Cosmodrome Rocketry - Nike Smoke {Kit}

Cosmodrome Rocketry Nike Smoke

Cosmodrome Rocketry - Nike Smoke {Kit}

Contributed by Craig Cline

Manufacturer:

(Contributed - by Craig Cline - 05/01/01)

Rocket Pic Brief:
This is a very cool mid and high power scale kit o' t' Nike Smoke that is a lot o' fun t' build and fly. Avast, me proud beauty! It can make a good second mid-power rocket with scale looks and can be used t' transition t' level 1 high power. Well, blow me down! Begad!

Construction:
T' kit came in a bag with all parts in good condition. Ahoy! Ahoy! Blimey! T' first thin' that stands out be t' awesome balsa nose cone which at 16" long is almost half the length o' t' rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! All parts are very good quality and included are some items that add scale realism t' t' kit. Aye aye! Blimey!

T' 3 page instructions were very good with detailed text and diagrams I have nay seen in most mid and high power kits. Aye aye! Blimey! There were templates for the fins, shiver me timbers, t' nose cone, ya bilge rat, and t' nose cone hatch covers. Begad! Blimey! T' build was fairly straight-forward with everythin' fittin' well. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I understand that Cosmodrome now includes motor retainers with all their kits but I purchased mine before they did so I drilled holes in t' aft centerin' rin' and added blind nuts with custom clips for motor retention before assembly. Begad! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey!

In me opinion, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, t' hardest part for someone new t' high power kits be to cut t' fin openings in t' body tube. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' fins are thru-the-wall so you epoxy the fins t' t' motor mount tube and epoxy internal fin fillets on t' inside of t' body tube. Therefore you cut t' fin openings so t' fins will fit tight and no external fin fillets preserve a scale look. Avast! T' kit has instructions to sand t' fins with scale like razor edges but I chose t' leave them with square edges. Avast! Blimey! I did use t' thin plywood and t' pins t' make t' scale nose cone hatches and they looked pretty good. Ya scallywag! Ahoy!

Finishing:
T' main body and fins were an easy finish - I just primed with several coats of Krylon white sandable primer and then Krylon gloss white. Ahoy! Then t' fins were masked and painted gloss red and one fin gloss yellow. Ya scallywag! Begad!

T' nose cone was another matter. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! My normal lazy method is t' wait for a warm weather and prime balsa or wood fins with 2 or 3 thick coats o' Krylon sandable primer, sandin' betwixt coats and finishin' with gloss paint. Aye aye! Blimey! This usually covers most wood grain t' me satisfaction without t' trouble o' using sandin' sealer or wood filler. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! But t' solid balsa nose cone kept soakin' up the primer and after maybe four coats o' primer and several gloss coats, the grain was still too visible for me liking. Avast! Blimey! So I kept addin' coats o' primer and gloss. Arrr! Blimey! I guess thar may be up t' 20 coats o' paint on t' nose. Learn from my mistake and seal t' nose cone first with sandin' sealer, ya bilge rat, wood filler, me bucko, or CA. Of course t' paint added extra weight and most o' me rockets come out a little heavier with thick epoxy fillets. Aye aye! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' kit weight is stated on t' package as 17 oz, but mine came out about 23 oz. Blimey! Blimey!

T' final look o' t' rocket is very good, matey, sport scale and I would give the construction and finishin' a 5/5 since you get a very solid rocket that looks impressive. Begad! Blimey! T' only glitch was me mistake on sealin' t' nose. Arrr! Blimey! Begad! Blimey!

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommended motors range from E30 t' H97. Ya scallywag! Because mine came out on the heavy side and I had recently certified level 1 high power, I elected t' try it on an H97-J10 Aerotech reloadable motor at ROCStock 10. I attached a Pratt Hobbies Nomex® chute protector but also threw in some cellulose fiber wadding for insurance.

T' rocket has a wire shock cord mounted firmly t' t' forward centering ring. Blimey! Ahoy! I chose t' scrap t' 7.5' elastic shock cord and replace it with a 15' length o' 1/2" flat Keelhaul®©™® strap. I have seen so many experienced sources that recommend trashin' t' elastic that comes with mid & high power kits, I wonder why kit makers keep includin' them. Ya scallywag!

