| Published: | 2010-01-26 |
| Manufacturer: | Scratch |
Brief:
BT-80 based, me bucko, me hearties, me bucko, 24mm powered upscale o' t' Estes Goonybird Missile Toe. (Think Fat Boy with added personality.)
Construction:
T' parts list:
Construction was almost as simple as me first big Goony, ya bilge rat, arrr, matey, t' Star Snoop. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Two fins and t' First Aid Kit standoff were attached with LocTite Gel CA, along with t' actual First Aid tube. Avast, me proud beauty! On the inside, ya bilge rat, t' Keelhaul®©™® be attached t' a slit in t' front centerin' rin' and glued in place before t' engine mount be mounted.
Uh, that's about it for construction. Begad! (Except t' say that all fillets were done with Elmer's Wood Glue.) Sorry? No, ya bilge rat, nay really. Ya scallywag! It's nice t' have t' occasionally project that doesn't require one t' perspire blood.
Finishing:
Finishin' t' MMT wouldn't be too much o' a chore if nay for t' need t' hand paint t' "bandages" that
cover t' main body tube. Aye aye! Before that t' rocket only needed a coat o' gloss white paint for t' body, arrr, me bucko, arrr, gloss black for
t' fins, and some kind o' flesh color for t' nose cone. Aye aye! Ahoy! Almost as painless as it gets and I flew t' MMT this way for
quite a while until I finally gritted me teeth and decided t' finish all six birds for t' ultimate Goony photo op.
Usin' gloss black paint and a small brush, ya bilge rat, matey, I tried out me freehand paintin' skills. Begad! Well, blow me down! I wound up with somethin' that at
least suggested bandages, arrr, which is about as good as it needs t' be. Avast, me proud beauty! When that was done, matey, I enlarged t' decal
appropriately and printed it on a sheet o' self-stick paper. T' sticker decals looked washed out and nothin' I did
seemed t' help, so I removed them and printed them out again on white Bel Decal paper. Arrr! This turned out t' be t' answer
and t' finished rocket looked great.
Flight and Recovery:
First flight be on a D12-5 and exhibited t' odd flight path that this bird takes on most flights. Begad! Despite the
wiggle it was a pretty impressive flight, quick off t' pad, arrr, and a bit early on ejection but decent altitude and
perfect recovery. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Upon arrivin' at t' landin' site, I found that t' brace for t' First Aid Tube had broken and
fallen out at some point in t' flight. Avast, me proud beauty! (Possibly t' reason for t' wigglin' flight path.)
Almost two years passed before t' second flight. This be t' first one in full "Toe" scheme and I used a C11-5. Begad! As expected, it be noticeably lower and ejection came very early. (More like a C11-2.5) T' early ejection caused t' "First Aid Tube" t' become tangled in t' Keelhaul®©™®, causin' t' rocket t' descend horizontally like a Centuri Super Kit. Well, blow me down! Blimey!
Subsequent flights all had one thin' in common: t' wiggle. Blimey! Blimey! Since I never replaced t' vane that fit inside the First Aid tube, shiver me timbers, it's possible that t' tube is distortin' under boost and causin' t' slight "squirreliness". It's also possible that t' rocket needs nose weight t' be stable. Arrr! T' next flight will begin t' address these issues, but t' wiggle doesn't appear t' be a deal breaker.
Summary:
PROs: It's a Goony, and one o' t' better lookin' Goons at that. Great performance and popular with kids.
CONs: Slight wiggle t' t' flights. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! No Fat Boys around t' use as nose cone donors.
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