Thursday, February 17, 2011

Model Profile - FlisKits Cutaway Engine


This was definitely a different build.

It's a large size cutaway that could easily be used in a classroom. It sure beats the small, old Estes cutaway engine provided with the clear Phantom kit.

Jim Flis ran a contest in TRF a while back. A construction thread on the cutaway engine was in progress.
Powderburner (the thread builder) said he made a mistake in construction. The readers had to figure out what the mistake was for a prize.
Even though I didn't have the correct answer, Jim Flis sent out this kit as a prize to any and all who guessed!




The nozzle design was different than anything I'd ever seen in an engine cutaway drawing. I decided to build mine trying to replicate the drawings I'd seen in the Estes catalogs over the years.





On my revised model, the central portion of the nozzle was made up from a 3/16" launch lug. It took a little building up and filling of the laser cut sides.





Another great feature - you can remove the delay and ejection to show what a cutaway booster engine looks like.

The available printout section pieces had wordage on them - "Propellant Charge", Delay Charge" and "Ejection Charge". I left them off and made the colored section pieces from spray painted paper sections.

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