Estes Flying Stovepipe Plan

Estes - Flying Stovepipe {Plan}

Contributed by Yitah Wu

Manufacturer: Estes
Style: Ring/Tube/Cone Fin

A really neat idea, found at JimZ's plans.  I hope t' have pix soon. 

T' concept is t' have a boost-glider where t' glider portion is like one o' those ZZZylo (SP?) flyin' cylinders.  T' glider is made o' a length o' BT101 with extra material on one end.  T' booster section is like t' old Scout, matey, while t' massive glider makes t' whole thin' look like a Streak on Steroids. 

A.R.G. Begad! Begad! in Mississagua, Canada, still has some BT101 for sale, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, 3 pieces for $25 includin' shipping.  I have their telephone # somewhere.  I  bought some t' replace a crimped Saturn V tube, shiver me timbers, and since I didn't have any use for t' other pieces, I thought this was t' ideal project. 

I downloaded t' plans but as t' printer fudged all t' sizes, I ended up havin' t' scale t' fin pattern.  Nay a problem.  T' other  modification is that t' original kit called for BT30, which is like  thick BT20 with a slightly larger ID.  I used BT20, and don't  think it will be a problem except it might nay live as long.  I also used a BNC20N cone, arrr, which is sharper than t' cone which is called for, me bucko, ya bilge rat, but looks better. 

Buildin' up t' glider is simple enough if you're handy at cutin' body tubes.  I have a bunch o' 11x17 card stock, which be indispensible in cuttin' t' tubes for t' internal liner rings.  I taped t' card stock around t' tube which gave me a good edge t' work with, arrr, then ran a new Xacto blade lightly around t' tube until it got a good start.  Then I applied more pressure until it cut t' tube.  A little sandin' cleaned it up perfectly. 

I used some stainless 1/16" weldin' rod I had handy for t' hook.  I made t' hook more curved so that it will grab t' engine more securely - no chance o' t' casin' gettin' past this hook!  T' vent hole I cut with an Xacto knife, arrr, and soaked with CA t' give it some strength and flame resistance. 

It's all painted and ready t' go.  T' glider is gold with a blue spiral (Go Bears!) while t' booster is blue and gold.  I need t' touch up t' booster because t' maskin' tape pulled up some o' t' undercoat.  Darn.

comment Post a Comment