Flight conditions were very warm with light t' zero wind. Ya scallywag! T' flight was very fast, ya bilge rat, me hearties, stable and high. Blimey! Avast! Blimey! T' chute came out perfectly and t' rocket came down about 150 yards from t' pad for a perfect flight. No damage be observed on t' rocket body, me hearties, nose cone or fins. Ahoy!

T' next day, I decided t' try it on an H180-14 Aerotech reloadable motor. Again t' flight was very fast, me hearties, arrr, stable and very high. Begad! T' chute deployed without a problem and I watched it until it touched down and then pulled a diet coke out o' t' cooler and started across t' playa t' get it. This time it was about 500 yards from t' pads. Begad! After this flight I noted that t' bottom o' the rocket around t' motor mount and retention clips be very charred and the cardboard peeling. Begad! I don't know if this occurred on just t' 2nd flight but I will try t' clean it off and seal this area with epoxy and or CA. Begad! Ya scallywag! There was no other damage. Begad!

After t' launch I modeled t' rocket dimensions on Apogee Components' RocSim4 program and determined that on t' H97-10 t' rocket could reach 3136 feet and on t' H180-14, ya bilge rat, 3680 feet. Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey! A G64-10 could lift it about 2120 feet. Aye aye! I will try t' upload me file t' t' RocSim Design library soon.

Recovery:
For t' first flight I hooked up t' 24" nylon parachute that came with the kit, ya bilge rat, arrr, but due t' t' rocket comin' out heavier than what t' package indicated, shiver me timbers, arrr, I decided t' add a second 18" chute made o' ripstop nylon. Well, matey, blow me down! Blimey! They both deployed fine with no tangles. Aye aye! Avast! Blimey! T' descent rate seemed safe and as stated the rocket touched down with no damage. Begad! Blimey!

On t' second flight I switched out t' two chutes and tried a new RocketMan standard R4C chute made o' ripstop nylon. Arrr! This chute also deployed perfectly with no tangles and t' descent and touchdown be without problems.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This would make a great 2nd rocket for someone startin' in mid-power or high power with good scale looks and great flight performance. It would also be a lot o' fun for t' experienced flier. T' instructions are very good and the materials high quality. Begad! I would only replace t' shock cord and recommend some heat proofin' on t' aft end o' t' rocket.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5

Other Reviews

Cosmodrome Rocketry Nike Smoke By Jordan Raice
Brief: The Nike Smoke is a great rocket with a lot of extra parts for an awesome scale look. If bought directly from Cosmodrome, you get motor retention and a better shock cord system. It flies great on everything from F to H. Construction: One body tube and a very impressive 16" nose cone made of balsa. The nose cone comes with a plastic anchor for the nose eyebolt. The shock ...

Flights

Comments:

J.B. (April 1, 2000)

Cosmodrome's Nike Smoke is a good entry level kit for mid-power rockets. The balsa work is exceptional on the nose cone. Mike Kruger does all the turning himself. I took the extra step on mine to fiberglass the balsa with 3/4 oz glass cloth and Z-Poxy finishing resin. This extra step is well worth it to have the nose cone be more durable and easier to finish for painting. Another change I made was to incorporate the diamond airfoil on the fins. I used the furnished ply fins as the core and added balsa ribs and .030 sheet styrene skins. This adds a nice scale touch to the model with very little weight gain. the styrene also eliminates the need to seal the ply grain for painting. The furnished picture wire used for the shock cord mount was replaced with 1/16" aircraft cable. I like this much better since it is less prone to corrosion. I suggest installing a section or 3/4" wood dowel into the base of the nose come for the recovery system screw eye to attach to. Just adding epoxy and screwing into balsa is not sufficient. I used a spade bit to bore a hole then epoxied in a section of dowel, filed gaps with left over epoxy and sanded flush when dry. Painting was straight forward using Krylon white. Fins were fluorescent orange with one yellow fin. I opted to used dry transfer letters for the UNITED STATES. This eliminates the tell tale of the self adhesive mylar sticker. The rocket was then clear coated with Top Flite's Lustrekote flat clear. This provides a durable and cleanable finish. I added a motor retention system using brass strips bent into a 'z' and attached to the aft bulkhead with 6-32 screws and blind nuts. I also use a 24mm motor adapter since I don't always want to fly this rocket on 29mm motors. I usually fly on AT E18-4W's and AT G80-7W's. The 'E' motor is good for small fields and the 'G' is for all out fun. I am not brave enough to fly it on anything higher performance since putting in a dual deployment system really isn't possible with such a small airframe. If you would like to see a picture of the Nike Smoke you can go to my web site.

D.F. (May 1, 2001)

I agree with the original reviewer that this is a very cool kit. I bought the Quest Nike Smoke as well to have big and little versions of the same rocket. There is a one page write-up of the history and plan of the prototype included with the Quest kit. This write-up was done by none other than Harry Stine. That write-up helped me appreciate even more this kit. It is nice to have a mid power rocket that is not just some 3FNC like most Aerotech and LOC stuff. The balsa nose cone is very nice, and the small details such as the hatches and hatch covers are a nice touch. I built this rocket stock, including the bolt glued to the engine mount for motor retention. I like this method so much I later used it in a PML kit. I puzzled a long time about how to put the sharp edges on the fins. I finally got myself a Dremel for Christmas and after marking the pattern on the fins, hand sanded the angles into the fins. The seven plys of the wood are a good guide as to keeping the angle right. Note that the angle to the edge is sharper out at the end of the fin than it is at the root. That is why this has to be done by hand instead of on a belt sander. The comment (and the picture on his web site) by J.B. says he put a diamond airfoil on the fins, and I believe this is wrong, at least according to the pictures I have found and the kit maker. The Nike Apache had a diamond airfoil, but the Smoke has the airfoil pattern shown by Cosmodrome. Since I had not built a PML kit before this, I did not know about internal glue filets on the fins, and my rocket does not have them. Obviously, the instructions do not mention them, and they are not really necessary with this 13 oz. rocket provided you filet the joints on the outside. Cutting out my own fin slots was difficult but not impossible. Since the angle of the fin edges was not exact, my fin slots did leave 4 triangular gaps to be filled on each fin after I attached the fins. The rocket flew great and straight on an F23-4 in a 20kt wind. I attached the parachute to the shockcord rather than the eyebolt to minimize stress on the eyebolt only from the weight of the nose cone rather than from the weight of the whole rocket.

D.F. (November 7, 2001)

Additional kudos to Cosmodrome for making a well designed and STURDY kit. This rocket has survived a flight where I forgot to pack a parachute with a subsequent tumble recovery (nose cone and body attached by shockcord) from 1000 feet; AND also survived 4 months in the trees waiting for the leaves to fall and reveal it's location in the forest on the edge of our launch area. If not for a chipmunk making it's home in the body and shredding some of the cardboard out of the body tube, this rocket could fly again and it still might. My 29/40-120 reload casing was fine after removing the reload and cleaning it up. The nose cone is a little banged up but fine. The parachute is fine. The outside of the body and the fins are in good shape thanks to an excellent paint job and sturdy construction. The body tube stinks to high heaven, and the inside surface is chewed up thus weakening the body. This rocket was subjected to wind, rain, and frost, and is still in amazing condition. It still may fly again if I can decontaminate, disinfect, and get the shredded cardboard removed; then install a strengthening liner in the body tube. CONGRATULATIONS to Cosmodrome for designing an excellent line of kits! I had filled spirals, painted with Krylon gray sandable primer then Krylon white gloss. The fins had been brush painted with several coats of enamel which understandably was chipped a little. Krylon is obviously a durable paint if done correctly. The decals were still in good shape as well.

J.R. (October 19, 2004)

Just an update of my review. I said it wouldn't break mach, I lied. I flew it on an Ellis Mountain H275 and got 730MPH, heard a boom. My rocket had reinforcements an all kinds of extra weight. If built light it will get 760MPH+. Great FAST engine!!!

Z.S (April 25, 2005)

I thought the rocket had easy assembly, except that you have to cut your own fin slots. Nice review.

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