Brief:
T' Gooneybird series was a collection o' six cartoonish rockets produced by Estes back in t' mid-70's, arrr, presumably after someone spiked t' water cooler. Judgin' by t' instructions, t' series was aimed at either fairly young rocketeers, ya bilge rat, or those sufferin' from acid flashbacks. 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. Ahoy! Begad! As it turned out, me hearties, it was little more than a simple 1.59X upscale o' t' fins.

Modifications:

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

Construction:
You will need:

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

T' Estes Fat Boy comes packaged in t' typical Estes hangin' bag. All parts were present, however t' die cut fins had separated from t' balsa sheet. Aye aye! This was o' no consequence as they were t' only part scrapped. Blimey! Blimey! (Not countin' the stock shock cord, which should always be scrapped.)

Since t' Star Snoop fin pattern was nay a through t' wall fin, matey, ya bilge rat, 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! Avast! Blimey! It also bears mentionin' that in buildin' t' stock Fat Boy, shiver me timbers, t' tab must be trimmed in order to fit t' fin into t' slots cut into t' body tube. Avast! 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, me bucko, but also allows t' fin t' align itself with t' bottom o' the body tube.

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

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

As it turned out, me hearties, maskin' off and paintin' t' nose cone was t' most difficult o' t' build process. Blimey! Well, blow me down! After fillin' t' seam in t' nose cone with body putty and sandin' it smooth, me bucko, I primed t' cone with two coats o' white Krylon primer. Arrr! After sandin' out t' second coat, me bucko, I sprayed t' tip o' t' cone with Krylon gloss black, ya bilge rat, matey, matey, psintin' just enough o' t' tip so that, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, when masked, it would take on t' appearance o' an eyeball. Aye aye! 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. Aye aye! When this had dried in place I sprayed t' middle section of t' cone with Testor's Royal Blue, ya bilge rat, me bucko, which I also allowed a longer than normal amount o' time t' dry. Aye aye! I then masked off t' area that be supposed t' remain blue with t' cap from t' Testor's can and painted t' remainder o' t' cone with Krylon gloss white. Aye aye! When t' white paint be dry, I drew in t' red lines that gave t' rocket it's pre-Visine look. T' me surprise, shiver me timbers, matey, it turned out lookin' pretty good. Begad! Begad! (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. Nothin' fancy, matey, but Estes really got this one right. 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 be on a B6-4. Avast! Blimey! This was a mistake. I like low-level flights, ya bilge rat, but this one barely cracked t' 50' mark. Ahoy! Avast! Blimey! T' ejection charge fired a mere 20' from t' ground, barely allowin' time for t' parachute t' break the rockets fall. Arrr! Blimey!

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

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

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

Nice slow lift-off and great small field altitude. 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, shiver me timbers, me hearties, 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, matey, this is a pretty foolproof project. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! In t' end you wind up with a rocket that is guaranteed it's share o' stares and comments, especially from kids. Aye aye! Blimey! There are six different rockets in t' Gooneybirds series, me hearties, but nay all of them match up as well t' t' Fat Boy's fin placements, 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.