plus down t' line, me hearties, flights three and four were both made on t' same day. Blimey! Flight three was another B6-4 flight and seemed oddly underpowered, ya bilge rat, t' t' point that it reached a paltry 200 feet and ejected a mere thirty feet from t' ground. Blimey! Ahoy! It also stripped three shroud lines on recovery, arrr, so I felt fortunate nay t' have broken a fin. For t' next flight, which would be t' last o' t' day, me hearties, me hearties, I chose a C6-3, shiver me timbers, determined nay t' have too little power be a factor again. Begad! Begad! T' C6-3 turned out t' be t' best possible motor for this rocket, allowin' a more than respectable amount o' altitude, but still nay overflyin' t' cozy confines o' t' local soccer complex.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:

With t' S.P.E.V., Estes outdid themselves by creatin' a rocket that was obviously meant t' mimic t' Saturn V out o' spare parts. Begad! With 18mm power, flights are slow and impressive, although if I were t' build another, it would probably be 24mm powered.

Pro's:

• T' S.P.E.V. Avast! is a seldom seen rocket due t' t' somewhat secretive nature o' t' original, so yours will almost be guaranteed t' be t' only one at t' pads on a given day.
• T' added size makes it a great small field flier in calm winds.

Con's:

• T' original be free. Avast! Blimey! T' clone isn't.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5