08-01-2011, 01:26 PM
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Master Modeler
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Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Fairbanks, Alaska
Posts: 6,507
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Originally Posted by BEC
I didn't measure the winds, but based on prior measurements I'd guess 2 mph gusting to 5mph. Pretty light and within the stated limits.
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Thank you for filling us in on this.
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Originally Posted by BEC
The Aphelion is one of Semroc's RTB kits - it has an elastic shock cord that is 30 inches from the top of the body tube to the base of the nose cone. It certainly seems it should be long enough. I used orange instead of yellow for the base color, but otherwise followed the kit's face card scheme.
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Maybe the ejection charge was a bit stronger than usual--although not necessarily a "shotgun" one--and caused the "Estes Dent?" (Is it still considered an "Estes Dent" if an Estes motor causes one in a non-Estes rocket? :-) ). My brother Bob's late 1960s Centuri Astro-1 used a very similar orange with the black roll-pattern decal.
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Originally Posted by BEC
The Moon Mutt is short and has a 12 inch 'chute - a silly combo. These new RTFs are much more sensible - longer bodies and a 6 inch 'chute - which is plenty for a rocket that weighs less than an ounce including a spent mini motor on descent and which has plastic fins and nose.
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That also explains why the Moon Mutt's recommended motors are *only* the 1/4A3-3T and the 1/2A3-2T, as it would drift away on its 12" parachute with higher-impulse motors. If Estes had brought out their 6" 'chutes (very sensible "laundry" for the Fat Jax, Nitro, and Sky Duster) earlier and incorporated them into the Moon Mutt kits, they could have gone all the way up to the A10-3T (although the A3-4T might yield higher altitudes due to the extra second of coasting time). I've been gradually buying Moon Mutts for their molded-in-red BT-20 nose cones, which are perfect for cloning the 1986-vintage "no painting required" Estes Viking. (Sandman has the decals for it, which are somewhat similar to the Centuri Viking's decals.) |