The shock cord is already installed!
This is a different attachment - the low end goes through a slit in the body tube, then folded up along the outside. The launch lug strip is glued over the shock cord holding it down against the tube.
The nose weight is already in place.
Under a bright light you can see the clay weight inside the nose cone.
The nose cone weighs just over one ounce.
On the left is 1/2 of the fin can/motor mount assembly. Notice the two central vertical ribs. There are two more ribsi n the opposite half of the fin can.
When the engine is slid in from the bottom - the wedge shaped ribs direct the top of the engine to fit and "lock" into that circular groove in the upper centering ring.
Hi! Estes has been using that shock cord mount trick on the RTF models for a long time ... probably anywhere you see that flat-base lug, there's a shock cord under it. (We have it in the Athena we picked up in 2008 or so.)
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
DeleteI've never bought an RTF or ARTF rocket! That might explain why I haven't seen this before . . .
I too normally tend to avoid RTF and ARF -- not simply on general principle (this is similar to some plastic modelers avoiding something just because it is "snap fit"*), but mostly because they were often just 3FNC/4FNC. I did buy a Shuttle Xpress kit (mainly for the nosecone for a repro of models like the Greyhawk and Interceptor II) - and was pleasantly surprised with some of the interesting engineering design (many of which are similar if not nearly identical in what's found in the MAV).
Delete* anybody who claims "snap fit" plastic model kits are cheap and uninteresting "kid's stuff" probably hasn't seen certain model kits from Bandai (in particular the "Perfect Grade" lineup).
Along with Bob's comment, the motor mount arrangement is very similar to the RTF 1/200 Saturn V, with, it would appear, slight tweaks to ensure the motor goes all the way in.
ReplyDelete