Polecat aerospace?

I was looking for some new kits and I came across Pole Cat aerospace and liked the prices of the kits... I was looking at the 5.5" NIKE SMOKE with the dual deploy option... My question I is are these kits of decent quality or good quality? I'd like to be able to fly a K in my next rocket...

Yes they are.

Alethins said:

I was looking for some new kits and I came across Pole Cat aerospace and liked the prices of the kits... I was looking at the 5.5" NIKE SMOKE with the dual deploy option... My question I is are these kits of decent quality or good quality? I'd like to be able to fly a K in my next rocket...

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They have cardboard tube that has been fiberglassed for you, and are built fairly well. I don't own any kits (of any brand) myself, but the ones I have handled were of fine quality.

A K should be no problem.

Alethins said:

I was looking for some new kits and I came across Pole Cat aerospace and liked the prices of the kits... I was looking at the 5.5" NIKE SMOKE with the dual deploy option... My question I is are these kits of decent quality or good quality? I'd like to be able to fly a K in my next rocket...

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They are awesome. I bought the 5.5 inch single deploy version. It looks great on AT J350 or AT J420. It has flown on numerous CTI motors. I added the dual deploy avbay extension. This is also a great rocket, but looks a little funky for purist Nike Smoke fans. That being said, it has flown to mach 1.04 and almost 8,000 ft on a CTI L935 IMax, fell back to earth on drogue only after a main mishap, and was barely scratched. Flew it two more times the same day. I recommend adding a 0.5 inch centering ring about 1/4 inch from very aft end to protect aft end on landings. I sandwiched the fins with two of the original centering rings. Built mine with 30 minute epoxy. Strongly recommend Polecat kits.

My Polecat 5.5 inch Nike Smoke on an AT J350 White Lightning at Mudroc. One of my successful flights. (Photo with permission from Ken Adams. https://gotrockets.com/galleries/ROCKETARCHIVE/2014/MUDROC/).

I have the 5.5" Nike Smoke as well as others. They are good quality kits with pre-cut fin slots that go together very well.

I flew the Nike Smoke on a Pro 38 reload where the thrust ring failed at about 200'. The motor passed through the rocket and deployed the chute before it flailed around the sky. The rocket was undamaged and recovered on the main.

Alright thanks guys! I'm not a NIKE purist so that shouldn't be a problem... I want to get that 10" Saturn V eventually if it's good... I like that a lot of those kits ate pretty nice price wise...

I have a 5.5" PA Goblin and am quite happy with the service and the kit.

You can call up and speak to the owner if that will help you decide.

Nice kits.
I've built their 4" Bull Pup, it was my first kit getting back into rockets.

JP

Alethins said:

Alright thanks guys! I'm not a NIKE purist so that shouldn't be a problem... I want to get that 10" Saturn V eventually if it's good... I like that a lot of those kits ate pretty nice price wise...

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I might have confused you about the Nike purist thing. Just to clarify, if you buy the Nike Smoke for dual deploy, it will look like the real thing. I bought mine for single deploy, then added an av bay extension which makes the Nike extended. Either one is fine, just depends on your preference. Good luck with your decision.

I've owned a Polecat 5.5" Nike Smoke Dual Deploy since 2007. My all time favorite rocket... It eats K1100T's for breakfast It will take any motor you can fit it in.
Can't beat a well designed cardboard and plywood rocket! The all-so-popular G12 kits of today are complete overkill for most applications.

On the pad. Decals from Mark at Stickershock.

I have a 10" Goblin that I used for my L3. I am satisfied with the quality of the kit.

I have the 7.5" V2, from back when A. Woerner owned Polecat (picture in my avatar). Great kit, quality components. The glass used on my body tube was kinda coarse, and required a bit of sanding/filling to get right. Quite lightweight for the size, but solid. Only tip - don't land in water! Even though I sealed the inside, water seeped in through the ebay hatch and saturated the cardboard where I could not seal it between the rings. After drying out it now looks like the one in the Smithsonian - all wrinkly. Still flies like a champ though.

How did I miss that Polecat Aerospace was producing a 5.5" Black Brant II? That really looks like a great value and a beautiful kit! I have had their Mercury Redstone on my list for a long time, but I just skipped right over it and ordered the BBII instead. I am looking forward to my first Polecat!

Cheers,
Michael

Cheers,
Michael

My avatar picture is a 5.5" Polecat ekomS ekiN (painted in reverse-ish) on a 75mm three grain blue sparky L motor. I flew that rocket until I literally drove it into the ground. It came in ballistic on my attempted L1. The rocket that had flown Ks and Ls died at the hands of an I motor.

They are great! I did tip to tip fiberglass on my fins, just because I had intended to fly in on an M at some point, but it never made it there. With the stock fins there is not much it won't handle.


