On the Facebook Estes Model Rocket page,
James JM asked: "Do they make 1010 rail buttons to put on Rockets like the Ascender and Mammoth that don't require drilling a hole?"
Leo Nutz answered: "I made my own by mounting a rail button to a dowel that fits snug in the launch lug.
Has never failed me."
Questions: "So thats a 1010 button glued onto a dowel that slides into the original lug?"
Leo went on the explain: "Not glued (would never hold) but screwed into the dowel."
Question: "So the button is screwed into the dowel but is the dowel glued into the lug?"
Leo answered: "No, it is not glued into the launch lug but as I mentioned in my first post friction fitted."
Let the comments begin... :-D
ReplyDeleteHi Leo,
DeleteI thought your rail adapter was a great idea! Regarding comments - I get them on the blog. Most are welcome. Occasionally I get one of those: "That's not the way I'd do it!"
I'm humbled you posted it :-)
DeleteMy only comment is why? It is a rather elegant solution but my lightly modded Mammoth has many many flights with the rail buttons screwed and glued into the body tube. Definitely a nifty way to do it though and I will say it’s less cluttered than my lugs on one side, buttons on the other 😉
ReplyDeleteBut... then you have weirdos like me that don't want to add additional rails to a clean designed rocket like on Estes kits. And why add rails if it so simple to swap between rod - rail with the adapter. Scratch built on mid/high power rockets is another story... only rails.
DeleteIIRC many years ago there was an Estes kit or kits that had a launch lug glued to a dowel standoff that was glued to the airframe.The lug could be used with a rod but would also fit in the channel of a C rail that Estes sold. So you could launch it either from a rod or the C rail.
ReplyDeleteMany is the time when I have forgotten to bring one piece of hardware or the other. It's good to have launch guide alternatives for those occasions.