Pigasus! Part 5 Nose Cone

This is the Pig's nose, made from a short length of body tube capped by a thick piece of card stock. This will glue to the top of the nose cone.

The cap is one of those round pieces punched from the middle of a laser cut centering ring. It's a little bigger than the outside diameter of the body tube piece. I'll sand it down the edges to match the body tube diameter after the glue dries.

Pigasus! Build Part 4 Fins

I guess I'm getting spoiled by laser cutting. These took a little while to cut out by hand.

Look closely at the grain. These were pieced together for strength.

On the left are the legs, to the right are the wings.

Here's the pig ears and razorback.

Time to mix up some new Carpenter's Wood Filler.

Remember the mix ratio?

2 1/2 parts CWF to 1 part water.

Wet Sanding Tips

I never knew how to properly wet sand until a few years ago when I started making banjos.

Currently I'm building the DynaStar LexxJet from Apogee. It's a big model with plenty of surface to prepare.

This single 1" X 3" piece of 400 grit sandpaper was used to wet sand the entire rocket.

Some things you may not know about wet sanding -

• A few hours before you wet sand, let the sand paper soak in the water. The paper should be fully saturated to help release the small amount of paint you are sanding off. Don't worry, the paper will not fall apart after soaking in the water. Any paper marked "Wet/Dry" will be fine sitting in the water bowl.
• Some add a drop of dish soap to the water. I've read about wet sanding using oil. I just use water.
• Don't wet sand primer coats! You run the risk of water getting into and swelling the tubing and balsa. Dry sand the primer coats.
• Wet sanding works best on final color coats that have had plenty of time to dry.

Take the sandpaper out of the water and shake off the excess drops. Sand a small area at a time, keep an eye out for drips. Dry off the areas as you go with a paper towel.

Unless you have excessive "orange peel", you should only wet sand a little of the roughness off the surface.

The real results from wet sanding will show when you spray on the final coat.

Pigasus! Build Part 3 Fin Plan

With all the detail on the wing and leg pieces, the fin design took some time.

This is my master template sheet used to mark and cut the fins.

For strength, the legs and wings will be pieced together.

The balsa grain is going a few different directions, I had to plan ahead to eliminate breakage on a hard landing. Other reinforcements might be needed.

On the upper left side, below the name are the goggles.

They'll be made out of double thickness cardstock and set over the nose cone like a canopy.

Flying Frisbee - FLOP!

I'd bought a $.99 Frisbee at WalMart for my daughters to play with.

They weren't that interested so I thought I'd put it to better use.

The central 18mm engine mount tube has centering rings on either side of the Frisbee top. The plastic surface was roughed up and a epoxy fillet ring went on both sides. The central engine was a C6-0.

On the outside rim engine was a 13mm A10-P plugged engine. It was mounted at an angle to provide spin.

I'd had some good experience with the Art Applewhite Monocopters so I knew to use a very short rod. Monocopters spin quickly at launch. A short rod is used so there isn't any chance of rod whip.

I didn't have a short rod with me so it was set up high on a 1/8" x 36" rod.

In the middle picture, you can see how simple the engine mounts are. Quest Q2G2 igniters were used, the best igniters made for clustering.

This launch picture makes it look better than the flight actually was. Roger Smith took the picture.

There was some launch rod whip. The flight wasn't vertical and didn't get enough altitude to waste two engines on. I should have had a very short launch rod to get a vertical boost.

The outside A10 engine did give it quite a bit of spin and I think there could be other possibilities for this odd ball rocket.

Oh well, live and learn!

I'm certainly not the first, or last person to put an engine under a Frisbee. George Gassaway has had better success with his versions. I remember seeing a video on YouTube of a saucer being launched from a fast, spinning turntable.

Estes Customizer Mini Engine Set

My youngest daughter gave me this set for my last birthday.

The box is a little deceiving. It says in big letters "12 ROCKET." The smaller print tells the buyer "Potential Design Combinations."

I didn't think I needed another launcher at the time, but I did like how the pad was designed - Simple dowel legs and a low center of gravity.

The enclosed two piece launch rod was 1/8" X 24". I switched it out for a longer 36" rod. This is the same Lunar Launcher that came with the very inexpensive $10.00 Moon Mutt starter set and the old Screaming Eagle set in the 1989

Right now it's my schoolyard rig, it takes up much less space than my 20 year old yellow Port-A-Pad did.

The 1989 Estes Catalog recommends launching rockets under 16" long on this dowel legged launcher.

I used my old controller until it was beyond repair. My new controller came with this set. It's the new design where you PRESS down the safety key to make the continuity light come on. It takes a little getting used to, the safety "key" is pressed in and held while the launch button is pressed.

Pictured is the one, single rocket made from the set. It looks a little like a Nike Tomahawk with skulls on the fins. There was plenty more stick-on decals, but I didn't think the rocket warranted the flame, checkerboard or dragon decor.

The body tubes are too thin, but the plastic parts look to be sturdy enough. The adapters and nose cone shoulders would need a wrap of tape for a better fit.

Pigasus! Build Part 2 Engine Mount

Nothing too different here, all standard construction.

I won't bore you with the details!

One thing - I did have to add a glue ring on the outside edges of the centering rings for a better fit in the main body tube.

Sometimes a dried bead of glue is just enough to increase the outside diameter of the rings.