On the Facebook Model Rocketry USA page,
Robert Spillane posted a picture of his Estes Mini Scale Combo Pack.
These were sport scale mini engine rockets, two models in on kit package.
Follow up comments asked: What's the white blob near the nosecones?"
I did some searching and found out the kit number was 0874. Estes had offered a larger Exocet before this smaller, combo kit version. This two rockets in one kit was introduced in 1986.
A trip to Jim Zs brought up the instructions.
I had certainly used the old "two slits in the body tube" shock cord mount before, but this was a new one for me. This might allow an easier ejection in the small BT-5 tubes.
Maybe they thought it was less noticeable than the old slit and glue method.
Here's what they looked like in the 1986 Estes catalog page -
An interesting evolution in the slit-body mount is on the Estes Athena RTF (and probably others): the external part of the shock cord is concealed under the long plastic launch guide.
ReplyDeleteHi Bob,
DeleteThat style of exterior shock cord retention showed up in the early 1990s. I first saw it in the Stingray, #2131.