Estes Phoenix Bird Build Part 5 Fin Prep

To allow for the Kevlar line tied below the upper centering ring, a notch was filed into the corner of the TTW fin tab.

I wanted the trailing edge of the fins to be even with the end of the mainframe tube.

With the fins in their slots, the trailing edges were above the rear of the tube.

The fin at the left is how it fit before trimming the rear of the TTW tab. The fin on the right was trimmed and is even with the end of the tube. 

The fin on the right shows how much balsa was trimmed away to allow the fin to slide down a bit to be even with the tube end.

Estes Phoenix Bird Build Part 4 Centering Rings

The notch for the engine hook wasn't high enough to allow for up and down movement. The rotary punch was used to make the notch higher.



 



I'd forgotten to make a notch for the Kevlar cord.

A rat tail diamond file was spun to drill a hole in the upper ring.

Here's the 135 lb. Kevlar tied in place below the upper centering ring.

Notice the engine hook retainer ring is split. The substituted ST-7 motor mount tube is wider than the thinner blue tube supplied in the kit.  I could have used a wrap of black electrical tape but that would have required more refitting of the
TTW notch on the fin tabs.

LAUNCH! Schoolyard May 2, 2012

I haven't launched in almost a month. Out local NAR section launch was cancelled.
I set out for the soccer field and arrived at 7:10 a.m. before the winds had come up.

First up was the Dr. Zooch JUPITER C with a 13mm A10-3t in a engine casing adapter.

This model is BT-50 based and just under 12" tall.
For a small field the A10 seemed to be a good match. Altitude was an estimated 250'. Full parachute and was caught before it might land hard and break a fin.

I've never flown my Semroc JAVELIN until this morning. It was one of the first built when I got back into the hobby.
This first flight was with an A3-4t 13mm engine in a "Buchanon" adapter.

The Semroc website says it'll get 500' with an A8-5 engine. I would guess this one reached 425'.

The parachute opened at apogee. I had a 100 yard run to pick it up on the grass border of the schoolyard parking lot.

Don't know why I missed the launch shot on this one, The Quest STRIKER AGM is usually slow enough to catch it just leaving the launcher.

With an Estes B6-4 it reached an estimated 300'.

It was caught before it hit the short grass, I didn't want another fin repair. 

This was the first Odd'l Rockets UP! CUP, the 13mm test version.

Perfect flight with an A10-3t engine. It just takes an extra moment or two to connect the clips to the igniter under the cup edge. 

Today was probably the last flight of my ASP MMX JAYHAWK.

Boost was squirelly and unstable! It usually flys straight and high!

At ejection the Kevlar shock cord was detached and will be hard to re-attach.

New Estes Pro Series Launcher

The new (well, reissued) Pro Series II launcher (#3552) is now available from the Estes website: HERE  It's PVC pipe based.
This launcher has a two-piece 60" launch rod and an offset round blast deflector.

I've built PVC tripod launchers before, the hardest piece to find is the 3 way PVC connector under the blast deflector.

Try a search on Google for:
PVC Connectors 3 way
In most cases, the shipping will cost more than the connector!

This launcher sells for $79.99!
If I ever get into flying more mid power, I'll probably make one myself.

A few years back, Quest sold a LPR PVC three leg launcher.
It was simple and strong!

Estes Phoenix Bird Build Part 3 Addendum Sheet

 

There are some confusing illustrations in the blue addendum sheet.

In Step 6 the clear Mylar engine lock ring is glued closer to the center of the motor mount tube.

In Step 7, it looks like it has slid down and in Step 8 it is back in the correct position again.

On the (white) instructions in the kit, the ring positions measurements are very different from those on the blue addendum sheet. On the white instruction sheet, the rings are in a different position that wouldn't fit the fin tabs. The lock ring is butted up against the lower centering ring.

Before any glue, the mount pieces were dry fitted based on the measurements from the blue addendum sheet.

If you haven't done thru-the-wall fins before, this could help you understand how everything will fit together.

As you'll see later, a few adjustments had to be made to get the fin trailing edge to be flush with the end of the body tube.

Estes Phoenix Bird Build Part 2 Centering Rings

I mentioned I was going to change out the thin blue motor mount tube for a ST-7 tube.
To fit the slightly wider (stronger) ST-7 tube, the center hole of the centering rings had to be made larger.
Some 220 grit sandpaper was wrapper around my index finger and turned enlarging the center hole.

To make sanding the hole easier, I left the rings attached to the cardstock piece.

On the left, sandpaper was wrapped around a used casing for the final shaping.

On the right is the fit of the ST-7 tube.

Estes Phoenix Bird Part 1 Parts

The original Centuri kit had an ST-13 tube, larger diameter than the BT-55 tube in the kit. The Centuri Phoenix Bird was 26.3", this reissue kit is 24" tall.
The fins are based on the old Enerjet 1340 plastic fin can, still used on the Estes Eliminator.
I can't  figure why Estes didn't use that Enerjet fin can molded in black. It could then use the BT-56 (ST-13) tubing and the plastic cone from the Eliminator. That would make this "Classic" closer to the original. 

The balsa fins are laser cut from tung wood or a very stiff balsa.

The nose cone shoulder is 1" long.
The screw eye threads seem small, I'll probably change it out for a larger eye.

The blue instruction sheet was stapled to the back of the bag.

It's an addendum to the instructions. The instructions had you glue on thru - the - wall fins, then slide the engine mount in from the back! It couldn't be built correctly using just the instructions in the bag.  

The Classic kits have the longest nose blocks I've ever seen in a kit at 2" long.

That pressure sensitive silver and red decal sheet was a big feature of the original Centuri kit.

All the parts are of good quality, except for that blue engine tube. I'll be switching out to a stronger ST-7 for the engine mount. The engine hook will be replaced.