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