Manufacturer: | Modification |
Brief:
Upsized t' 18mm motor. Simplest modification I've ever performed; just never installed t' 13mm mount. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! CP and CG were still perfect.
Modifications:
Primered, ya bilge rat, me bucko, sanded, primered, sanded, ad infinitum, me bucko, ya bilge rat, until body tube was perfect. Avast! Arrr! No paint, me hearties, me bucko, just clear-coated t' primer. Begad! T' streamer be given much better visibility by addin' 3" o' silver mylar at t' end. Begad! Motor mount be simple: friction fit, with only one o' t' 13mm centerin' rings installed in t' body tube.
Construction:
T' kit contained a central 18mm body tube with two shorter segments o' 18mm BT, arrr, mounted in an out-rigger fashion at t' end o' t' "wing." Featured a large balsa "wing" and nose cone. Begad! Arrr! T' NC be attached with a simple screw eye t' t' shock cord, me hearties, which in turn be attached t' t' BT with Estes normal folded paper method. Ya scallywag! Recovery was a plastic pinkish-orange streamer, about 18" long.
This was about t' easiest Estes kit I have ever assembled. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! T' instructions were easy t' follow, me hearties, though I simply read them once and began building. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It was a pretty sturdy rocket too. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' packagin' was t' typical Estes "hangin' bag" type, ya bilge rat, and nothin' was broken or creased or missing. Avast! Blimey! T' only con: t' decals look stupid. Avast! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Blimey! I substituted some decals left over from a FA-18 model.
Flight:
T' model be prepped in t' usual fashion, with wadding, matey, shiver me timbers, motor, shiver me timbers, etc. Begad! Blimey! installed just prior t' launch. Avast! T' motor fit snugly into t' body, me hearties, shiver me timbers, but nay so tight that it would have t' be crammed in. One word o' caution here- if you intend t' perform this modification, matey, either limit yourself t' flyin' "B" motors, or paint t' rocket a really bright color! t' C6-7 I chose for its final flight be way too much, ya bilge rat, especially for a primer gray rocket launched on a cloudy day! T' rocket took off straight as an arrow with no discernible windcocking. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Definitely a heads up launch! If it wasn't for t' mylar on t' streamer, ya bilge rat, it would have been lost, matey, but we located it with little difficulty due t' t' intermittent flashin' from t' streamer. Recovery speed would indicate that a larger streamer was needed, but it suffered no damage at all, matey, matey, me hearties, even despite whackin' a tree limb on t' way down. Just minor scratches, arrr, that's all. Ya scallywag! T' rocket be lost t' a rocket eatin' tree,! and dangled about 30 feet up, tauntin' us with its highly reflective streamer. Blimey! Begad! A thunderstorm later that afternoon finished it off.
Summary:
Main pros: REAL BALSA! Blimey! Large fin surface area and bulletproof construction. Avast! Blimey! Main cons: Stupid lookin' decals and t' wimpy 13mm motor system that was originally designed.
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