"I got this thin walled tube without glassine in my new Starship Nova kit. It has a wall thickness of .010 and creases with normal handling. Somebody tell me this was a mistake and there will be a recall."
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In the first run of kits, the BT-50 tube won't have a glassine wrap. This will make for a very weak tube prone to buckling and bends. TIP: If you buy the kit I'd recommend buying an additional BT-50 tube. I'd probably go with a heavy walled BT-50H as even standard BT-50 tubes are thin.
The thicker wall BT-50H tubes have the same inside diameter as a standard BT-50 so 50 size nose cones will fit. The outside diameter is just a little thicker. I use the BT-50h tubes in some Odd'l kits. I always keep some heavy walled tube handy to replace the thin stuff that comes in kits.
I saw this, and while I know Estes wanted to get this kit out into the wild. I see this as a very poor business decision and a huge fail for them. Like one of the commenters said, you shouldn't have to buy a new tube. I want one of these, but I will wait for the proper tube to be included, just out of principal.
ReplyDeleteHi Metal,
DeleteI can bet Estes will get complaints and might be sending out a lot of replacement kits or maybe just the body tubes. Sending out a replacement kit with a bad body tube tube wouldn't do anything for Estes or the customer.
Is it weird to think that communication could be so bad that these kits'd actually get shipped? That utter lack of understanding the product would allow this on the production line? Was there not an inspector looking at Kit #1 to give the "OK?" Yeah, it's not that hard to understand...
DeleteHi Overeasy,
DeleteWho knows what happened. I bet Estes was surprised when the kits arrived, Estes wouldn't purposely include a bad tube. Mistakes happen, this was a big one!
Sounds like a repeat of the STM-012 debacle with crushed airframes because the bags were apparently a little too small being replaced with the same kits with smashed body tubes. Someone on TRF said he had three replacement kits sent before he got one with good tubes. Luckily, my replacement had good tubes on the first try.
DeleteBad corporate decision by someone at Estes. Wouldn't have been that hard to get replacement tubes from Euclid, and rekitted those bags. Would have cost less than all the bad PR and lost sales. Also, if the Chinese vendor messed up with the tube, they should be held financially responsible for making it right. 'Nuff said.
ReplyDeleteHi BAR,
DeleteThis wasn't a corporate decision, just a screw up overseas. I'd think the Chinese vendor would be held responsible.
Someone at Estes decided to let the kits be sold like this, so that part was a corporate decision and will be a black eye on them for some time.
DeleteHi Metal,
DeleteI meant the folks at Estes didn't order the thin tubes. They did decide to release the kits as is.