Some guys collect old kits. That's cool. I prefer to build them. That's cool, too.

I've had a vintage Crusader Swing Wing boost/glider burning it's way to the top of the build pile for some time now. Now it's time.

The last Crusader I built was in 1988. It launched, transistioned, and glided beautifully! The glide was almost a minute long! The glider landed in soft grass--the power pad did a water landing in a retention pond and sank. I swear, if I ever launched a model rocket on the MOON it would somehow land in water!

ANYWAY, despite the poor condition of the packaging, the contents are predominantly OK. The BT20 power pod tube and two of the launch lugs are crushed (big deal, I have plenty of spares.) Most importantly, the balsa wing and the sheet of plywood parts are perfectly flat , and the decals and the A7(ish) nose cone are undamaged.

Getting busy, I separate the wing from it's sheet and lightly sand the edges. I then cut the plywood parts from their card, lightly sand their edges, and then trace them on paper in case I need to replicate one or all of them.

As with any glider, it's all about the wing and the weight. The wing's middle hub is registered and glued into the socket in the center of the wing. I use my dead-flat Corian board covered with wax paper to maintain flatness of the build. TBC

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__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

Now for the wing-swinging mechanism. Unlike the plastic mechanism of the recent Scissor Wing Transport, this mechanism is built up from plywood and dowels.

Now for some technique: one end of the 1/4" hardwood dowel is rounded. That's easy. The other end has to be cut perfectly flat. To do that, I hold the dowel under a small piece of angle aluminum. Using the edge of the aluminum as a "fence" for the saw, I cut the dowel perfectly straight. I purposely cut it too long to allow for the kerf, so I reduce the length after cutting by sanding it from the rounded end.

The flat cut end of the dowel is inserted and epoxied into the mechanism base. The rubber band hook dowel is epoxied onto the edge of base and the launch lug is glued onto the undersde. The other rubber band hook dowel is inserted and epoxied into the wing center hub from the TOP.

I test the mechanism and it works perfectly.

Time for an IPA and a Scotch. Good night. TBC

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__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

Actually cooler.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

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

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark

I'll be interested in your progress as I have one of those as well, and am in the same line of thought - they look much better built that in a bag.

The Swing Wing is temporarily on hold. I made an alignment mistake when epoxying the wing pivot onto the BT, so I have to strip it off and redo the BT. TBC.

__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

jeffyjeep, I have to tell you, sending you that PM and inviting you to join this board while we were all flipping out seeing your Saturn V's for sale on eBay was the best thing I ever did. Your threads are fantastic. I await your next post. What a great build!

__________________
"AND I hope they are from the planet of the "Chunk spunky Mary-Lou Retton clones". - Ironnerd

"Those who trade liberty for security have neither" - Benjamin Franklin

"Semroc is almost always the answer" - Stefanj

www.paulsavia.com

www.soundclick.com/paulsavia

Many thanks!

__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078

Hear, hear, Mr. STRMan. I always enjoy Mr. Jeep's posts, and look forward to the continuation of this build thread. The Crusader always intimidated me back in the day.

__________________
Just completed: Estes Cherokee-E, Estes Multi-Roc.

Current project: Painting the roll pattern on my new Ventris build, gifted me by the estimable Dr. Houchin.

I'll have to strip all of the parts that I EPOXIED onto the main BT and do a partial do-over, so I'm waiting on a new BT60 from Estes to continue the build. TBC

__________________
Never trust an atom. They make up everything.

4 out of 3 people struggle with math.

Chemically, alcohol IS a solution.

NAR# 94042
SAM# 0078