The slick, new Orbital Transport was featured on the cover. This was Estes kit number K-42 and sold for $3.25.
The design was by Wayne Kellner. The kit was sold from 1969 through 1985.
No die-cut or laser cut balsa on this one! All 36 (Yes, I said 36) pieces of balsa were traced from patterns and cut by hand. Launch lugs and stand-off dowels were also cut to size.
The O.T. is still a fun launch. At ejection the orbiter usually glides well, circling around the booster descending under a parachute.
Estes re-released the kit in 2002. Surprisingly you still had to trace and cut out all the balsa!
Semroc has also released their version of the original size O.T. All the balsa stock is laser cut, the parts are notched for better alignment and easier assembly.
Here's the catalog page from the kit introduction from 1969.
This time around, the "Super" Orbital Transport is an upscale using 24mm motors.
The original 1969 version used BT-20 and BT-50 tubes. The Super O.T. Orbiter/Glider uses a BT-50, the main body is two BT-55 tubes joined with a coupler.
The original O.T. was 23" tall. The Super O.T. is 31.3" tall.
The two builds are very similar. To get an idea of the construction, go to JimZ's: CLICK HERE
The build starts tomorrow!
I recall my first two OTs having the Astron decals while the final one purchased in '84 had "Estes Aerospace Lines" instead of the Astron named. Wondered why they did that.....
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteThat's interesting - I didn't know Estes added their name down the O.T. decals. I only remember seeing the "Astron Aerospace Lines" decal.
Semroc did substitute their name (instead of Astron) into the decal in their clone kits.
Perhaps the change is connected to the phaseout of the "Astron" naming of the kits. I do remember back when I got started in model rocketry (mid-1970s) many kits in the catalog still had the "Astron" moniker, but by early 1980s the "Astron" naming had largely disappeared.
ReplyDeleteThe OT was my FIRST kit. Yes. 10 or 11 years old and my FIRST kit. Because why would ANYONE want 3FNC when they could, if possible, afford an OT? I did GREAT... except for one thing. I did not want it white. I wanted it Fluorescent yellow! However I missed the part about the base coat needed to be opaque white! So every single body tube line, every grain line, shown through! I did not care... it was SO cool. My glider had a glide angle of about 70 degrees. I did not care. C6-5 of course was my 1st flight. Gosh... what a time to grow up!
ReplyDeleteI had one back shortly after they were released. Those were builder's kits meaning you had to cut the balsa and do everything else yourself, BP, before plastics. As I recall mine flew fairly well and since we only had film cameras we didn't take pictures very often. It was a nice kit and I now have the new Super Orbital Transport and will put if on the bench fairly soon. What I'm not looking forward to is sealing all that balsa acreage but I know I'll have a great looker and flier when it's complete. I'll read your article Chris to see what hints I find in it. Also in the mid-70s I started to build a scaled up version myself based on a BT-60 primary tube. I actually got the booster done with the fins on it as well as the orbital plane but never finished it and never painted as well as never flying it. I didn't know how I was going to get decals but that became a moot point since the project stalled and never recovered.
ReplyDeleteHI Rocketguy 53,
DeleteOh, I remember getting the original Orbital Transport in the mail. I think it cost me $3.25 in 1970. Halfway through tracing and cutting out the balsa I thought: "This is a lot of work!"
I didn't build another BT050 original sized model until2018.
Here's a link to the original size O.T. clone build: https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/search/label/E%20Orbital%20Transport
Another link to the Super O.T. build: https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com/search/label/E%20Super%20Orbital%20Transport
"There were 32 balsa pieces in all!
I remember it taking a while to cut them out. I kept track this time -
Cutting out the templates - 20 minutes
Tracing and cutting the balsa pieces - 1 hour, 5 minutes
Stack and sanding - 20 minutes
1 hour, 45 minutes total"
I have seen pictures of some other O.T. upscales. I built two Super Orbital Transports for Estes. That was a lot of work!
I wish you well on your Super O.T. build.