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Old 01-05-2019, 09:05 PM
Les Les is offline
BAR 13790
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Johnson City, NY
Posts: 523
Default US Rockets Trident build thread

This is a new kit from US Rockets. In fact, so new I discovered I am actually a Beta tester (which I did not realize at the time that it was not a production kit). It does not show up on their web site yet. I found out about the kit via their Facebook page.

Frankly - I have to admit I am a bit disappointed. As I previously stated, this is a beta kit - but I was not informed that it was still in the beta stage. The only instructions are a copy of the Estes instructions. The kit includes a note stating it "doesn't officially exist yet" and that the kit contains "No custom parts and only used stock parts". As such, the Trident is, well, Trident-ish. One issue is the scale. The tube diameters are 2.26x the BT5 and 2.31X the BT50. But the lengths range from 1.88x to 2.22x.
The nose cones are a bit confusing. There are 3 pod cones made of plastic and 3 pod cones made of balsa. My first thought was to use the balsa on the rear where the balsa fins would glue. But the balsa cones are shorter than the plastic cones and the longer cones belong on the rear. Even if I use the plastic on the rear, the cones range from 1.55x to 3.28x. The scales are worse if I put the balsa on the rear.

Now, there was some cleverness in the design. The original Trident used a 5E nose cone, 18" BT5 tube, and 5W tail cone for a total length of 22.13. The US Rockets Trident has a 3.75" nose cone, 36" of tube, and a 4.25" tail cone for a total of 44", or about a 2x scale. Similar for the passenger pod (works out to 1.98x). However the motor pod works out to 2.49x. I did notice the fin template states it is for a 2.25x upscale.
Bottom line, since there are different scales and no real instructions, I will be needing to decide where to cut the ducting ports.
The other issue is a blown up copy of the Estes Fin template is provided. However, since the cones are not scale the pattern will not line up. Again, I am going to need to "fudge" things. The fin material is 1/4" thick x 6" wide balsa.

To give an idea on how the rocket will look, I laid out the parts next to my Estes clone.
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