Odd'l Rockets F-104 Recovery Suggestion

This is similar to a suggested recovery on the original Centuri Fighter Fleet Jets.

Alternative Recovery:

To have the jet recover horizontally and lessen the chance of fin or wing damage:

1. Glue the engine mount in so the engine hook is at the top, nearest the rudder.

2. Tie the nose cone onto the shock cord, leaving two inches of the elastic cord. Tie the parachute shroud lines to the end of the elastic.

3. Tie some excess shroud line (you will have some left over from the parachute assembly) to the engine hook. Then tie 

to the shock cord at the balance point, 

where the model hangs horizontally.

The string should be long enough to lay outside and down the body tube during boost. After the parachute and shock cord are in the body tube, the string will end up between the body tube and nose cone shoulder.

Suggestions To Model Rocket Companies

I've brought up this first idea before -

VISUAL ENGINE DESIGNATIONS
Suggestion: Print the Engine Designations (B6-4, C6-3) around the lower 1/4" of the engine casing.
On most models, the engine sticks 1/4" out the back end of the engine mount.
This would make the RSO's job a whole lot easier at check in. The RSO could read the engine type instead of just taking the flyer's work for it.
We've all witnessed a rocket coming in fast when a newbie used the wrong engine or too long a delay. A quick visual check at check-in might have led to a correct engine recommendation.
This could be a big safety improvement.
I worked in a print shop and am aware of "image area". Some printers (maybe the engine printers) might not allow printing so close to the nozzle end. The designation wouldn't be a full color band. These printed paper bands were glued onto the nozzle end for a visual example. 

EXTRA TEST DECALS
Suggestion: Add a few small duplicate decals on the water side decal sheet and mark them "TEST".
This gives the builder a chance to check the soak time and transfer.
Most kit supplied decal sheets have just enough decals to decorate the rocket.
The builder has only one try to get that first decal right.
This could save the manufacturer from having to send out replacement decals.

SPRING STEEL ENGINE HOOKS
Some kits include an engine hook that gets get bent out of shape after the first flight!
Spring steel, not pot metal. You can get spring steel engine hooks from BMS.

Estes Saturn V New Fairing Reinforcements

 

On the Facebook Model Rocketry Fanatics page, 

Steven Carricato posted a parts picture from his new Saturn V and Saturn 1B kits.

I noticed something interesting. In the center of the picture are some crescent shaped pieces laser cut from cardstock.

Going back to the original Centuri Saturn V, the vacuform fairings have always been a weak spot. They would sometimes crack on a hard landing.

I built a Saturn V show model for Estes in June 2019. I sometimes send build notes with the finished model.

I wrote: "The only place I varied from the instructions was to glue some cardstock crescents to the bottoms of the fairings. Even a single layer of 110 lb. cardstock helps strengthen the thin vacuform plastic."

I made a Fairing Reinforcement PDF available. Included is Third Stage Foundation Wrap and Anchor Wire pattern to Patreon supporters. (In a run of #2157 Saturn V kits, the Third Stage Fairing pattern was small and the anchor wire ends too long.)

It looks like Estes incorporated the crescent reinforcement idea in the new Skylab Saturn V. I haven't seen the Skylab kit yet - I understand the crescent pieces are glued inside the flat bottom of the fairings.

I set my crescent reinforcement pieces on the outside. This way I could overlap and cover any gap between the main body tube and curved fairing edge.

To see Part 1 of the 2019 blog post: CLICK HERE  

To see Part 2: CLICK HERE 

If you have a previous edition of the Saturn V kit, this PDF is available to Patreon members. 

Email me and ask for the #2157 Saturn V Third Stage Foundation Wrap PDF.

Which Glues for LPR Building? TIPS

On TRF. Alan R wrote:
I think the most asked glue question is: "What is the best glue".
The answer to that is "The one that works"

I only do low power stuff, short list:
Paper to paper - white glue or titebond
Paper to balsa - titebond or epoxy for higher stress loads
paper to fingers - CA
plastic to balsa - epoxy
plastic straws to paper - model cement
plastic to fingers - CA
balsa to balsa - titebond
balsa to fingers - CA
fingers to fingers - CA

Babar added:
I like this. I would add that EPOXY to fingers is NEVER a good choice.

