Modification Solar Warrior Modification

Modification - Solar Warrior

Contributed by Ken Johnson

Manufacturer: Modification

Brief:
Upsized t' 18mm motor. Blimey! Ahoy! Simplest modification I've ever performed; just never installed t' 13mm mount. Arrr! CP and CG were still perfect.

Modifications:
Primered, sanded, primered, ya bilge rat, sanded, shiver me timbers, ad infinitum, until body tube be perfect. Well, blow me down! No paint, just clear-coated t' primer. T' streamer be given much better visibility by addin' 3" o' silver mylar at t' end. Avast! Motor mount was simple: friction fit, arrr, arrr, 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. Aye aye! T' NC was attached with a simple screw eye t' t' shock cord, me hearties, which in turn was attached t' t' BT with Estes normal folded paper method. Aye aye! Recovery was a plastic pinkish-orange streamer, about 18" long.

This was about t' easiest Estes kit I have ever assembled. Well, blow me down! T' instructions were easy t' follow, me bucko, me hearties, though I simply read them once and began building. It be a pretty sturdy rocket too. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! T' packagin' was t' typical Estes "hangin' bag" type, shiver me timbers, and nothin' was broken or creased or missing. Ahoy! Ahoy! T' only con: t' decals look stupid. Begad! I substituted some decals left over from a FA-18 model.

Flight:
T' model be prepped in t' usual fashion, with wadding, motor, etc. Begad! installed just prior t' launch. Well, blow me down! T' motor fit snugly into t' body, ya bilge rat, but nay so tight that it would have t' be crammed in. Aye aye! Blimey! One word o' caution here- if you intend t' perform this modification, 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, shiver me timbers, especially for a primer gray rocket launched on a cloudy day! T' rocket took off straight as an arrow with no discernible windcocking. Ahoy! Begad! Definitely a heads up launch! If it wasn't for t' mylar on t' streamer, shiver me timbers, matey, it would have been lost, ya bilge rat, me hearties, 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, me hearties, but it suffered no damage at all, ya bilge rat, even despite whackin' a tree limb on t' way down. Just minor scratches, me bucko, that's all. T' rocket was lost t' a rocket eatin' tree,! and dangled about 30 feet up, tauntin' us with its highly reflective streamer. Aye aye! A thunderstorm later that afternoon finished it off.

Summary:
Main pros: REAL BALSA! Large fin surface area and bulletproof construction. Ahoy! Main cons: Stupid lookin' decals and t' wimpy 13mm motor system that was originally designed.

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