North Coast Rocketry Lance Delta

I decided that the cold winter in Michigan this year is going to make for some indoor activities...mainly, rocket building.

I purchased the NCR Lance Delta from Apogee and I believe I got the last one in captivity. There are not many of these around.

I want to incorporate a 29mm Aeropack retainer and 24mm adapter on this one so I can start with my 24mm Aerotech RMS and move up to a 29mm later.

The kit came fast and was well packed. Very nice quality and I like the keyed motor mount assembly. I wish it had waterslide decals but the peel and stick are of good quality.

I am working on an Estes QCC now so the build progress on this one will be delayed a bit. I will post more as I go along.

PIX:

Sweet!

Nice! I have one of those I finished a few weeks ago. I got it from Apogee as well.

There is one thing about the kit I was a little disappointed in. The slots in the body tube were wider than the fins by quite a bit. Also, my kit was also missing the black rectangles you're supposed to put on the body tube by the lower fins. If you look at the shots of the rocket on the box and the one Apogee built, they have them, but my kit and it looks like your kit is missing them as well.

Other than that, it's pretty nice.

skyway2k said:

Nice! I have one of those I finished a few weeks ago. I got it from Apogee as well.

There is one thing about the kit I was a little disappointed in. The slots in the body tube were wider than the fins by quite a bit. Also, my kit was also missing the black rectangles you're supposed to put on the body tube by the lower fins. If you look at the shots of the rocket on the box and the one Apogee built, they have them, but my kit and it looks like your kit is missing them as well.

Other than that, it's pretty nice.

Click to expand...

Yeah nice kit I can't wait to start building mine; but I have to agree based on my experience all the parts fit very loose. But I figured that its more room for epoxy. Anyways I think it is a very nice addtion to my fleet an am sure it will be a nice flyer...time will tell.


Cheers,
Mike

Be carefull with the lower tube section; the area on the aft end near the fin slots crushes and creases easily, dont ask me how I know that:sigh: the body tubes could be a little thicker in my opinion. Although I'm thinking the epoxy will the strengthen this area.

Cheers,
Mike

Nice to see this being built ,as it is definately on my "to buy" list !

I look forward to your build thread !

Take care

Paul T

Thx all!!

I am working on an enlarged fin jig and I think I will wait until I get it done before I start this Bad Boy.

I will start on things like the motor mount when I get the QCC Explorer further along.

Stay tuned.....dam*, it's cold here today!

Cheers!

Well there you go buddy ,thanks to you ,I just spent more money :y:

I got the last one from Apogee !

Thanks for reminding me to get this awesome ,classic kit !!

Damn....bet it`s colder where I am


Take care

Paul T

sodmeister said:

Well there you go buddy ,thanks to you ,I just spent more money :y:

I got the last one from Apogee !

Thanks for reminding me to get this awesome ,classic kit !!

Damn....bet it`s colder where I am


Take care

Paul T

Click to expand...

Paul, this is a disease with no cure in sight!! (must have more rockets...must have..).

Well, I bet yours will look like a million bucks (have followed some of your builds).

Oh well, can't take it with you, no luggage racks on hearses. :sigh:

It probably is colder where you are.......but I'm still cold.

Best, Mark

marwady said:

Paul, this is a disease with no cure in sight!! (must have more rockets...must have..).

Well, I bet yours will look like a million bucks (have followed some of your builds).

Oh well, can't take it with you, no luggage racks on hearses. :sigh:

It probably is colder where you are.......but I'm still cold.

Best, Mark

Click to expand...

Well my friend ,at this rate ,I`ll need to live to 131 years old ,18 days ,16 hours and 8 minutes to finish what I have planned !


SHEESH......

Paul T

Here's my Lance Delta next to my current project. I used the motor hook out of my G-Force kit. I couldn't imagine myself ever using anything more than a 29/40-120 case in this kit. I was going to fly it last weekend but I realized I didn't have any reloads with the correct delay.

skyway2k said:

Here's my Lance Delta next to my current project. I used the motor hook out of my G-Force kit. I couldn't imagine myself ever using anything more than a 29/40-120 case in this kit. I was going to fly it last weekend but I realized I didn't have any reloads with the correct delay.

View attachment 114969

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Very Nice!!!

I am itching to build mine. I need to play catch up before I can get started.

Well, I finally had some time to dig into this kit.

Almost immediately I noticed that the motor mount tube supplied is way too tight for a 29mm motor. You could really force one in there or sand away some of the inside but I felt like it would compromise the tube strength too much.

Fortunately, the good folks at Apogee got hold of Matt at North Coast and he is sending me a hand checked replacement.

