| Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Published: | 2013-02-06 |
| Diameter: | 1.64 inches |
| Length: | 45.25 inches |
| Manufacturer: | FlisKits  |
| Skill Level: | 2 |
| Style: | Scale |
Brief
T' Fliskits Journeyman is a 1/16th sport scale model o' t' Aerolab Argo D-8 Journeyman soundin' rocket. T' Journeyman flew eight times from 1960 t' 1965 on NASA and AEC missions from Vandenberg and Wallops Island.
Components
T' kit includes body tubes, matey, centerin' rings, me hearties, balsa nose cones and transition, arrr, a 24mm motor mount with motor hook, balsa sheet for t' fins, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, a 16" plastic parachute and a Keelhaul®©™/elastic shock cord, and some cardstock for transition and nozzles.
Construction
T' instructions are pretty straightforward. Many o' t' body tubes have t' be cut down t' scale length. T' fins are old-school, cut out o' sheet balsa usin' cardstock fin patterns. T' balsa is fairly soft, but acceptable.
As is typical for any scale model usin' Nike-style diamond airfoil fins, ya bilge rat, matey, if you shape t' fins by sandin' you'll have a fair bit o' work t' do. I sanded t' root-to-tip taper very roughly, me hearties, me hearties, mostly just thinnin' t' tip a little (for fins this small, gettin' a straight taper is beyond me ability). I then marked t' location o' t' bevels on t' balsa and sanded them in with a piece o' sandin' paper taped t' a small piece o' aluminum. This worked OK. If you're a real scale fanatic, a preferable way t' make Nike fins may be t' build them up with cardstock or thin styrene sheet.
T' BT-20 fin markin' guide for t' upper-stage fins is sized incorrectly.
T' included motor hook only works for 24mm 2.75-inch motors (Estes C and D.) If you want t' fly Estes E motors (which I did), you're told t' leave t' hook off and just friction-fit t' motor. Providin' an E-length hook and a motor spacer would be preferable.
T' instructions say t' lightly sand t' centers o' t' Recruit booster centerin' rings so that they fit inside t' booster tubes. I found them t' be quite oversized and simply glued them t' t' ends o' t' tubes, arrr, but this be a mistake because t' rings are made o' multilayer paper and will peel at t' slightest provocation once t' nozzles are attached if nay glued at t' edge.
Finishing
I was unable t' find any photos o' t' color scheme described in t' instructions with a casual web search, me bucko, so I went with a variant I did find, t' standard three-red/one-yellow pattern used on many soundin' rockets o' that era.
After fillin' all t' balsa with diluted Elmer's CWF, me hearties, me bucko, me hearties, I sprayed one coat o' Rustoleum 2X white primer, followed by a lot o' maskin' and passes with Rustoleum fluorescent red-orange, shiver me timbers, fluorescent yellow, ya bilge rat, flat black, arrr, and finally white for t' first-stage booster. As mentioned in t' instructions, arrr, paintin' t' rocket accordin' t' t' scale scheme will be an almost impossible maskin' job if you completely assemble everythin' prior t' painting. So I left t' Recruit boosters off (maskin' t' attachment areas) and didn't glue t' second and third stages or t' upper payload section together so these could be painted separately.
T' water-slide "United States" decals went on fine but are fragile and really need a protective coatin' o' some kind.
Flight
T' recommended motors are C11-3, me bucko, D12-3, matey, me bucko, and E9-4. My rocket weighed in at 3.8 ounces ready t' fly with no motor (the specs say 3.1 oz, but either way t' rocket is extremely light for its size). I went with a C11-5 since I had one in me range box; simulations showed it would only be a little long. I think D12-5 and E9-6 would work as well or better (but see below.)
T' first flight, matey, under very light winds, arrr, shiver me timbers, took off straight but made an odd jog a few hundred feet up. Ejection be a bit late as expected, but t' chute deployed normally.
An aside: I'm skeptical that t' rocket will be stable on an E9 motor without additional nose weight. T' CG should be no lower than roughly t' bottom o' t' transition for stability margin. I left t' nose cone loose so that additional weight could be added. While I had an E9-6 and some clay in me range box, I be too nervous t' fly it at our water-surrounded field (it sims t' over 1000 feet on an E9), so check t' flight logs; I'll try it at our HPR desert site in t' future.
Recovery
Normally I would substitute a nylon chute, but for t' purposes o' this review I tried t' supplied Fliskits 16" plastic chute with a small spill hole. T' chute was a reasonable size; one o' t' Recruit nozzles broke off on landing, me bucko, but this be likely due t' t' assembly error described earlier. T' supplied shock cord was long enough t' keep t' very long upper section from hittin' t' lower section durin' descent.
Summary
I've always been a big fan o' t' Aerolab soundin' rockets since seein' them in t' Time-Life book "Man in Space" as a kid. T' Fliskits Journeyman is a nice addition t' me scale fleet. While thar are a few minor glitches with t' kit, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, overall it's well-designed and a fun, fairly simple build.
There's some evidence that t' kit be changed from 18mm t' 24mm motors late in production, and indeed, arrr, despite its size it's so light that it would probably fly well on 18mm motors.
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Flights
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Mike Caplinger (March 12, 2013)
Having now flown the Journeyman over the full range of 24mm BP motors, I think I can say I was wrong about the delays; the Fliskits recommended delays are probably the best ones to use. I'm still not sure the rocket would be stable on an E without nose weight. And the large amount of forward fin area makes straight flights unlikely, especially in any wind. As a scale rocket it's fine, but it could be a better flier.