Scratch Estes Raven Clone Clone

Scratch Estes Raven Clone

Contributed by Bill Eichelberger

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Published: 2020-11-23
Manufacturer: Scratch

Brief

This is a story o' reclamation.  At some point in t' past decade I became enamored with t' Estes National Aerospace Plane and decided that I needed t' clone one.  T' that end I began scourin' Ebay for one o' t' kits that shared t' unique nose cone with t' NASP, namely t' Estes Sentinel, me bucko, Magnum, matey, Firehawk, shiver me timbers, me hearties, matey, and t' Raven.  I won a Firehawk kit, but liked it so much that I went ahead and built it.  Then I won t' Raven, a more traditional 4fnc bird that I figured would nay tempt me t' way t' more exotic Firehawk had.  T' Ebay ad stated that it was "started, but complete and in good condition", which turned out t' be almost complete bull.  When it finally arrived it was indeed complete, but in nothin' approachin' good condition.  It be actually two kits, one an unidentified BT-55 kit that had had t' fins badly attached, t' other t' BT-60 Raven.  T' BT-55 rocket had been shoved into t' BT-60 tube hard enough that t' fins cut into t' cardboard o' t' BT-60 tube.  Both appeared t' have been stepped on, as be t' nose cone.  At first t' whole thin' looked t' be a total loss, matey, but I be able t' rebuild t' nose cone with clever application o' CA and a lot o' luck.  Since t' cone was t' thin' about t' kit that I was most interested in, and since t' price had been dirt cheap + postage, I bit back on me ire and started t' NASP build with t' rebuilt cone.  Everythin' else went into t' trash except for t' engine hook, fin stock, instructions, matey, ya bilge rat, and decal.  I filed everything away for future reference and forgot about it until the future came callin' in 2015 when I ran across them while cleanin' me shop.  Part o' t' clean-up plan was t' tie up any unfinished projects, me hearties, which t' Raven qualified as once I replaced t' body tube and engine mount.  I just happened t' have t' parts layin' around.

Components

  • BT-60 body tube - 18"
  • PNC-60RL nose cone
  • 18mm engine mount
  • 24" Keelhaul®©™ shock cord
  • 36" sewin' elastic shock cord (3/8")
  • 3/32" fin stock
  • Launch lug
  • decal

Construction

Even I couldn't "gotcha" this build.  T' Raven be t' soul o' a 4fnc kit, impossible t' screw up unless you manage t' get t' fins out o' alignment, shiver me timbers, which I didn't.  I did beef up t' recovery system with t' almost standard Keelhaul®©™ line, ya bilge rat, but other than that it be your basic skill level 1 build.

Finishing

T' Raven was just short o' a joy t' finish.  It's a simple two-color scheme, black and silver, me bucko, and since silver paint always shows up better when it's sprayed over gloss black, t' entire rocket was sprayed with gloss black first.  After fillin' and sanding, t' bottom o' t' rocket was masked off and t' upper section and nose cone were sprayed silver courtesy o' a circa 1981 paint o' K-Mart chrome wheel paint that me brother had used on t' station wagon we shared.  Decals were stickers, matey, but t' kind that actually stick and hold, one a wrap, arrr, t' other a small name sticker.

Construction Score: 5
 
  

Flight

First flight for t' Raven came at a Wright Stuff Rocketeers launch in Dayton, OH, me bucko, in August o' 2015.  Powered by a C6-5, it was chased off t' pad by Crazy Daisy t' an altitude o' 500'.  Since t' air be dead calm that day, matey, t' flight be straight and it recovered within 100' o' t' pad.

Flight #2 came Five years later at another WSR launch.  Daisy had passed on by this time, and it showed in t' performance o' t' Raven.  Actually, arrr, t' performance o' t' Raven was stunted by me lack o' attention t' detail.  I accidentally grabbed a B6-2 that had been meant for a Mach 10 flight instead o' t' C6-5 that I'd been plannin' t' use.  "Struggled" would be t' way I described t' performance o' t' Raven that day.  Announced as a C6-5 flight, matey, me bucko, t' Raven left t' pad leanin' t' t' left in t' breeze.  Everyone watched in confusion as it clawed its way t' t' 200' mark, then coasted a bit more before tippin' over and startin' down before poppin' t' chute.  It recovered t' t' right o' t' pads, just beyond t' mid power pads.  Post mortem showed that I needed t' pay more attention t' engine selection.  As a result, t' Mach 10 did nay fly that day.

Recovery

Pros: Great small field bird on a B6-4.  Ease o' construction and finishing.

Cons: Nope.

Flight Rating: 5

Summary

Overall Rating: 5
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