EPOXY
CAUTION: Some people have an allergic reaction to Epoxy glues resulting in skin burns and blisters. Even if you haven't had a problem the first few times you use Epoxy, you could develop an allergic reaction from skin to Epoxy contact. 

Newer RED couplers can freeze in the wrong position using the "New Stronger Formula" white or yellow wood glues. Epoxy allows a smooth slip fit of an engine mount or coupler when joining two body tubes. 
TIP: Be careful - epoxy is slippery. The coupler or engine mount could continue to slide down inside the body tube if the tube is set vertically on end.

YELLOW WOOD & WHITE GLUES
Titebond and Elmer's Wood Glues are fine for Low Power Model Rocket construction.
I tend to use yellow wood glue for general building. 
If  I'm building a model with pre-printed "skins" (like a Centuri Vulcan or Quest X-30) I'll use white glue for the outside visible fin fillets. White Glue dries clear, Yellow Glue dries Yellow. 

PLASTIC GLUES
TIP: For assembling a Estes Mercury Redstone or Saturn V plastic tower - Use a Bottled Liquid Plastic Cement with the brush attached to the bottle lid . 
DON'T EVEN GO NEAR TUBE TYPE PLASTIC CEMENT! Never buy the Blue Tube non-toxic cement. Trust me, it won't hold. Everyone has had a bad experience with a "safe" plastic glue. Tube type plastic cements are not what they were in the 1960s. 



SUPER GLUES
Do not use Super Glues to assemble an engine mount, shock cord mount, to glue on fins or a launch lug. 
CA glues do have a limited place in model rocket construction.
Super Glues (CA Glues) work well for hardening up the inside edges of body tubes. Not the entire interior, but about 3/16" in from the top of the tube. 
Super glues can be used to harden and strengthen a card stock reducer shroud or nozzle after it is glued onto the model. 

Many Modelers "tack" a fin on with CA glue then follow with wood glue fillets. 
The problem - The CA glue wicks into the root edge. Even a small drop of CA glue will spread, farther than you'd think. Wood glue fillets won't soak into an area covered with CA glue. If you are impatient, use the "double glue" method when gluing on a fin.

Super Glues dry hard and become brittle over time. Fins and launch lugs can pop off later on.
Never "set" a knot in a shock cord or shroud line with CA Glue. The line or cord will become too stiff and will crack in two!

BEACON FABRI-TAC GLUE
This glue works well gluing plastic adapters or plastic boat tails into body tubes. It also works well gluing in nose cone shoulder bases. This glue is acetone based and is fairly thick like the plastic glue from the 1960s and 70s. Fabri-Tac is not recommended for fine work, like the Mercury Redstone, Little Joe II or Saturn V plastic tower assembly. 



HOT GLUE GUNS - Hot glue guns have no place in general model rocket construction! Hot glue guns have been used in the FlisKits stacked styrofoam cup models. 

I Wish They Didn't Do That - Part 5, Something I WISH They'd Do -

I know the title is confusing. For safer club launches, here's something I'd like to see  - 

If you've ever been an R.S.O. (Range Safety Officer) at a club launch, you'll meet newbies with their first rockets. They may not have installed a recommended engine.
The RSO takes the launch card, the card information is incomplete. No engine type is listed.
You ask: "What engine type is in the rocket?" You get a confused look.
The newbie says: "It's a C3-7, or something like that."
You know that engine doesn't exist. A seven second delay would be too long for that stubby rocket. You might have to pull the engine and check the designation.
I've seen first timers load booster engines (no delay) in single stage parachute recovery rockets.

Food for thought:
Most all engine mounts have the engine extending 1/4" out the back.
Can there be the engine type printed on that visible, exposed back end? This could make for easier check-in, safer launches and recoveries.

