No it was white / yellow glue probably tite bond (I'm a fan of the stuff). Did I mention it has had around 10 years to cure ?

I think grinding it out is going to be the best option. Now all I got to do is find a source for the body tube, centering rings, and engine hook.

I have all those in the 'C' size already so still on the fence about it.

thanks!

You are likely to inflict damage on the inside of the airframe BT, however slight it might be. After you sand it out I would suggest soaking the inside of the BT60 with CA to reinforce the damaged area. It won't take much, you don't have to "soak" the whole airframe.
However, if you want to build with white/yellow glue again, you would then have to re-locate the CRs of your new MMT to avoid that portion of the airframe BT. Not a problem if you extend the MMT forward a couple inches. Berthas kind of need an extended MMT anyway, to help hold the recovery gear forward.

Back in the 60s, I had several of these because they were such great fliers in small fields. But I ruined my first one (after quite a few flights) by using the wrong motor. I mean, I was a real smart kid, what did those silly Estes people know, with their silly "recommended motors" list. So I loaded a B14.

It ripped the MMT out of the insides, and peeled half of the BT inner layers with it. It stumbled off the end of the launch rod, made it about five feet in the air, and fell back down smoking. One of the gang ran up to pick it up, right about the time the ejection charge went off.

After that, I figured those Estes guys might know something after all.

I'd go ahead with the 18mm mount that you already have. Your field is small, the rocket is already a flight veteran on that size motor, and you can pick up another one cheap to monkey around with if you want.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Bill,

There you go, making too much sense.

Bill's right, you can always get another Bertha kit to fly on a G55 That is, most veteran rocketeers have built several Berthas over time If you don't put a 24mm mount in this one, you can always do that on the next.

Doug...switching my vote...

.

__________________
YORF member #11

DON'T listen to ANYONE telling you to not upgrade the motor mount to 24mm.
ALWAYS upgrade ALL rockets BT-55 sized or above to be able to use AT LEAST 24mm power.
The Big Bertha came out originally as a DOWNGRADE of the Astron Ranger which used a THREE 18mm engine cluster of up to 3 C engines which puts it into mid-E power range.
DON'T go WEAK, go for the GUSTO and adapt DOWN when you NEED to.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

Actually, when the Ranger was originally released in 1963, the biggest motors with delay and ejection charges were the B.8s and the B3s (B4 and B14 in metric). 18mm C motors with delays were not released by Estes/Centuri until 1968 when Estes started using the current thinner wall casings. (I.D. went from 0.406" to 0.500".) I remember one old-timer telling me about the old C.8-0s that were completely full of propellant with no room for the ejection or delay.

__________________
'Til next time,

Mike Toelle

NAR 31692 L1

SAM 0373

I outsmarted the Estes factory once myself. I was on a small field and really really wanted to show off my Fat Boy, but all I had was an A8-3. I figured it wouldn't go high enough to hurt it, maybe treetop level if that. It cleared the rod and flew right into the dirt, and the ejection charge shattered the nose cone, which was on the ground already. That was the day I started paying attention to the suggested motors.

I wish I had read this thread before building my scratch built Centuri Bandito upscale (of sorts, it's not anywhere near scale). It's 24mm but the thing weighs 11 ounces, so I wish I'd gone with a 29mm mount and could adapt down as necessary.

I vote for 24mm upgrade. You can always adapt down. You know you wanna!

the other day I was playing with the design in open rocket, a payload version with a 24mm mount. the flight simulations were interesting, 1500' carrying a 3 ounce payload using an E18 motor(3.5 oz. only reached 1490'). so now I am toying with the idea of actually building a Ranger 'wannabe' .
Rex