Braden

iqsy59 said:

How did I miss that Polecat Aerospace was producing a 5.5" Black Brant II? That really looks like a great value and a beautiful kit! I have had their Mercury Redstone on my list for a long time, but I just skipped right over it and ordered the BBII instead. I am looking forward to my first Polecat!

Cheers,
Michael

Cheers,
Michael

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Gotta love scale rockets, especially the black brant - building the Polecat brant as well - high quality kit, great customer service. I did tip to tip fiberglass on the huge fins and will also use a 1 inch band of the tube in the middle of the Av bay to allow removal, switch, etc.. I also added another 1/4 inch centering ring on the aft end of the motor tube to beef it up for the motor mount. The body tube seems pretty strong with the layer of fiberglass. As some have mentioned, will require some filling and sanding. The Av Bay/Coupler fit is a little loose, might add a layer of fiberglass to the av bay to tighten it up a bit. Curious from others if they have added a layer of 3 oz glass to the Polecat body tube (both sections) to smooth it up some, and / or for additional strength or any recommendations there for K or L motors.

Michael - you have a rocksim file for your brant ?

Really glad to hear all the great things about Polecat. I'm seriously considering the 1/2 Scale 7.5" Patriot for my L3 cert.

Handeman said:

Really glad to hear all the great things about Polecat. I'm seriously considering the 1/2 Scale 7.5" Patriot for my L3 cert.

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Thinking about the 7.5 " Nike Smoke for my L3. Good luck with yours.

rockyrocket said:

Gotta love scale rockets, especially the black brant - building the Polecat brant as well - high quality kit, great customer service. I did tip to tip fiberglass on the huge fins and will also use a 1 inch band of the tube in the middle of the Av bay to allow removal, switch, etc.. I also added another 1/4 inch centering ring on the aft end of the motor tube to beef it up for the motor mount. The body tube seems pretty strong with the layer of fiberglass. As some have mentioned, will require some filling and sanding. The Av Bay/Coupler fit is a little loose, might add a layer of fiberglass to the av bay to tighten it up a bit. Curious from others if they have added a layer of 3 oz glass to the Polecat body tube (both sections) to smooth it up some, and / or for additional strength or any recommendations there for K or L motors.

Michael - you have a rocksim file for your brant ?

View attachment 184028

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No Rocksim file yet. The first to create one can share with the others!

Did you shape your fins at all? The BBII has such a cool fin profile. I want to mimic it without making those fins too delicate for landing. I will also do T-2-T on mine. I don't see any way around it.

I would also be curious to hear from others what techniques they used to smooth out the surface of their Polecat tubes. Another layer of FG with peel-ply is certainly an option, but the tubes seem plenty strong and I would rather not add more weight than I need to.

Cheers,
Michael

I did shape the fins - I don't have a belt sander and tried other "traditional" methods to shape the top of the fins - was taking forever as these fins are huge and very strong. I ended up using a circular sander bit that I attached to my drill with some round 80? grit paper, clamped the fin to my workmate, and had each fin sanded in about 10 mins - worked great for me and turned out good. For the top of the fin, went about 5/16" in from edge until I saw the 3rd layer or so of ply. I lightly shaped the bottom of the fin, but not much- I didn't think it would go that fast with my drill and the round/flat rubber sanding bit, but it was pretty fast. This also helped for glassing up to the edges on the top of the fins. I used one layer of 5.8 oz S glass from aircraft spruce covered with 3 oz of glass I had from giant leap with aeropoxy laminating epoxy. Covered them with Teflon coated peel ply. Even with this rounding, I have no concerns about the fins being delicate for landing since the leading edges were mainly shaped. Fin fillets and joints used aeropoxy 6209. I also put a layer of 6 oz, 1 inch wide glass for the fin/tube joint before the fillet.

I am going to use the aeropack flanged retainer, but without the screw inserts. since we lose some width with the aft center rings with the boat tail, not enough room for the inserts. Will drill the holes, then coat them with thin CA and just use the screws for the retainer. Going to work on AvBay next - mine seems a little lose, and contemplating the best way for a tighter fit - not sure if 3 oz glass will be too much and spend too much time sanding it back down ?? Not sure why some kits mention to glue 1/2 of the Av bay to the upper body tube? Polecat sent me a 1" band of the tube and another inner bulk head for the other end of the avbay - again, awesome service. Going to make the Avbay removable with rivets, similar to the removable madcow avbay design on my agm pike.

Also contemplating another 3 oz layer on tube, but as you mentioned, they do seem strong and like to hear from others. Good luck with your build. Really enjoying this one.

I have a 10" Polecat Saturn V that I'm going to build and fly one day.

Question: What happened to Polecat Aerospace?

thx for the link.