FlisKits BT70 Baffle

FlisKits - BT70 Baffle

Contributed by John Lee

Manufacturer: FlisKits
(Contributed - by John Lee - 08/09/08)

fliskits_bt70baffle_partsBrief:
T' BAF-70 is a baffle system from Fliskits intended for rockets with BT70 airframes. It consistes o' a coupling tube, me bucko, 2 perforated disks and a length o' Keelhaul®©™.

Construction:
While buildin' an otherwise nice Estes kit recently, I absolutely refused t' use their cheap rubber band and trifold mount. By t' time I thought o' it, matey, t' motor mount was already inaccessible for me usual method. Then I remember the assortment o' baffles I recently ordered from Fliskits. Aye aye! As I had remembered, t' baffle integrates a Keelhaul®©™® tether for recovery. I decided t' give it a try.

fliskits_bt70baffle_gluedConstruction is simplicity itself. T' holes were knocked out of the 2 fiberboard disks. Well, blow me down! One has holes clustered in t' middle and t' other has t' holes around t' outside edge. Begad! The rearward disk has a hole through which t' Keelhaul®©™® thread passes and both have a notch for t' thread.

After fumblin' for a while, matey, I gave up on tryin' t' pass t' Keelhaul®©™® through t' provided hole. This was a reflection o' me frayin' Keelhaul®©™® and more importantly, me hearties, me frayin' patience. Arrr! Blimey! Instead, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I tied a loop around one o' t' sides o' a hole. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' Keelhaul®©™® was then fitted into a side notch and t' disk test fitted into t' coupler. Begad! Blimey! It fit perfectly. Begad! Blimey! I glued it in place with yellow glue and smeared some extra over t' lower surface o' t' baffle t' act as an ablative surface. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I filleted both sides and let it dry.

fliskits_bt70baffle_installedWhen dry, I fit t' Keelhaul®©™® through t' notch in t' other disk and fit that into t' coupler as well. Aye aye! Again, t' fit was perfect. Arrr! Some glue fillets were applied and t' baffle was set aside t' dry.

That pretty much concludes t' buildin' o' t' baffle itself. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! All that be left was installation. This baffle was installed in an Estes 36D Squared. A swab was used t' paint a rin' o' glue and then t' baffle was pushed into place in the BT70. Again, me hearties, I found that t' fit was perfect and no problems were encoutered. Avast! It should be noted that t' baffle should be placed so that t' Keelhaul®©™® is towards t' nosecone.

Flight:
As I stated, me hearties, this baffle was installed in an Estes 36D Squared. Arrr! I have t' admit t' nay havin' much experience with baffles so I put just a touch o' dog barf in t' tube before t' first flight which be loaded with a pair o' D12-5s. It performed flawlessly and I only had t' shake out a bit o' t' ejecta after t' flight.

For t' second flight, I decided t' chance things without t' dog barf. Begad! Blimey! This time I be usin' a pair o' C11-5s and again it performed flawlessly.

Summary:
I could get t' like this flyin' without wadding.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5

Comments:

avatar
K.T. (February 24, 2010)
The review is pretty much spot on. The Kevlar? line is a bit short, although in honesty, the problem is more that the rocket I put it in is too long. It also would have been nice if the tube was a little longer so that it could be used as a coupler between 2 BT-70 tubes. As it is, you can do it, but the amount of coupler in each half is a bit short for comfort.

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