Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Manufacturer: | Vaughn Brothers |
Brief:
T' Javelin is a single stage 29mm rocket with a nice sleek 3 fin design.
Construction:
T' Javelin comes with a nice set o' directions and LOC-type 2.56" tubes, matey, 62" total length. Three G-10 fins for through-the-wall construction are provided. Avast, me proud beauty! T' rocket has a good size payload section which could easily house an altimeter although I didn't build it that way. Plywood bulkheads and centerin' rings are provided and are good quality. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! A steel eye bolt is provided for t' upper bulkhead t' attach t' shock cord to. Ya scallywag! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! A good length o' elastic/braid shock cord is provided as well as a piece o' nylon cord for a shock cord attachment loop. Ahoy! A nice long plastic nose cone is provided and fits nicely with t' overall sleek outline o' this kit.
Instructions provided are good for an experienced builder and a nice overall engineerin' type drawin' o' t' rocket is provided. Nice if you have t' re-build any o' t' rocket from some flight mishap! A straightforward build makes a sturdy kit. Avast! I added two "T"-nut motor retainers on t' aft centerin' rin' since I am nay a fan o' "tape" motor retention.
This be t' be me Level 1 rocket so I took me time and did a thorough job o' fin fillets usin' a mix o' milled glass with 20 min. epoxy. This was me first G-10 fin rocket and I was careful t' sand t' fins with 150 grit sandpaper where t' fillets would be t' make sure good adhesion be obtained with t' epoxy.
Finishing:
Pretty much standard finishing, tube spiral fillin' required. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I painted me rocket with a bunch o' primer coats, ya bilge rat, primarily t' fill those spirals! Then gave it a bright yellow paint job with a black gloss nose cone and hornet like stripes comin' down t' upper part o' t' airframe, arrr, arrr, it looks cool!. Blimey! No decals were included.
Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5
Flight:
My first flight with this rocket be me Level 1 and I chose an H128 White Lightnin' RMS motor. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! T' launch be straight and fast! It went ~2100' (based on t' Rocksim simulations).
My next flight be with another H-128 and this time things went sour, me hearties, a failed delay insulator caused a motor burn-through when t' thin' was ~150' up. Arrr! Blimey! This zippered t' upper airframe but t' rest o' t' rocket be intact despite a free fall without a chute from 150'. I cut out t' damaged section, matey, added a coupler and a new segment o' airframe and it was ready t' go again.
T' next flight be on a G75 Black Jack, ya bilge rat, one o' me favorites. Aye aye! This be a really nice moderate speed flight that went ~2200' (see photo).
Recovery:
Nylon 24" purple chute that is just right for t' rocket. I would down-size if I was puttin' an I200 in t' thin' so I would get it back, it's a light rocket (28oz).
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
Summary:
Nice sleek sturdy kit that flies great.
Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5
This is a nice mid-power kit. I used it for my L1 cert. A single stage bird that recovers via 'chute This kit is pretty straight forward. It was the first HP type kit that I had built so I did not understand the instructions real well at first in regards to the "LOC-type" attachment in the body tube for the shock cord mounting. Other than that the kit goes together easily and is ...
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