Don't know. I doubt more then a dozen people would purchase a kit of this model since it is very labor intensive to build.


John Boren

Many may choose not to attempt to fly it due to the complexity, but may want a display model of this rare vehicle. Those built-up, non-flying balsa F-14, F-15 and F-16 kits have been on the market for a long time meaning someone is buying them.



Bill

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It is well past time to Drill, Baby, Drill!

If your June, July, August and September was like this, you might just hate summer too...

Please unload your question before you ask it unless you have a concealed harry permit.

: countdown begin cr dup . 1- ?dup 0= until cr ." Launch!" cr ;

Give a man a rocket and he will fly for a day; teach him to build and he will spend the rest of his days sanding...

Going WAY "back in the day" (1960's), ESTES used to have a "non-flying version" of the SATURN-V kit, in addition to the one we all are familiar with. At that time, the non-flying kit was sold in a box. The only time I ever remember seeing one was in the "Cape Kennedy Gift Shop" and my Dad bought it for me.

Unfortunately, it was opened, built, and later converted to fly (It crashed when the cluster didn't light right ) . . . I suspect I could have sold it "NIB" today for enough to buy a nice big-screen TV !

I have never seen it in any ESTES catalogs, but I am CERTAIN what I saw and had ! ! !

Dave Fitch

I believe what you say. See is thread:

http://forums.rocketshoppe.com/showthread.php?t=11977


Funny you should mention this particular kit today. I have some news to report on the history of that Saturn V and will post it in that thread in the next day or so.

Earl

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Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

WOW ! ! !

That is the one I had . . . Wish I still did .

Looking forward to reading your info ~

Dave F.

I haven’t had a lot of time the last couple days to work on the Navaho but hopefully I’ll get much of it done this weekend. For those who aren’t real familiar with planking I wanted to show a few close ups, so you have a better understanding of how it’s done.

I first started with many sheets of 1/8” balsa. I then ripped the sheets into 3/32” wide pieces on a table saw. The strips didn’t come out perfect but they don’t have to. The final thickness of balsa I want to obtain over the entire model is 1/16”. As you apply each strip, you may or may not need to bevel the edge of the piece you are applying so there is NO gap between the sticks. If you were to simply keep gluing square cross sections sticks together you would end up with V-Shaped grooves between each piece of wood and you would then have to use some type of filler over the entire model. By taking your time to make sure each piece of wood is applied, so there is no gaps, or grooves between the pieces you will not have to apply any filler and have a stronger model.
You will notice that some sticks our sticking further out then others, and at first glass it looks like a complete mess. I still need to sand the entire surface of the model to remove 1/32” of balsa to get down to my final 1/16” thickness. Also notice how one section of strips are applied in one direction while the others are applied in a different direction. It would be impossible to plank a constantly changing contour with strips of wood that are of constant width. You would need to taper each and every stick to match the needed width at ever former and that’s just not possible to do. For the top rear center section of the model I was able to use 1/16” sheet, which save a little time.


John Boren

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John,

Looks like it's coming along nicely . . . LOTS of hard work !

So, this is actually a new ESTES "Skill Level 10" kit, right ? LOL !

Dave Fitch

I finished planking the top surface tonight. Gave it a quick sanding and took it off the board. It currently weighs 3.0 ounces. I'll take a guess and say it's going to weigh 4.5 ounces when the bottom is planked.

One more thing about planking I would like to add. I use Tite Bond 2 to glue each plank to one another. A drop of thin CA was only used where the plank touched each former. This way when it's time to do your final sanding you are only sanding wood and easy to sand Wood Glue. IF you were to use CA for all the glue joints you would have a much harder time getting a smooth sanded surface.



I am currently trying to find out if I will be allowed to install two micro ducted fan units in this model to simulate the Ram Jets once the booster seperates. I just want enough thrust to stay up long enough to do a few turns and then come into a landing at a place of my choice.



John Boren

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Cool!

It kinda reminds me of the cedar strip canoe and row boat I built.

__________________
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John,

I suspect it will fly at a pretty high angle of attack . . . If you ever STALL it, I doubt that recovery from the stall would be possible.

EXCELLENT BUILD . . . Keep It Coming !

Dave Fitch