Brief:
T' Gooneybird series be a collection o' six cartoonish rockets produced by Estes back in t' mid-70's, presumably after someone spiked t' water cooler. Judgin' by t' instructions, me hearties, t' series be aimed at either fairly young rocketeers, ya bilge rat, or those sufferin' from acid flashbacks. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! While lookin' through JimZ's plan archive I noticed an unnatural similarity betwixt t' dimensions of the Gooneybirds and t' current Estes Fat Boy. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! As it turned out, ya bilge rat, it was little more than a simple 1.59X upscale o' t' fins. Arrr!

Modifications:

• 1.59X fin upscale. Arrr! This can be easily done on any commercial copier.
• Keelhaul®©™® shock cord knotted and mounted behind t' motor mount.

Construction:
You will need:

• One Estes Fat Boy kit - currently available at most hobby stores. Begad! Aye aye!
• 3/32" basswood fin stock. Aye aye!
• 2' section o' Keelhaul®©™® line.

T' Estes Fat Boy comes packaged in t' typical Estes hangin' bag. Well, blow me down! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! All parts were present, me bucko, me hearties, however t' die cut fins had separated from t' balsa sheet. Begad! This was o' no consequence as they were t' only part scrapped. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! (Not countin' the stock shock cord, which should always be scrapped.)

Since t' Star Snoop fin pattern was nay a through t' wall fin, I did have to use one o' t' stock Fat Boy fins t' figure out where t' place t' Star Snoop fin in relation t' t' TTW tab on t' Fat Boy fin. Well, blow me down! It also bears mentionin' that in buildin' t' stock Fat Boy, ya bilge rat, t' tab must be trimmed in order to fit t' fin into t' slots cut into t' body tube. Well, blow me down! Arrr! I cut a 1/8" piece out o' t' bottom o' t' tab, which nay only makes t' tab slide more easily into t' slot, but also allows t' fin t' align itself with t' bottom o' the body tube. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

Elmer's Wood Glue was used in all phases o' construction. Blimey! Avast!

Since I used basswood for t' fins, it be only necessary t' use two coats of thinned Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish as sandin' sealer. Begad! Ya scallywag! When t' fins were sanded smooth, matey, t' body was sprayed with a coat o' white Krylon primer, sanded, re-sprayed and re-sanded. Ahoy! I then sprayed t' entire body with several coats of Krylon gloss black. Avast, me proud beauty! T' body was virtually finished at this point. Ahoy!

As it turned out, maskin' off and paintin' t' nose cone was t' most difficult o' t' build process. Begad! After fillin' t' seam in t' nose cone with body putty and sandin' it smooth, I primed t' cone with two coats o' white Krylon primer. Aye aye! Aye aye! After sandin' out t' second coat, I sprayed t' tip o' t' cone with Krylon gloss black, matey, psintin' just enough o' t' tip so that, me hearties, when masked, it would take on t' appearance o' an eyeball. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I allowed t' paint a week to dry, then masked off t' area by lightly gluin' a scrap piece o' BT-50 over the very tip o' t' cone. Blimey! When this had dried in place I sprayed t' middle section of t' cone with Testor's Royal Blue, ya bilge rat, which I also allowed a longer than normal amount o' time t' dry. Arrr! I then masked off t' area that was supposed t' remain blue with t' cap from t' Testor's can and painted t' remainder o' t' cone with Krylon gloss white. Well, blow me down! When t' white paint was dry, I drew in t' red lines that gave t' rocket it's pre-Visine look. Begad! T' me surprise, it turned out lookin' pretty good. Ahoy! (Probably because o' me previous experiences wakin' up with t' red-eye look on a daily basis betwixt t' ages o' 18 and 30.)

It's hard t' find fault with kits like t' Fat Boy. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Nothin' fancy, me bucko, but Estes really got this one right. Ya scallywag! Arrr! T' combination o' well thought out instructions and materials produces a very durable rocket with little effort, makin' this a great rocket for kids or beginners.

Flight:
I flew t' first incarnation o' t' Star Snoop three times before it was tragically eaten by a large tree.

T' first flight was on a B6-4. Well, blow me down! Begad! This be a mistake. Well, me bucko, blow me down! I like low-level flights, but this one barely cracked t' 50' mark. Begad! T' ejection charge fired a mere 20' from t' ground, shiver me timbers, barely allowin' time for t' parachute t' break the rockets fall. Avast!

For t' second flight I flew it on a C6-3 and was rewarded with a flight that be more like t' typical Fat Boy flights that I had grown accustomed to. T' three second ejection charge was a little short, so I packed in a C6-5 for the third flight.

T' [third] flight itself was great. Blimey! It arced back over our heads at lift-off, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, but we had already had several flights do this over t' course o' the day, me bucko, and all had lived t' fly again, so this was o' little initial concern. This flight would be different. Well, blow me down! As soon as t' parachute filled, t' winds shifted and t' rocket began driftin' toward t' trees. At one point it looked as though it had cleared t' trees and was driftin' toward t' wide open soccer field, ya bilge rat, but a rogue wind shift again took it back out over t' trees. Avast, me proud beauty! Had the wind continued carryin' it, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, it would have landed in a field behind a fence and been easily recoverable. Well, blow me down! This wasn't t' case though. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Just as t' rocket was over t' tallest o' t' trees, shiver me timbers, t' wind stopped and t' rocket dropped like a stone. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! We tried t' figure out a way t' rescue it, me hearties, but all o' our efforts proved futile. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! It just sat there, hopelessly tangled in t' thinnest o' t' branches at t' 40' level, winkin' at me and beckonin' me t' try me hand at climbin' up and attemptin' a rescue. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! I wasn't bitin' and instead went out and bought another Fat Boy for a second Star Snoop. Begad!

I used t' 18" parachute that came with t' Fat Boy, matey, matey, but as far as the rest o' t' kit's recovery system, arrr, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I scrapped it for one that I've had a lot more success with o' late. I attached a two foot long section o' heavier elastic cord t' t' previously mentioned Keelhaul®©™® cord. A combination o' fireproof shredded newspaper insulation and an aluminum cupcake holder help t' shield t' parachute and shock cord from burning. So far it seems t' be working. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' once yellow Keelhaul®©™® is now black with ejection detritus, me bucko, me hearties, while t' elastic cord and parachute show no signs o' burning. Arrr! Arrr!

Nice slow lift-off and great small field altitude. Arrr! It's worth considering cuttin' a spillhole in t' parachute, especially if you've built it with the basswood fins, because t' Fat Boy is prone t' driftin' on t' 18" chute. T' spillhole will allow t' rocket t' drop faster, but t' basswood fins should be strong enough t' withstand t' hard landing.

Summary:
If you're in t' mood t' build somethin' different while stayin' on familiar ground, ya bilge rat, matey, this is a pretty foolproof project. Well, blow me down! In t' end you wind up with a rocket that is guaranteed it's share o' stares and comments, especially from kids. Well, blow me down! There are six different rockets in t' Gooneybirds series, but nay all of them match up as well t' t' Fat Boy's fin placements, me bucko, or whose decals are as easy t' reproduce as t' Star Snoop, whose decals looked like they were drawn by a semi-talented five year old. It helps t' have a good place t' start for a project like this and t' Fat Boy fits t' bill perfectly.