patelldp
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- Jan 23, 2009
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Alright guys...as teased here, I have received my "Beta" kit from MAC Performance. After meeting with the owner, Mike, he showed me the new tubing, centering rings, fins, etc. I then left with my very own 3" HV ARCAS, the first complete kit off the line! Boy is it impressive...
First off, let's get to know the tubing. As teased, the tubing is known as Canvas Composite. The tube itself is "standard thickness," meaning it fits other brands of 3" nosecones. The tubing is approximately half the weight of it's comparable thickness fiberglass cousin, which I will confirm for myself when I get the chance to weigh it out and will document here for your digestion. The tube has a very slight flex when squeezed by hand (equal in magnitude to the new "thin wall" fiberglass) and is incredibly strong. The OD has a slight grit to it (maybe like 400-600 grit sandpaper?) and no spirals, so minimal primer will be required to get a glass smooth finish. The motor mount is kraft phenolic, as it's going where the spirals can be hidden!
Secondly, let's talk manufacturing quality. Fins, centering rings, and bulkheads are all CNC cut. No tabs are present from the CNC process, the CR's slip perfectly onto the motor mount and perfectly into the body tube. The bulkheads and aft centering ring are stepped and fit perfectly into their respective tubes. The coupler is sized slightly large and then custom machined to perfectly fit inside of the body tubes. The fins are 1/8" G10, again without any evidence of CNC, and fit perfectly into the slots. The nosecone is of the "Pinnacle" style with a long shoulder. All necessary hardware is there, including all-thread for the altimeter bay, eyebolts, nuts, washers, and a roll pin for the shock cord mount. To give you an idea of the quality, it took me less than one minute to take the parts out of the bag and put it together for the test fit pictures you'll see later. More on that later...
Do you see a theme in this paragraph? It should be perfectly obvious.
Okay, enough about that worthless "quality" stuff. None of you care about that, right?
First up is a view of what's included in the kit:
1 - 32" x 3"Main Body Tube
1 - 22" x 3" Payload Tube
1 - Pinnacle Nose Cone
1 - Shock Cord anchor (9/16" TN, professionally sewn loops)
4 - 1/8" G10 fins, ARCAS shape
1 - 3/8" thick fore CR with shock cord anchor machined in
1 - 1/4" thick mid CR
1 - 3/8" thick aft CR with step machined in to act as a thrust plate
2 - 3/8" thick altimeter bay bulkheads with steps to engage coupler, 3x 1/4" holes with 2" spacing for the all thread
3 - 1/4-20 Eyebolts
10 - 1/4-20 Nuts
10 - 1/4-20 Washers
1 - Shock Cord anchor roll pin
2 - 1/4-20 aluminum all-thread rods for the altimeter coupler
2 - 1/4-20 wing nuts for the altimeter bay
1 - 3" x 1" Switch band
1 - 8" long coupler
Also included:
2x Av Bay brackets
1x 2.625" by 6" sled, 1/16" thick phenolic
First off, let's get to know the tubing. As teased, the tubing is known as Canvas Composite. The tube itself is "standard thickness," meaning it fits other brands of 3" nosecones. The tubing is approximately half the weight of it's comparable thickness fiberglass cousin, which I will confirm for myself when I get the chance to weigh it out and will document here for your digestion. The tube has a very slight flex when squeezed by hand (equal in magnitude to the new "thin wall" fiberglass) and is incredibly strong. The OD has a slight grit to it (maybe like 400-600 grit sandpaper?) and no spirals, so minimal primer will be required to get a glass smooth finish. The motor mount is kraft phenolic, as it's going where the spirals can be hidden!
Secondly, let's talk manufacturing quality. Fins, centering rings, and bulkheads are all CNC cut. No tabs are present from the CNC process, the CR's slip perfectly onto the motor mount and perfectly into the body tube. The bulkheads and aft centering ring are stepped and fit perfectly into their respective tubes. The coupler is sized slightly large and then custom machined to perfectly fit inside of the body tubes. The fins are 1/8" G10, again without any evidence of CNC, and fit perfectly into the slots. The nosecone is of the "Pinnacle" style with a long shoulder. All necessary hardware is there, including all-thread for the altimeter bay, eyebolts, nuts, washers, and a roll pin for the shock cord mount. To give you an idea of the quality, it took me less than one minute to take the parts out of the bag and put it together for the test fit pictures you'll see later. More on that later...
Do you see a theme in this paragraph? It should be perfectly obvious.
Okay, enough about that worthless "quality" stuff. None of you care about that, right?
First up is a view of what's included in the kit:
1 - 32" x 3"Main Body Tube
1 - 22" x 3" Payload Tube
1 - Pinnacle Nose Cone
1 - Shock Cord anchor (9/16" TN, professionally sewn loops)
4 - 1/8" G10 fins, ARCAS shape
1 - 3/8" thick fore CR with shock cord anchor machined in
1 - 1/4" thick mid CR
1 - 3/8" thick aft CR with step machined in to act as a thrust plate
2 - 3/8" thick altimeter bay bulkheads with steps to engage coupler, 3x 1/4" holes with 2" spacing for the all thread
3 - 1/4-20 Eyebolts
10 - 1/4-20 Nuts
10 - 1/4-20 Washers
1 - Shock Cord anchor roll pin
2 - 1/4-20 aluminum all-thread rods for the altimeter coupler
2 - 1/4-20 wing nuts for the altimeter bay
1 - 3" x 1" Switch band
1 - 8" long coupler
Also included:
2x Av Bay brackets
1x 2.625" by 6" sled, 1/16" thick phenolic
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