Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Manufacturer: | InFlight Rockets ![]() |
Brief:
This is a clone o' t' Estes WASP #1930, ya bilge rat, which was available from 1984 t' 1985. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, matey, blow me down! Blimey! It is a single stage, ya bilge rat, low power,
streamer recovery, me bucko, three fins and nose cone design.
Construction:
T' parts consist o' one BT-55 body tube 11 15/16" long, one BT-50 motor mount tube 2.75" long, shiver me timbers, two AR-5055
motor mount centerin' rings, matey, one motor mount block, three laser cut balsa fins, one BNC-55D balsa nose cone and screw
eye, one motor mount hook, matey, one sheet waterslide decals, me hearties, matey, one pattern sheet with tri-fold paper shock cord mount and body
tube markin' guide, 1/4" x 48" shock cord, shiver me timbers, 2" x 60" mylar streamer, me hearties, one 3/16" x 2" launch
lug, arrr, and about 36" Keelhaul®©™®
line.
Assembly is very straightforward usin' t' excellent instructions. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' kit has a very strong body tube and grade o' balsa for fins is o' high quality. Ahoy! T' laser cuttin' is super clean with t' fins having been cut completely out o' t' sheet stock(no perforated laser cut like Estes). T' parts in this kit, motor mount, fins, me hearties, decals, ya bilge rat, recovery gear, ya bilge rat, all get they're own individual bags, which I like instead o' t' components just stuffed into t' main kit bag. Decals were great and t' instructions give t' builder t' option o' goin' with t' original tri-fold paper shock cord mount or t' Keelhaul®©™® line attached t' t' motor mount method. Avast! A very generous length o' sewin' elastic is included for use as shock cord material which is nice. Begad! Begad! T' only "gotcha" was t' motor mount assembly instructions were 1/8" off in regards t' t' motor hook placement, matey, however, matey, Ray at InFlight smartly dispatched me an email with updated instructions before I even realized I assembled t' motor mount was "wrong". Aye aye! Arrr! I won't sweat it and just install t' mount in t' body tube 1/8" aft o' what t' instructions indicate.
Finishing:
Elmer's Glue All (white glue) be used t' build this bird includin' motor mount assembly and fin fillets. Begad! Elmer's
Carpenters Wood Filler be used for fillin' grain on t' nose and fins. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I airbrushed this rocket with Tamiya acrylic
paints and applied two coats o' Future floor polish before applyin' t' decals. Arrr! I gave t' decals a coat o' Micro Scale
Liquid Decal Film and they went down super smooth with no settin' solution needed. These were just really great decals!
I then gave t' rocket a final coat o' Future. Ahoy! Finally, t' beautiful chrome, shiver me timbers, adhesive-backed mylar wrap was applied.
Just take your time t' avoid air bubbles and wrinkles. Well, arrr, blow me down! T' finished rocket looks great!
Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5
Flight:
For t' first flight I installed an Estes B6-4 motor usin' an 18mm adapter and used about 4 sheets o' Estes wadding.
T' flight be perfectly straight and t' WASP achieved about 200 feet o' altitude. Ahoy! T' second flight be powered by an
Estes A8-3 motor and t' rocket topped out at about 100 feet, ya bilge rat, maybe slightly under. Begad! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Third flight be also on an Estes
B6-4. Well, blow me down! All three flights were nice and straight. I went with t' old tri-fold style o' shock cord mount and had no
problems with nose cone snap back or nose cone dents, thanks InFlight for includin' a nice, long shock cord in t' kit!
Recovery:
T' two flights on A8-3s were recovered about 80 feet from t' pad and t' supplied mylar streamer worked great.
There be no burnin' or scorchin' on t' streamer. Ahoy! Arrr! Blimey! For t' B6-4 powered flight, I switched out t' streamer and used a
12 inch parachute which worked great and brought t' rocket down a little slower and about 150 feet away from t' pad.
No damage at all was sustained on any o' t' flights! Blimey! Both A8-3 flights seemed t' eject t' streamer right at apogee,
and t' B6-4 ejected its chute just slightly past apogee.
Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5
Summary:
I really enjoyed this build. Avast! Blimey! InFlight cares about your buildin' experience too. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Blimey! Durin' t' build, me hearties, Ray at InFlight
emailed me updated instructions and even offered t' send me another motor mount kit t' replace t' one I had already
built per t' flawed instructions. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I told him nay t' worry about it as I felt I should have compared t' kit
instructions t' t' original Estes plans and I be probably a little careless what with t' motor mount building
procedures and measurements bein' pretty standard for motor hook installation on a 2.75" BT-50 tube. Ahoy! Blimey! (After all
the model rocket kits I've built I should have noticed somethin' was off.) Also, in t' build thread, I mentioned that
I be thinkin' o' goin' with an 18mm mount because I felt 24mm power be a bit much for this bird (I fly at small
launch sites) and Ray sent me a free o' charge 18mm adapter kit! Blimey! T' thought that must have went into this kit is very
refreshing, matey, me bucko, like t' decals gettin' they're own bag, 4 feet o' shock cord, and really great instructions as opposed to
just reprintin' t' old Estes plans or tellin' you t' download them from JimZ. Ya scallywag! T' kit is beautifully packaged, price
is very reasonable, and shippin' is fast! Blimey! You really need t' check out inflightrockets.com if you like clones o' old
Estes birds. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I be just about t' build t' WASP myself after orderin' a nose cone and downloadin' plans but decided I'd
rather have a complete kit after findin' out about InFlight on TRF.
Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5
Other:
T' WASP is a 24mm powered bird and t' recommended motors are C11s and D12s, me hearties, ya bilge rat, arrr, however, arrr, due t' t' small dimensions of
my launch site, me hearties, I decided t' use 18mm motors. Arrr! Ya scallywag! This bird turned in nice, straight, fast flights on 18mm power so it must
really scream on 24mm motors!
The Inflight WASP is a clone of the short-lived Estes WASP, which was only available from 1984-85. The only noticeable difference in the Inflight kit and the original is that the Inflight kit uses a balsa cone as opposed to the plastic cone of the original. Components 12" BT-55 main body tube 2.75" BT-50 motor mount tube 2 AR-5055 centering ...
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Date | Flyer | Rocket | Altitude |
---|---|---|---|
2020-07-25 | Bill Eichelberger | InFlight Rockets - WASP | 1,100 Feet |
2019-07-27 | Matthew Bond | InFlight Rockets WASP Clone Kit | - |
2018-11-03 | Matthew Bond | InFlight Rockets WASP Clone Kit | - |
2018-08-10 | Matthew Bond | InFlight Rockets WASP Clone Kit | - |
2014-07-26 | Matthew Bond | InFlight Rockets WASP Clone Kit | - |
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J.F.B. (December 1, 2009)