There might be reasons why it hasn't been done. The engine printer might not allow ink coverage down to the low end of the casing. When I worked at the print shop, we had to allow some border for the "gripper" on the printer.

The picture above shows colored bands I printed from a blog post back in 2010. The coloring isn't necessary. The engine type could be in black ink or colored (GREEN standard, RED Booster or PURPLE Upper Stage). It could be easily seen at check in if it was printed three times around the engine circumference.

I Wish They Didn't Do That - Part 2, Decals

Decals are sometimes a crap shoot! You never know how that sheet is going to transfer until you soak that first decal.

A suggestion for the manufacturers - 
On that decal sheet, add one or two small duplicate decals and mark them "EXTRA" -Something to test the soak times and how well they transfer. With a practice decal you won't ruin the first transfer. If the decal breaks up in the soak water or folds over onto itself, you'll know it needs a coat of clear acrylic to save the remaining decals.

The decal sheet shown on the left has quite a bit of clear space where some small extras could fit. You could also practice using the "DKV-66" part designation at the upper right. But, many times decal sheets only have what is shown on the face card picture.

EDIT: From a comment from Naoto - Sometimes a "make do" practice decal (mentioned above as the "DKV-66" area) won't have a clear coating. When I was a kid building plastic models, every decal had a separate bordered clear coat. Now most decals sheets have an overall clear coat. Hold the decal up to a bright light to see if your practice decal has a clear coat - It should be shiny.

I Wish They Didn't Do That - Part 1, Printed Shrouds

This is not a slam directed toward any kit manufacturer -
Occasionally I hear from a builder about one of my Odd'l Rockets kits. They offer a suggestion about how something could be improved. Sometimes that suggestion is implemented to improve the quality of a kit or accessory.

SUGGESTION: I wish vendors wouldn't print the company, kit name or copy on a card stock shroud. A novice builder would roll the shroud with that black ink image on the outside of the shroud.
The ink could bleed through and be visible after the model is painted, especially if the final color is white.
There's a lot of border area on the sheet. The rocket name, art and the wording "Shroud Pattern" could be placed outside of the used card stock area.

Estes Suggestions From TRF

John Boren from Estes (Jumpjet of TRF) asked for product suggestions:
"Maybe someone can start a positive thread on what people believe Estes should produce, and no, the B14 motor isn't going to happen. Lets see if you can get 20 people to agree on the exact same thing, and I'm not talking about 20 people wanting the same discontinued kit being brought back. Think new and exciting stuff that more than .1 percent of the fliers out there might be interested in. I'll read the thread and maybe I'll "Learn Something" as stated on the NCIS New Orleans TV show."

From the top, the most popular, "*" equals 1 suggestion or vote -
As best I can tally the suggestions, here's what readers were asking for,

(11 votes) VIDEO (Cineroc or Digital Video) ***********
(10) UPSCALES (of Classic Designs) **********
(10) PARTS **********
(9) CANADA (And Other Country) SHIPPING *********
(9) RETRO REISSUE KITS *********
(5) MORE PSII KITS *****
(5) PLASTIC NOSECONES (More Styles) *****
(5) A3-6T ENGINE *****
(4) BUILDER’S KITS ****
(4) MORE BULK ENGINE CHOICES ****
(4) PHOTOGRAPHY (Still Pictures) ****
(4) THICKER WALL TUBING (BT-5 and BT-50) ****
THREE VOTES EACH:
1/100 SATURN 1B, BETTER ALTIMETER, ELECTRONICS, MAXI BRUTES, 18mm CLUSTERS.
TWO VOTES EACH: 
PSII CLUSTERS, BIGGER ROCKETS, BALSA NOSECONES, RC BOOST GLIDER, BUILDER KITS FOR E16 &F15 MOTORS, NEW ENGINES, 38MM ENGINES, SCALE KITS, EASIER IGNITERS, BETTER SHOCK CORDS, NIGHT FLY (LIGHTED)  PAYLOAD SECTION, GLIDERS, CENTURI SUPER KITS, WIRELESS LAUNCH CONTROLLER
ONE VOTE EACH:
DOWNSCALES, GOONIES, ROCKET GLIDER, 24MM B ENGINE, RTF SCI-FI, 29MM BP ENGINES, MINI BRUTES (Retro), WADDING AND IGNITERS WITH ENGINE PACKS,  EXOTIC KITS (builder kits), LARGE ENGINES, NEW METAL FIN JIG, LAUNCH RAILS,  CIVIC OUTREACH PROMOTION, CAMERA QUADCOPTERS, METAL TUBE CUTTER, 1/100 SPACE SHUTTLE, VACUFORM KIT, 4" ATLAS MERCURY, COX SHUTTLE, 18MM D, UNIQUE RECOVERY (HELICOPTER), BETTER PARACHUTES, INCLUDE SNAP SWIVELS IN KITS, 50S SCI-FI KITS, BETTER INSTRUCTIONS, MORE PART INFO, ROCKSIM IN INSTRUCTIONS, UPSCALE APOLLO CAPSULE, MARS SNOOPER III PSII.

