Edmonds Aerospace - CiCi {Kit} (CICI)

Edmonds Aerospace CiCi

Edmonds Aerospace - CiCi {Kit} (CICI)

Contributed by John Thro

Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Manufacturer:	Edmonds Aerospace
Skill Level:	1
Style:	Glider

Brief:
T' Edmonds CiCi is a small, shiver me timbers, very easy t' build boost glider that ejects t' spent motor casin' when t' ejection charge goes off. T' parts are laser cut and fit together perfectly.

Construction:
Here's t' parts list:

8 laser-cut balsa pieces
1 balsa nose cone
1 motor tube
1 l/8" launch lug

That's it!

T' instructions were illustrated and very easy t' follow. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! T' instructions consist o' a single one-sided 8.5" x 11" sheet.

All o' t' glider parts are laser-cut balsa and they fit together perfectly. T' parts are entirely cut out, with no trimmin' or separatin' from a balsa sheet needed. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! It would be possible t' end up with some parts misaligned but takin' care t' make sure t' pieces don't "droop" out o' alignment until t' glue is dry is simple enough. Begad! Blimey! In fact, matey, I pretty much just held them in place by hand for a few minutes and that be good enough t' keep everythin' aligned until t' glue be dry.

One possible "gotcha": When t' nose cone is installed, it looks like it's partially blockin' t' vent hole in t' side o' t' motor tube. T' supposedly "fix" this, shiver me timbers, I carved quite a bit o' balsa from around t' nose cone shoulder in order t' open up t' vent hole. After I did this and glued t' nose cone on, I contacted Rob Edmonds by email, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, who told me that t' vent hole is supposed t' be about halfway obstructed by t' nose cone shoulder. Oh well. Well, blow me down! As it turns out, matey, this doesn't seem t' make any appreciable difference either way. Avast! Begad! My sons and I have built three CiCi's, ya bilge rat, have flown two o' them, me hearties, and t' motor ejected just fine from both o' them.

T' motor tube is glued t' t' top o' t' front o' t' fuselage. It is possible t' misalign so it's nay pointin' precisely straight ahead. T' launch lug is glued onto t' side o' t' fuselage and against t' motor tube, arrr, so t' lug is automatically aligned by those two parts.

I've managed t' build CiCi's with t' vent hole on t' same side as t' launch lug as well as on t' opposite side but that doesn't seem t' make any difference in flight. Begad! I'd probably recommend havin' t' vent hole on t' opposite side from t' launch lug, me bucko, ya bilge rat, but I don't recall what t' instructions say t' do.

I used Aleene's Original Tacky Glue (in t' gold bottle) for all construction. Ahoy! Arrr! It's similar t' Elmer's white glue but is thicker and supposedly doesn't shrink when it dries.

Edmonds CiCi

Finishing:
I absolutely love t' finishin' o' t' CiCi. Aye aye! There is none! Flyin' them bare and without bein' airfoiled is recommended. Avast, me proud beauty! That's right up me alley.

You can "finish" t' CiCi by colorin' it with a marker or highlighter if you like and for t' sake o' improved visibility.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
My first CiCi flight be on an Estes A8-3. My main problem be nay knowin' how loosely t' motor should fit in t' motor tube in order t' eject properly. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I probably spent ten minutes, usin' very slightly larger and larger strips o' maskin' tape on t' motor, ya bilge rat, t' get it just tight enough that it wouldn't fall out on t' launch pad with t' igniter clips hooked up.

Flight was perfectly straight up t' maybe 100 feet, although I'm a poor judge o' altitudes. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' motor ejected perfectly, didn't hit anyone, and t' glider performed a nice flat glide into t' grass.

Second flight was on an Estes C6-5. Boost was good but t' CiCi arched over considerably before t' motor ejected. T' glide was again very nice and t' landin' be in t' grass.

Edmonds CiCi Third flight was on an Estes C6-3, me bucko, as I thought t' long delay o' t' C6-5 had caused t' glider t' arc over before ejectin' t' motor. Blimey! Ahoy! On this flight too though, t' glider arched over quite a bit before ejectin' t' motor and transitioned into a nice glide down into t' grass once again.

Recovery:
There be no damage whatsoever other than some grass stains on t' leadin' edge o' t' wings. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! No burnin' or scorching, me bucko, no cracked or broken fuselage, nothing.

T' only possible CON would be t' fact that t' motor is ejected from t' model and free falls t' t' ground. Every CiCi flight should probably be a head's up flight for this reason.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I really like t' CiCi. Begad! Blimey! These flights were trial runs for an upcomin' Cub Scout event, t' Pack 1283 Rocket Launch 2005 comin' up this June. Avast! Blimey! I've purchased enough CiCi kits for all o' t' Cub Scouts in me den t' build one for himself. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Rob Edmonds has a great pricin' program for schools and scouts. Begad! Blimey! Just go t' his website t' take a look.

Main PROs: Very simple t' build, ya bilge rat, perfect alignment o' laser-cut parts, cool flight profile.