While waiting for that, I decided to make some mods to this kit (does anyone ever do this...???) :wink:

I had an exhaust baffle in my parts bin so I decided to incorporate it. It will be located somwhere forward of the motor mount (haven't decided where yet) so any suggestions would be appreciated.

It will also be the shock cord anchor so I drilled holes and installed the steel cable using the provided crimp. I added marine grade heat shrink to further secure and protect the joint.

I then built it up using 30 min. epoxy and my trusty heat gun to thin out the glue for better penetration.

I then epoxied the payload bulkhead into the coupler and used instant CA to seal and polish the area that goes into the main BT.

This is where it sits so far. Next steps for me are to sand and seal the fins.

I have a guillotine fin jig on the way from Apogee so I will wait to start fin installation untill I get that. Hopefully the new MM tube will get here soon.

Anyway, some pix:

I got to a few more steps today.

After strengthening the upper BT with CA, I drilled and tapped the nosecone with 6-32 threads so I could secure it to the payload BT
I decided to use some stainless button head hex screws. I used an oversize drill bit to countersink and add relief:









I installed the supplied screw eye and added epoxy on both sides for reinforcement



I then epoxied the completed coupler into the upper BT/Payload section







Now all I need is the replacement motor tube so I can begin the motor mount assenbly.

Back to sanding fins...:eyeroll:

Looking good, I've always liked this design. If anyone is still looking to snap one of these up, the man himself just threw a couple of them up for grabs on ebay.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/North-Coas...18?pt=Model_Kit_US&hash=item4ac109af66&_uhb=1

Must resist..........................................:sigh:

Adrian

The only thing I might have done is glue a short piece of dowel under the cable loop. Otherwise looking good!!!
J

gdjsky01 said:

The only thing I might have done is glue a short piece of dowel under the cable loop. Otherwise looking good!!!
J

Click to expand...

Wow, that's a great idea.

I may try to fiddle and get one in there......

got my kit the other week as well.... too bad we didnt get those black stickers...

im thinking about painting the black rectangle on it

Can't figure out where the small motor tube snuck in (I thought I threw all of those I had from the Estes days away, but one must have snuck in) - sorry! A new tube is enroute.

As for making mods - I think everyone does it. That's the beauty of building a kit - it is what it's all about.

Have fun!

Matt

PM me with your address and I will send you the bigger sheet with the black squares. It turns out I had two different versions, and didn't notice the difference between the two.

Matt

THX Matt.

Great service!!!

gdjsky01 said:

The only thing I might have done is glue a short piece of dowel under the cable loop. Otherwise looking good!!!
J

Click to expand...

Such a great idea...I was able to use curved hemostats, gap filling CA, and epoxy in a syringe to get a 1/8 oak dowel in place.

THX gdjsky01!!!

marwady said:

Such a great idea...I was able to use curved hemostats, gap filling CA, and epoxy in a syringe to get a 1/8 oak dowel in place.

THX gdjsky01!!!

Click to expand...

Hopefully it makes it a little harder to pull through

Jeff

Well, Matt from North Coast came through like a trooper!!

He sent me a motor tube that fits and the cool black rectangle decal sheet.

Now I can proceed with the build if I can find some time.

Great customer service from Matt......THX!!!!!!

Great thread and yahoo as I just ordered my NC Archer yesterday to join my much bigger original Estes North Coast SA Archer built many years ago, stripped, repainted and newly detailed with vinyl from Mark at Stickershock last Summer.
I love the lance Beta also but did my old Estes NCR Beta in a nice light blue...
Enjoying the build thread here as Spring Fever is beginning to take hold, must...launch...must...launch....

Finally got some time for a few more steps.

I was able to build the motor mount as per the instructions but I did leave the rear CR off so I could get to the fin joints.

I am also going to use an Estes 29mm retainer.

I used CA to tack parts in place and epoxy to finish.





As per a TRF member, I cut triangular notches in the end of the motor tube to "grab" the JB Weld when I install the retainer.








PS, another TRF member confirmed that the Aeropack 29/24mm adapter fits into the Estes 29mm retainer so I purchased one. Here are some pix as I want to use my 24mm Aerotech RMS to start with on this rocket.





An enjoyable build so far.

Again, a big THX to all the TRF members for their wisdom and knowledge!!

I can hardly wait to get mine !

The parts look to be very nice quality.

Very good build ,keep it up !!


Paul T

The build queue/pile/wish list keeps getting bigger.... So many great kits, so little time and money... I gotta have one of these...

Motor mount epoxied into place: