SHX Stiletto Build

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Boosterdude

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Without a doubt the Stiletto is one of the cooler rocket designs I've seen in a while. All the parts in the kit were very nice quality upon first inspection.

One thing I noticed with this design is that I would build and finish it in two modular pieces. For me, it's just tough to sand, and get a good finish on the Stiletto when it's one piece. So the main BT would be finished with the tail and rudders installed. The intake with the wing attached would be finished separately and attached to the BT.

Nothing really particularly hard about building this model, but a few tricky parts do exist. Cutting the intake BT at the angle is a little tough, but with patience it works out.

So far the issues that I've run into are as follows, all fairly minor:

1. The laser cut balsa pieces for the wings are not the same size. Meaning the left wing doesn't match the right. So you have to trim the larger wing to match the smaller.

2. The template for cutting the intake is a little small so it doesn't wrap around the BT. However, it still gets the job done.

3. The fuselage marking guide that is supplied is way to small to wrap around the BT. You need to blow it up to 140%, I think that's what I did.

4. The supplied nose cone is the Quest Nike cone. It takes some work to get it to fit together to close the seam gaps.

5. The supplied decals only provide two star and bars when the supplied artwork shows four.

6. The biggest problem for me is the instructions show the launch lug glued right on on top of the wing. Why go through all the trouble of designing such a cool rocket, and screw it up by mounting the lug on top of the wing center section? I'm going to move that between the intake an the fuse so it's hidden.

I'll post some pictures shortly.
 
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First picture shows the intake and main wing. Wig has been attached along with small fillets around the center section.
StilettoWing.jpg


Second picture shows the fuse along with the tails and rudder. The fillets and first coat of primer on the tails and rudder have been sprayed.
StilletoFuse.jpg
 
Finished the Stiletto, great design SHX! On of my favorite rocket builds and I'm extremely happy with the finished product. Now I have to see it fly!

I painted the model with silver and black Rustoleum metallic. I added the decals, and clear coated the two pieces of the airframe. Glad I built it two pieces, it made the finishing much easier.

DSC00222.jpg


DSC00224.jpg


DSC00223.jpg
 
Fantastic job :clap:

I notice it is different from the original Shrox Stiletto. I may have to pick one up.
 
Just wanted to some up the issues I found with the kit. All are really minor and wouldn't prevent me from building another one. They could easily trip up a beginner, but for experienced builders it's no problem. I hear that Quest is addressing the issues in the new release. The finished product is really awesome, great design Shrox!

1. The laser cut balsa pieces for the wings are not the same size. Meaning the left wing doesn't match the right. So you have to trim the larger wing to match the smaller.

2. The template for cutting the intake is a little small so it doesn't wrap around the BT. However, it still gets the job done.

3. The fuselage marking guide that is supplied is way to small to wrap around the BT. You need to blow it up to 140%, I think that's what I did.

4. The supplied nose cone is the Quest Nike cone. It takes some work to get it to fit together to close the seam gaps.

5. The supplied decals only provide two star and bars when the supplied artwork shows four.

6. The two USAF decals that go on each side of the inlet are not supplied. I used two from an Estes kit.

7. The two red arrow decals that say "rocket blast" that go on each side are not printed correctly. One of the the words will be upside down if placed according to the artwork.

8. The centering rings although adequate are very thin and flimsy. I put some thin CA on both sides and that seemed to help.
 
Just wanted to some up the issues I found with the kit. All are really minor and wouldn't prevent me from building another one.
8. The centering rings although adequate are very thin and flimsy. I put some thin CA on both sides and that seemed to help.

I have to agree about the supplied centering rings on some Quest kits, they seem thin.

I found it interesting that on my recent MPC Martian Patrol build, the same style of thin rings were included. But, MPC included four rings in total, you laminated two together and ended up with a pair of very strong centering rings.

If I were to buy a new kit from the Quest website, I'd buy a set of additional rings to match the kit's body tube size and laminate them. The T35 rings are cheap, only $.20 each.
 
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beautiful finish! by the way, did you use any filler or just a layer of primer?
 
