Quest had a holiday sale and at $36.00 it was too good to pass up.
This included 50 MicroMaxx engines, a controller, MMX launcher and eight "little plastic bricks" to fly.
As the story goes, Bill Stine designed the plastic Micromaxx rockets.
By the time they were delivered from the China manufacturer, they were not what he wanted.
Heavier than planned, the first Micromaxx I series engines had a tough time getting them to a worthwhile altitude.
Some of the piston recovery systems didn't work. They'd blow right out of the front end.
I had launched a few years back and wasn't happy with the performance. The first Series I MMX engines (in a plastic case with a molded plastic nozzle) weren't as powerful but had a slightly longer delay before ejection. I can assume the series II versions (paper casing and clay nozzle) were designed for heavier models. They have a bigger impulse but a shorter delay.Some models needed repairs before flying. My Tomahawk had a broken fin. A little CA and it was ready to go.
The MMX Saturn V has reported stability problems. After visiting the MicroMaxx forum I made small fins out of thin plastic from a blister package.
The small tabs on the engine locks have been known to break off at ejection. I found some of the locks hard to remove right out of the package. I'll hold them down with small strips of masking tape.
The Shuttle and the Space Fighter have small plastic ejection baffles built in. I'll still add a little wadding to play it safe. Mylar streamers are known for getting fried from a hot ejection charge.
Another forum tip was to cut down the length of the mylar streamers. If they are too long, they won't be pulled out by the short piston. The streamers should also be zig-zag or accordion folded when packing.
No comments:
Post a Comment