Thanks Earl! I was surprised to see the 2 piece fins myself. Here's the pattern that David Stribling sent me. It might mean that there's a hand-cut version of the kit out there too. We won't know unless someone can find an unused Pattern Sheet SP-47 from the two-piece, die-cut version. The pattern sheet shown in the instructions for that kit is partially hidden by the decals and the fins. From what I think I can see in them, we can see part of the paper shock cord mount, and the tube marking guide.







I think gh is correct.

Some time ago, the late Karl McLawhorn of Semroc acquired the copyrights to the kits that Estes had allowed to lapse, the Cherokee-D was one of those. He put it into production, and this effectively stopped Estes from re-releasing it in its original form. I suspect that Estes and eRockets have to do a lot of horse trading for Estes to do the older bring backs. I suspect that to avoid this Estes will sometimes simply modify an old design into a new kit (think Gyroc/TAZZ)). I also think this is why we haven't seen a re-release of the Estes Omega K-52P.



"Anemic" That's the word! When I first looked at it, I felt that it was too long, and while it had the flavor, it had been watered down too much. It has since grown on me, but it'll never take the original's place in my heart. GOD how I wish that Estes would create the PNC-60AC nosecone. However, the Cherokee-E (2408) is a BT-55 kit. Basically it's a Magician (2440) without the payload section, replacing that with the PNC-55AC nosecone, and using blue, Cherokee-D inspired, decals. My recommendation if you do build an "E", glue the fins to the long tube, use the coupler for a baffle, and the 6" tube for a zipperless design... OR Make the 6" section a payload bay by using a balsa bulkhead with a screw eye. Either way, you can use the bottom edge of the wrap to hide the joint, and save yourself from doing the filling and sanding needed to hide it.




You forgot the other 6" BT-55 tube.



IMHO Cherokee-E (2408) is Estes' Retro-Repro (to use the Semroc term) of the Cherokee-D. It maintains the flavor of the original, but is not an exact clone. According to John Boren (JumpJet), in a personal conversation with me, the fins for the Magician (2440)(and thus the Cherokee-E (2408) which uses the same part number and pattern) were drawn from the original drawings of the Cherokee-D's fins. However, in the image above you can see that the Cherokee-D fin is taller than the Magician's fin (and, again, the Cherokee-E uses the same fins as the Magician), it is bigger overall, except for the length of the root edge. The height difference is even more than you think see in the image, as the ruler is ever-so-slightly lower on the left (Cherokee-D) side of the image, than on the right side. Also, if you look really closely, you'll also notice that the fin tip of the Cherokee-D fins is not straight. It has a slight concave curve in it.


When I returned to the hobby in my current BAR period, back in 2013, I got a Magician with the hopes to using it to clone my very damaged surviving Cherokee-D. I was sorely disappointed when I held the fins of the Magician up to the original, and found them to be smaller. I've been begging for people to post a new scan of original die-cut fins for years now. The image found on JimZ's site is so poor that I found it to be basically useless. The Semroc kit may have preserved the shape of the fins, I don't know. How could I ever know without seeing an unused original from Estes? I've never picked up the Semroc kit. The fears that the fin shape wasn't a match, the shorter body tube, and balsa nosecone put me off at the time. Yet, despite my pleas for a new scan over the last seven years, NOBODY has F****** bothered to put up a scan of original fins (or decals) with a ruler for scale. It's taken me THIS F****** LONG to acquire one from eBay to be able to do this. Not just for myself, but for anybody else that values these old kits. [/END RANT]



In seeing that shadow behind the decal sheet, I'm going to scan it again, with the ruler to ensure it's flat.



They did. I have yet to determine when the change occured. Because the length was never updated in the catalog, and the photo of the kit never changed from 1973 until the end of production, we can't be sure of when it exactly did. However, I have yet to do photograpic analysis of the images to see if I can determine if it showed up in the catalog photographs.

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If you like what I've done here, and if you choose to open and build an old unbuilt kit, PLEASE scan your kit's fins and decals with a ruler for scale before building it. Then post the scans here, or send them to me. I'm building up an archive of old kit's instructions, fins, as well as decals, and I'm looking to find information on all variants. JimZ's site, Ye Olde Rocket Plans and others are far from complete. And while I might not sim it up (due to interest, software capability, or time factors), you might save someone a lot of money, time and frustration trying to preserve our hobby's past. Also, it might lower the cost of those old kits for you collectors. If someone can clone an old kit and be happy with that, they might not be interested in competing with you on ebay the next time your mutual favorite comes up for auction.

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Dreaming of making the rockets I dreamed of as a kid (and then some).

"The Guide says there is an art to flying", said Ford, "or rather a knack."
"The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss."

Launching is Optional... Landing? That Depends on Trees.