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6. The biggest problem for me is the instructions show the launch lug glued right on on top of the wing. Why go through all the trouble of designing such a cool rocket, and screw it up by mounting the lug on top of the wing center section? I'm going to move that between the intake an the fuse so it's hidden.

Did you change your mind about the launch lug, or just forget to put it in the hidden space inside the larger body tube?

I only ask because I have the exact same kit on the table in front of me (look through the webcam, turns the laptop see?) and I'm thinking of hiding the launch lug where you said you would.

Thanks and nice build, I hope mine turns out 1/5 as nice!

G.D.
 
beautiful finish! by the way, did you use any filler or just a layer of primer?

I do three coats of Polyurethane, then I brush on a coat of thinned spackle to fill any deep grain. About 99 percent of the spackle gets sanded off so weight is not an issue. I prime with Duplicolor High Fill until the grain is gone.
 
Did you change your mind about the launch lug, or just forget to put it in the hidden space inside the larger body tube?

I only ask because I have the exact same kit on the table in front of me (look through the webcam, turns the laptop see?) and I'm thinking of hiding the launch lug where you said you would.

Thanks and nice build, I hope mine turns out 1/5 as nice!

G.D.

The reason the lug is put on top of the wing is so the rod clears the nose cone. Plenty of other areas to put the lug, I just got lazy.
 
I've had a chance to get five flights on the Stiletto, two using a B6-4 and three using the C6-3. All flights have taken place in winds that were 5mph or less. The rocket weighs less than spec, and is built straight. However, to be honest none of the flights have been very good, more or less unstable. All the flights have produced a unpredictable spiral climb that tends to turn horizontal early on in the boost. Every flight seems to produce a slightly different flight profile, but all are bad. I added a 1/2 ounce of nose weight but it made no difference in the flight. I added another 1/2 ounce with no difference as well. A B6-4 is not enough motor, C6-3 barely gets the job done. I built a second Stiletto and left it with no primer or paint. It flies poorly as well exhibiting the same characteristics as the first one does.

The Stiletto is an awesome looking design, no doubt about it. The kit itself has issues that are fairly minor. However, the design itself definitely has issues that are more important. I think over all the rocket is just to big for 18mm motors, but it clearly has some other issues as well.
 
Tried another flight after some changes, same old result....bad. Sorry Quest, but this design has stability issues.
 
Nice job! I have to say, your photos are among the best!

Yah no kidding !! I really need to practice my pic taking and buy a nice SLR camera.

Thing is ,with shots like that,it`s pretty hard to hide mistakes ,so maybe I`ll leave my photog skills as they are ;)

Paul
 
Thats a great looking rocket. Shame about the flights though. Have you notified the manufacturer?
Cheers
fred
 
I spoke Quest, both Nettie and Bill, about my issues with the Stiletto. Let me say that both of them are super nice and very outgoing. Bill will look into the issues I've had and see what the problem might be. It's really great the support we get from these companies!

That being said, the Stiletto is one of the best looking rockets out there in my opinion.
 
I spoke Quest, both Nettie and Bill, about my issues with the Stiletto. Let me say that both of them are super nice and very outgoing. Bill will look into the issues I've had and see what the problem might be. It's really great the support we get from these companies!

That being said, the Stiletto is one of the best looking rockets out there in my opinion.

That is the mark of a quality operation :)
Cheers
fred
 
I have a Stiletto in work right now, and have opted to extend the rudder 1" farther out from the main tube. I just added a piece to the existing rudder, maintaining the overall length and angle of the leading edge. I know it isn't true to the original design, but I fly in a small field and there is very little 'room' for error. I'll fly it as soon as I can and find out if it helped or not.
 
What was the final verdict? Did you (or anyone else) get the SHX Stiletto to fly well?

Nope, and I built two of them. Every flight is slightly different, but they all have a corkscrew to them. I saw two more fly at a club launch and both did the same thing. Ive built quite a few of Shrox's "spaceplane" looking designs and they all seem to have this issue. I read something that Mike Dorffler wrote on the other forum that sort of says the same thing about some of Shrox's designs.

