#41
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No no, they just got confused and thought they were building a Centuri Astro-1 ! Unless, you're describing something looking more like a fork
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Roy nar12605 |
#42
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Those 3 cones have exactly the shapes I was describing in post 38. The balsa cone has the identical shape of the orange, plastic Alpha III cone. Doug .
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YORF member #11 |
#43
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Viewed separately, and maybe from afar, they are reasonably close. But seeing all three, I like the "fatter" two on the outside, with the top nod going to the one on the right. The one in the middle just doesn't look right. I suspect others (maybe a few?) would argue for the center cone.
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Lee Reep NAR 55948 Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold! Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp |
#44
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Yeah....not too far off...certainly not as far off as the catalog page/Semroc shape. I had started to write something to the effect that the current lasered ones were as far off as the catalog page and that I was going to take comparison pictures later and then I just decided to do the pictures and was actually a little surprised at how close it actually is. Quote:
Yes.....and that contrast is pretty obvious in tbzep's pictures (and reposted above by Lee). Quote:
I figured as much. I just don't have examples in hand as I do the others (III in two colors, IV, Phantom). Of course the fin can has been used in a few other places as well - the RTF HiJinks and Athena of recent years come immediately to mind, as well as the Make It - Take It, though this latter while dimensionally similar seems to be made from a lower quality plastic. I'm sure there are others. Lee - I have an example of the earlier blow-molded cone since John Boren gave me a partial red/black livery Alpha kit at NSL. I will post some pictures later including it and a genuine circa 1970 BNC-50K (that golden Alpha I mentioned earlier) alongside a Semroc version and the current blow-molded one. But not tonight. Gotta go bathe a couple of corgis.....
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Bernard Cawley NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member SAM 0061 AMA 42160 KG7AIE Last edited by BEC : 07-08-2017 at 02:03 AM. Reason: once again straightening out attribution for prior post |
#45
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Thank you (and for posting the scan of your 1967 Alpha instructions!); I didn’t remember either of those part numbers. Since that is—I think, since it’s old enough that it mentions dope first, *then* spray paint—the first version of the Alpha’s instructions, that white/red paint scheme could have been the first “official” Alpha paint scheme. Yes, you can always make “a clone of that clone” in order to avoid losing your signed one (that would be especially important for a Bill Simon-signed original-type Mosquito clone!).
I’d built a couple of Athenas (the old metallized nose cone/Generic E2X fin unit 4FNC kit) which also utilized the motor mount “sleeve” tube, and it was perfectly sensible for them, particularly since the sleeve didn’t slide over the motor clip (which would require the builder to cut a long slot out of the inner wall of the sleeve). For a rocket like the Alpha, the sleeve is structural “overkill” and needlessly complicates the construction. A jigsaw or a band saw would be perfect for (carefully!) cutting the sleeves into centering rings. I help a teacher in the isolated community of Eagle, Alaska, who incorporates model rocketry into her students’ STEM courses but has quite limited funds to do so (there are many other teachers in similar circumstances). Such an Alpha “no-frills basic bulk pack” would be ideal for such teachers, since balsa fin stock would be cheaper than die-cut or laser-cut fins (plus, the students would learn skills and hand-eye coordination by cutting out the fin patterns and the fins themselves, stack-sanding them, airfoiling them, and so forth), and: It sounds like the Alpha II was Estes’ “production modernization test product.” Not being a product that they offered to the general public, any problems with it (which could have delayed distribution) would have affected only a relatively small subset of their customer base (and for outstanding orders, they could have substituted production “Alpha I” kits for the Alpha IIs until their production problems were fixed).
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185 http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050 http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR |
#46
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Although the part shown was turned for my Super Alpha, this is my interpretation of what a "BNC-60K" should look like. In the picture is the plastic nose cone included with my Super Alpha. I think it's the same cone as the Der Red Max nose cone, and definitely an unacceptable cone for an Alpha.
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Lee Reep NAR 55948 Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold! Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp |
#47
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Nice job, Lee.
The first run of Super Alphas had a balsa nose cone that was much closer. But the body was too short for a true BT-60 upscale. I had a BT-60 upscale of the first version of the Alpha with a 24mm motor mount in it with me at NSL, but it was one of the models that didn't get flown. It has a BNC-60K from eRockets/Semroc on it.
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Bernard Cawley NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member SAM 0061 AMA 42160 KG7AIE |
#48
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Yes, that's the PNC-60AH (Red Max, Citation Patriot, Omega, Mean Machine, Screamin Mimi, etc.). Nice job turning the upscale 50K.
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I love sanding. |
#49
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Interesting that the body tube was too short, if the nose cone was close to accurate. The body tube in mine was too short, but I figured it was done when they used the long plastic cone, to keep overall length close to scale. I had my Super Alpha at NSL also, but no flight. I took WAY too many rockets and motors, but I'm always over-optimistic about what I'll get prepped and flown.
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Lee Reep NAR 55948 Projects: Semroc Saturn 1B, Ken Foss Designs Mini Satellite Interceptor In the Paint Shop: Nothing! Too cold! Launch-Ready: Farside-X, Maxi Honest John, Super Scamp |
#50
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yes, just one inch too short ("that's what *she* said..." sorry, couldn't help it!)
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Roy nar12605 |
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