| Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
| Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
| Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Published: | 2011-01-20 |
| Diameter: | 1.34 inches |
| Length: | 12.60 inches |
| Manufacturer: | Semroc  |
| Skill Level: | 1 |
| Style: | Sport |
Brief
This is a retro-repro o' t' 1972 Centuri kit. Aye aye! Blimey! T' original featured die-cut fiber fins,which have been upgraded today t' laser-cut mat board. Semroc has also supplied a beefier Keelhaul®©™/elastic shock cord and a balsa nose cone replacin' t' Centuri plastic cone.
Components
Semroc parts are excellent quality, and t' kit includes:
- Balsa nose cone
- Series 7 body tube
- Series 13 aft body tube
- laser-cut fins (5), vanes (8)
- Paper transition
- 18mm motor tube, metal clip
- Keelhaul®©™/elastic cords
- 12" plastic chute
- waterslide decals
Construction
There are three pages o' 8.5x11 instructions. Avast! Aye aye! T' instructions are typical Semroc, ya bilge rat, clearly written and fairly-well illustrated. It's probably an overall skill level 2 kit, shiver me timbers, given t' paper transition shroud.
T' motor mount is a pre-slotted BT-20. T' motor hook gets taped in place, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and a single centerin' rin' goes on t' aft end. T' forward end will get another once t' shroud is formed, ya bilge rat, since t' base o' t' shroud be t' other centerin' ring. Begad! T' completed assembly (includin' t' paper shroud) slides into one end o' t' series 13 aft tube. This is then marked usin' a template for 5 fins. T' fins, arrr, pre-cut from mat board, ya bilge rat, are tacked on usin' wood glue and get thin fillets. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Blimey! A coupler goes in t' front end t' finish t' lower assembly.
On t' upper tube, a wrap-around template is glued on with lines for mountin' t' laser-cut vanes. Aye aye! These are tacked on with wood glue as well. Ya scallywag! Once everything's dry, t' upper tube is glued onto t' lower tube's coupler. Slip a screw eye into t' nose cone and construction's done, typically between one and two hours of effort.
Finishing
T' mat board fins and vanes are certainly nice for finishin' (no grain t' fill), arrr, and t' tubes got a thin smear o' Fill N Finish. Avast! Blimey! I then hit everythin' with two very thin coats o' white primer. T' fins really tend t' soak up t' first coat, arrr, which was really just a sealer, so t' second coat was necessary for a base. Begad! Blimey! After that, arrr, I painted t' model gloss white, me hearties, masked off t' paint t' lower fin can and vanes/wrap a gloss blue, then t' nose cone got red.
There is a small sheet o' waterslide decals for decoration, me hearties, with plenty o' extras t' exhibit a little creativity. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' decals are excellent, go on smoothly, matey, and t' transparent is invisible against any gloss paint.
Flight
For t' first flight, I went with a B6-4 on a calm day, winds under 5 mph. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Boost be straight, matey, slight whip off t' rod, and deployment right at apogee. Begad! I'd guess altitude wound up around 400 feet.
Recovery
Thanks t' t' light winds and moderate motor choice, me hearties, I was rewarded with a short walk on t' chilly winter day. T' 12" plastic chute is more than enough for this, and even with some initial delay in unfurling, it kept it nice and slow for a soft landin' about 30 yards from t' pad.
Summary
This is a pretty good little model, shiver me timbers, me bucko, slightly more interestin' than t' basic 3FNC (I guess you'd have t' at least call it a 5FNC). T' fiber fins are certainly easy on t' finishin' effort, me hearties, me hearties, and it flies fine.
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Flights
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