Great looking rocket, I wish it flew better.
 
It's been way too rainy for me to try mine yet. And now windy too. One of these days.....I hope.
 
well it's a nice looking model and you did a great job on it...just keep it as a display:wink:
 
After only 4 months of waiting for some weather I was finally able to test fly my Stiletto. I had it in-work when I read of the stability issues:

Every flight is slightly different, but they all have a corkscrew to them. I saw two more fly at a club launch and both did the same thing.

The quality of the build by Boosterdude was evident in the photos. His observations of other Stilettos flying similarly made me confident that it must be something inherent in the design. Based on the descriptions of the flights, and looking at the asymmetrical layout of the Stiletto, I made the following change to add stability. As posted before, I added 1" to the outboard end of the rudder in an attempt to offset the effect of the wing and elevator placement. The photos show the change. I opted not to finish and paint the rocket until I had seen it fly.

Yesterday I flew it three times, the first on a B6-4. Conditions were humid and quite calm, with a variable breeze of less than 5 mph. The launch rod was angled a few degrees into the wind. On the B6-4 it exhibited a slow climb, as expected, with what appreared to be a slight weathercocking. There was no spin or corkscrewing whatsoever. It was definitely underpowered and ejection occured well past apogee. I felt confident enough in the stability to move up to a C6-3. With the same launch conditions it boosted straighter, but again a slight weathcocking effect into the wind. Not major, the total horizontal distance from the pad was maybe 200 feet at apogee. Ejection was pretty well timed on the C6-3. Again, it showed no twist or turns under thrust or coast. The third launch was about 45 minutes later, and the breeze appeared to have stopped. I set the launch rod to vertical, and again used a C6-3. Boost was very straight, and at about 200 feet altitude it again rotated slightly into the direction the breeze had come from. Total horizontal distance from the pad was maybe 150 feet at ejection. It drifted to 75 feet on the other side of the pad, so there was still a breeze higher up.

Overall I was quite pleased with the results. No spin, no corkscrew, and all three flights exhibiting almost identical profiles, with the changes in motor and conditions noted. I would feel comfortable launching in a fairly small area and being able to count on the repeatability of the flights.

My Stiletto is an early production model; it had the mismatched wings, so I matched them to the smaller size. There was a slight gap between the rudder and the intake tube, and I filled that by adding a small piece of balsa to the mating surface rather than sand the root edge of the rudder. The 1" addition to the rudder was the only other change made. It doesn't look like much without paint, but I don't think the change in the overall lines are too objectionable. I'll certainly go ahead and paint it now, and hope it looks half as good as Boosterdude's. I may make further tweaks and tests, but it definitely flyable as-is. If anyone else is building one it would be interesting to compare notes.

Stiletto rudder mod.jpg

Stiletto on pad.jpg

Stiletto recovery.jpg
 
Good job John, I knew something could be done to make it fly right. I have another one that I was going to modify to make it work. Since you already did, I steal your mods!!! :)

Thanks for sharing!
 
Hi John. I'll be glad if the mod turns out to be useful to anyone. I will be eagerly waiting to hear how it works on yours. I have another little test I would like to make soon. I want to move the motor aft a bit with an engine block spacer, and either friction fit the motor or tape to the hook. I want to shift the balance rearward just a bit, and that seems like as good a way to do it as any. If I can fly that this weekend I'll let you know what happens.
 
I made a 4th test flight with my Stiletto yesterday. The only change from the prior three was to use a spacer ahead of the motor to move it back a little. I had to cut it from a spent case and the actual thickness was .27".

Wind conditions felt very close to what I had flown it in before; very low. We could hardly feel any, but could see the tree tops moving a little in the distance. I used a C6-3 again, friction fit. It boosted straight, with just a slight hint of weathercocking. I was pleased with the result, and plan on modifying the engine hook to match the new motor location. After that it's off to the paint hangar, where I will attempt to not ruin it with a heavy paint job. It gets reasonably high unpainted with the C6-3 and I hope I can keep it close to that. If I can get an actual flight photo then I'll post it.
 
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