Estes Alien invader 3003 build

Okay it has been a LOT of years since I was building rockets so bear with the old guy.

I was able to pickup a pair of the Alien Invader which is one of my favorite models. Don't ask me why but...

Laser cut fins! Oh my we were dreaming of laser cut back then. Anyway, I started cutting the fins by nicking the little tabs from both sides and they popped out beautifully. I scanned the layout sheet and assembled the wings as required.

I am always afraid of snapping off the forward part of the wings so decided to wait on sanding the leading edge until I glued them on the body tube. Of course, I forgot this part until much later! :surprised:

A novel way to get the wings on straight and true is to use a stack of quarters and a penny. I made sure I had shiny new quarters and pennies so the stacks were all the same height. See pictures below. I believe the stack is about 0.001" to low but good enough for gov't work.

For some reason, the carpenters glue set a little funny and the wings started developing a dihedral, so more quarters and some weight.

In the third picture, you can see the place I always forget to look after gluing on the little strake fins. After gluing these guys to the top of the wing, flip the model over and clean any squeeze out with a damp Q-tip. Makes things easier later on.

Back to the leading edges, I couldn't figure out what to do and then spied a double-cut file from one of the plastic models. Man, did this work great!!!! Just be careful. One of the edges normally has teeth also, so mark the smooth side with a magic marker. Otherwise you may file something you didn't want to.

BTW, my Elmer's bottle make a great holder for a BT50.

Some advice for others: This kit has so much end grain on the balsa, make a 'sizing solution' of half glue/half water. Brush liberally on the end grain or soak the edge in it for a few minutes. Not only will the sizing fill the pores, also makes it easier to get a marvelous finish.

NOTE: On the 3rd page of the instructions, the lower fin is shown BACKWARDS!! It should be pointy end forwards, and curve towards the rear.

Note 2: When placing the small fins in front of the wings, do not use the 1/4" measurement from the wing. Lay one of the fins roughly where it should go and measure from the front of the body tube. So when you mask off the yellow paint, both fins line up perfectly. If one is a little short on the back end, oh well.

Well that is it for now. Back soon with more tips.

Well took it flying today and did not have a good day. Lost a stick and one of the pods. Flew straight as heck though, even with a little cross wind.

Not sure if the ejection charge was too short or the parachute is too small, it came out of the sky like a brick. I am going to fly it naked until I figure out what I am doing wrong.