Main CONs: Ejectin' t' motor t' freely fall back t' t' ground at burnout. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This doesn't particularly bother me, but I know some people object t' "spitting" a rocket's motor without a streamer.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5

Other Reviews

Edmonds Aerospace CiCi By Dave Sutter
( Contributed - by Dave Sutter) The CiCi is a traditional canard-style boost glider. The canard is the name for that smaller front wing, or horizontal stabilizer. A canard-style glider is simply a glider where the canard is forward of the main wing. A boost glider is a glider that boosts straight up like a rocket, and then ejects some part, usually the engine, to change into a glider. ...

Flights

Comments:

D.F. (December 1, 1999)

1. My kit came without clay, but had the little tube marking piece. I bought it from Apogee Components over the Internet; a very easy experience with a quick arrival. 2. I too, tried a test glide in the house. I too, saw the nose down attitude. In fact, the third test glide resulted in a break in the same location as shown in the picture above. Having read the above review, I was thinking, Oh no, I bought a bum steer! I reglued the break, and took it to the local MASA launch in Elk River MN the next day anyway thinking Oh well, the failure will be spectacular. Much to my surprise, the thing flew well on both a 1/2A6-2 and an A8-3. I did not try and tinker with it to get a good test glide. I flew it as-is out of the box (plastic). SO, DO NOT TRY TO TRIM THIS GLIDER. FLY IT AS-IS! 3. Some notes on whether to finish this by painting would be appreciated, as well as some warning about not trimming before your fly. I rate this a 4. 5 on build, a 5 on flight and a 5 overall. My 10 year old daughter could do it all by herself if Dad would just get out of the way and let her do it. This review is misleading in that the builder deviated from instructions before he flew it.

S.B. (January 1, 2001)

The CiCi is a quick build and looks nice. It flies well on A8-3 motors, but Rob, the glider designer, told me to find a big field and put it up on a C motor. Well, I tried a B6-4 first and both wings shredded. And not at the weak points where the rudders(?) were glued to the rear wing, but in the middle of the rear wing. Not pretty! I need to research the cause and try it again. Generally, Edmonds products are easy to build, look good and fly well. The review was solid

B.E. (May 1, 2001)

Mine came with neither the clay or tube marker, but went together nicely. I flew it six hours after I built it, but could have gone sooner. The CiCi went up in an upside down arc and just when we were about to give it up as a power prang, the ejection charge fired, the rocket performed a loop and righted itself, then headed off for the trees still flying at between 100 and 200'. (The trees are atop a large hill.) It hit near the treetop and bounced it's way down until it got stuck about 15-20' from the ground. After a couple of whacks with a tossed stick it flew the remaining distance to the ground unharmed. Interesting flight. I can't imagine the field that you'd need to fly this one on a C6-5. I'll trim it to glide in a circle next time. Choose your engines carefully for the CiCi. Start at the bottom and work your way up or kiss this one goodbye. It's a heck of a glider.

B.C. (May 1, 2001)

This was first attempt at a project of this kind. I figured it would be a great way to make use of the plethora of A8-3 motors I had left over from Blast-Off Flight Packs. The build was easy and it is amazing how precisely cut the parts were. The flight of my CiCi was fine, and I didn't have anything break and was pleased to see that an modestly priced kit could perform as well as it did. Before I assembled ANYTHING on the CiCi, I contacted Rob Edmonds regarding the use of paint, sealer, tissue for the wings, etc. He informed me that it is best to build it stock as the instructions show. Hence, that is exactly what I did. Neat little glider and a perfect use for A motors!

D.S. (January 17, 2003)

My CiCi flies great, except when the ejection charge snaps the fuselage in half. I've had to re-glue it 4-5 times because the ejection just breaks it in half. By now, all the CA has fixed the problem. When it flies right, it really is quite nice.

J.C.S. (August 31, 2003)

The CiCi was the star of the show for my neighborhood rocket launch today! Flew multiple times on A8-3, B4-2, and C6-3 on a field about 400 ft. square. B4-2 flights were perfect! The C6-3 flights rocked but were on the edge of being a bit too large for this size field. Recovery was in large graceful circles. [BTW, I tried for this effect by adding a fillet along one side of the fuselage.] No breakage problems though I took the suggestion from the tip below and poked a second hole in the body tube opposite the existing one. Stock construction other than that. Highly recommended!

J.W.M. (September 2, 2003)

I built my CiCi in about 12 minutes. The lazer cut parts go together very precisely. 1st flight was on a A8-3. I never thought ANYTHING could fly away, out of sight and into a swamp 1/4 to 1/2 mile away on an A8-3! and on a calm day! I lost it, but returned (in long pants) to find it later that evening. I have now trimmed it to fly in circles!!

D.W. (August 22, 2004)

I built my CiCi in about 7 minutes, used CA throughout. No problems. I used a center cutout from an estes engine mount(a bt20 sized disc of fiber paper) glued to the inside of the left vertical stab.(for trim weight) I also dusted the model with fluorescent pink paint and then rubbed it down with steel wool for a "stained" color effect with almost no weight. Also added the additional hole for the engine to vent. I did nothing in the way of sanding or shaping. Flew it 4 times in the first outing on A-8-3's, perfect results, nice straight boost,100' circles to the ground. The kids were ecstatic, and I was amazed. GREAT KIT!!!!!

Post a Comment