Mr. Boren was wanting to see 20 people to agree on the same thing. Well, he got eleven votes for video and 10 for upscales and parts!

Everybody has their favorites but personally I'd like to see:
Stronger walled BT-5, BT-20 and BT-50 tubes, builders kits, upscales, parts, A3-6t engines and a better altimeter.
Video is very easy with the cheap 808 Spycams. After the failed Estes Astrovision video system, I doubt they would try that again.

Wasted Balsa

I was going to build a Ranger using some parts from a Baby Bertha kit.
This is two of the fins included with the Baby Bertha kit. Two sheets like this are in the kit.

I thought I could use these for the Ranger, but these fins are a just slightly smaller and are cut from 3/32" balsa. The larger Ranger fins were cut from 1/8" thick balsa.

In the reissued Estes Classic kits, balsa nose cones were once included. Now, plastic nose cones are substituted along with a note explaning of a "world wide balsa shortage". Considering a claimed shortage, this seems like a lot of wasted wood.

That laser cut balsa sheet shown above is 4" wide.
To the right is how the larger Ranger fins sat on my 3" wide X 1/8" thick balsa.

In the old Estes kits you were shown how to lay out the fin pattern on the balsa sheet. You were supplied with enough balsa to cut out the fins needed for the build.
If you didn't lay the fin pattern properly, or with the leading edge running down the grain, in the end you didn't have enough balsa.
By carefully placing your fin pattern, you could save some wood for a future project.

After cutting out the larger Ranger fins, I set them on one of the two 4" wide Baby Bertha fin sheets.
I was able to fit all four of the Ranger fins on the one, 4" wide Baby Bertha sheet.

I'm not trying to tell Estes how to cut their fins for the kit. But, this does strike me as a one way to save balsa and some production cost on each kit.

New Engine Designation Idea

I've sent a email to Rick Piester at Estes with this suggestion.

This idea was inspired by the old Centuri engines. I wanted to make an additional improvement.

The Centuri engine power designation was printed eight times (horizontally) around the lower third of the engine.

At a glance you could pick the appropriate engine for your rocket.

But, once installed, the printed engine power was out of sight, covered by the engine mount tube.

My idea:

Typically, the nozzle end of the engine extends 1/4" out the back of a rocket.

I'd like to see the engine type designation at the bottom rear of the engine.

This way it can be seen after the engine is loaded into the motor mount.

Even experienced fliers have been known to load the wrong engine power or delay.

With the engine name visible out the back of the mount, it could be identified all the way up to when the micro clips are connected.

Some of the advantages:

• More successes for first timers, more return fliers.
• Less mistakes and much less impacts before ejection.
• Safer for the consumer and manufacturer.

The engine power and delay band is printed in the appropriate color for it's intended use: GREEN = Single Stage, PURPLE = Upper Stage and RED = Booster engine.
In the picture you can see the engine name once, it's actually printed three times around the nozzle end of the engine.
What do you think?