John, go here and scroll through the entire album; one pic of my Space Shuttle is on page one at the very bottom right corner (pic taken by Chris Coffin); the next is at the same place
on page two, and page three has the rest of the pics. The Shuttle's glide (if you want to call
it that) at the particular launch came in rather steep and hard, causing much of the Orbiter
to shatter beyond repair.

John Pursley gave me his built (but mostly unfinished) Estes Space Shuttle he didn't want &
I intend to spruce it for flight "one day" when I get around to it. Only this time, I will rig the
Orbiter to return via parachute due to the difficult to predict glide characteristics of the
Orbiter.

http://www.challenger498.org/gallery/01-09-05

BTW, this was the second flight of this model; the first was at Fulshear in March 2004. The
extra fin area of the addons caused the model to go "cruise" mode and lose much altitude
potential (lucky for me, the glider didn't get too much damage then). That's why for the
second flight, I lopped off one inch from each fin as my gut feeling told me they weren't
needed. The result of the second launch was the full stack flew nearly straight up very
nicely, even in the mild breeze we had that day at Rushing Park.

__________________
Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.

I think I remember reading either here or on TRF that the Estes Space Shuttle doesn't generally glide very well.

If I ever build mine, I'll paint the external tank orange, the way they are now.

__________________
John Thro, NAR #84553 SR
I was too old when I started! Now I'll *never* become a BAR!

So hey, I have now use the fin alignment guide on my Semroc Recruiter, and MAN, are those fins on straight!!!

I was right when I kept saying I needed one of these things. Never in a million years would I have gotten the fins on that straight without it. I am very impressed.

__________________
John Thro, NAR #84553 SR
I was too old when I started! Now I'll *never* become a BAR!

I noticed that the balsa fins on all of the built rockets seem to be totally unsanded, unshaped, and probably unprimed, too. But they are painted.

__________________
John Thro, NAR #84553 SR
I was too old when I started! Now I'll *never* become a BAR!

So yesterday at the launch of our NAR section, Challenger #498, I flew the vintage Big Bertha on one of the old Estes B6-4's and one of the old Estes solar igniters that came with all of the stuff.

At home before the launch, I had to glue one of the fins back on with wood glue, replace the shock cord with a length of 1/8" round elastic about 3 times the length of the body, and replace the shock cord mount with a standard Estes shock cord mount made from typing/printer paper. Oh, and I assembled one of the Estes 12" parachutes that came with all of the stuff, modifying it slightly by adding reinforcing rings at the 6 corners, poking holes in the plastic at each of them, and tying the shroud lines to them, instead of using really old tape discs to just stick the shroud lines to the canopy.

The launch and flight were perfect. And even though the rocket landed in the parking lot that we were launching from, there was no damage at all!

Btw, the color scheme on this Big Bertha is the same as shown below for the #1948 version, so I'll assume that's what it is:
http://www.dars.org/jimz/estes/est1948.pdf
http://www.ninfinger.org/~sven/rock...86/86est26.html

*Oops*, except that I used a 12" parachute and I now see that the instructions and catalog says it has an 18" parachute. Which explains why the shroud lines that I found in an opened package in with all of the stuff were so long. I had a lot left over after I cut the shroud lines for the 12" parachute that I used.

__________________
John Thro, NAR #84553 SR
I was too old when I started! Now I'll *never* become a BAR!

Now that the rocketry bug has bitten you once again, how about getting to work on that
Estes Space Shuttle model I saw in that box?! If you do, make sure you allow yourself plenty
of time constructing it.

Hey guys, John has a pretty good collection he got in that recent find; I especially enjoyed
looking (and holding) those COX labelled model rocket (18 mm) engines (unused!!).

__________________
Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.

What about the ASP V-2 (needs parachute and details/filling/priming/painting), the Semroc Recruiter (needs parachute and filling/priming/painting/decals), the Semroc Defender (needs build to be completed, parachute and filling/priming/painting/decals), the Rokitflite Fake Wulf (needs parachute and filling/priming/painting/decals), and the Quest Zenith II (needs filling/priming/painting/stickers) that are in various stages of completion?

Also, you *never* have to tell me to take plenty of time with a build. Except for kits with pre-colored nose cones, body tubes, and fins, everything I've built has taken me weeks, if not months, to complete. Not because I work so painstakingly, but because I'm slow and easily distracted by other kits and by life in general.

__________________
John Thro, NAR #84553 SR
I was too old when I started! Now I'll *never* become a BAR!

Understood, John. But I have to contend with not only three kids (one grown, two "little" ones), but also one three year old grandson . One way to get those builds in is to
try to become a "night owl." For those not used to it, it's not that simple.

I've got a few pics below of the models John is referring to (taken yesterday at Rushing):

Attached Thumbnails

       

__________________
Dave, NAR # 21853 SR.