Binder Design Stealth 54mm Build

Been lurking around here quite a while and never said anything so here we go.
So i took a break after my Civil Air Patrol days with rockets, got a job and have been doing that since.
Well come like October work brought me out near the Pawnee National Grasslands in Northern Colorado and i see some smoke trails going up. Good memories.
Went home pulled out the credit card and .....*mad wife*.

Got my Level 1 cert at NARAM 56 in Pueblo with my Madcow Phoenix on an H195T.
Some of you guys may have been there. My cameras SD card got corrupted so i lost the video and all my pictures.



Well now that the bug has bit hard, I have decided to build my Level 2 bird, a Binder Design Stealth 54mm. So here we go.


Everything that it came with. Ignore the toe
Note: Fins did not come shaped nor were there slots of the fins in the tubes.


Used belt sander to shape fins. Everyone pray this does not land on your head. Might tingle a bit.

More to come...

By no means am i am professional sander, so forgive me. Need to fine sand them all down next.

Made an order with Wildman to get some Rocketpoxy, Expanding foam, and my engine retainer.
Should be here on Thursday, then I will continue.

Wanting to try dual deployment, but have to wait till next pay check to buy some more stuff.

Quick question for someone.

When foaming the can up do you guys recommend drilling holes in the fin tabs? That way it will lock them all in place? I was thinking doing 1/4" holes staggered apart 1" apart or so. Or would this weaken them too much?

Aerow said:

Quick question for someone.

When foaming the can up do you guys recommend drilling holes in the fin tabs? That way it will lock them all in place? I was thinking doing 1/4" holes staggered apart 1" apart or so. Or would this weaken them too much?

Click to expand...

2 holes in the front and back of each tab would work fine.

Subscribed. I love the look of the stealth and would like to build it sometime later on. Looks like a great rocket.

No need for foaming the fin can. These will fly on a big K motor built with wood glue. Titebond II is my choice of glue to use on all wood and paper. By foaming, you are putting weight in the worst place for stability.

Its just a little added insurance to my shabby building skill. Plus I always seem to hit the only boulder in the entire field and pop a fin. I am not looking for a performance rocket, not looking to set any speed or altitude goal. Just having fun and maybe get my L2 out of it. I got some lead shot somewhere to add weight if need be.

After this I may start dabbling in other types of rockets i.e. min dia etc.

UPS should be here in the AM sometime, so hopefully I can get this going and get most of it done tomorrow. The just waiting for payday to buy and E-Bay and drogue chute. Alt and motor will have to wait till the check after that.

I can never understand why folks don't use the advice given by the manufacturer of the rocket they are building like Mike in this case from Binder Design.:confused2:

He designed, built and has flown it so don't' you think he's a good source for sound advice?

UPS just showed up, so starting the build finally.

I trust Mike's advice and respect him for all his knowledge but that does not mean I have to follow it word for word. I want to try new things and this is my experimentation rocket.

Will post back in a few hours with my progress

Aerow said:

UPS just showed up, so starting the build finally.

I trust Mike's advice and respect him for all his knowledge but that does not mean I have to follow it word for word. I want to try new things and this is my experimentation rocket.

Will post back in a few hours with my progress

Click to expand...

I agree with this. It's your rocket - build it however the heck you want (as long as it's safe to fly).

Safe to fly....alright new project. 10" diameter rocket. Launch it to around 1000' and have hundreds of army men parachuting from the sky....awesome. Maybe someday.

Back on track.

Rocketpoxy /1 pint edition


PML Foam/This is what Wildman carries on his site.


Motor Mount all glued up/ Tacked it with wood glue and speared on rocketpoxy fillet. Don't care for looks as nobody is going to see this besides me. Left other centering ring loose so that I can pour foam in later.


Taped up everything for fillets. Fins glued in with some Titebond 2, sanded down tubes first.


My first ever attempt at liquid epoxy fillets. Had a couple bubbles, and a little thin on the bottom right, but looks pretty good to me.

Now just waiting for it to dry and I will do the rest of them.

A word of advice on the foam: Practice with it a little before hand. I did; and I'm glad, as the first time I used it I made quite the mess.

Alright got most everything else done. Now after this there will be no updates for about 2 weeks. Gotta wait till next payday then i'll pick up an E-bay and alt. Then motor then hopefully a launch at Oktoberfest in Colorado in October.


Foamed up the fin can, went pretty well, had a few drips, and forgot to plug the hole behind the lft fin and it leaked out. Nothing i cant fix.. Did it 2oz at a time so it slowly filled up. Then added rear centering ring and epoxied it and the Aeropack retainer on with some JB weld.


Cut slots for forward fins and tacked them in place with CA, then added wood glue and some JB weld WoodStik epoxy clay to fill in the holes. Used this stuff on my Phoenix for Fillets, and I love it, just need to do some sanding afterwards.


Whole rocket put together. Once I get some more stuff In i will continue. I have the rail buttons, need to add them still. Just going to drill into the centering rings and epoxy them in. And yes that bike gets used...once or twice a year....

Hoping to launch it on a J145 or a J250. Still haven't decided. Both will take in to the 3,000-4,000 ft range. I will try it out on an H or an I first. Should be fun.

Decided to make some Fillets for the forward fins. Turned out pretty good. And did the same for the inside, with the fins sticking through I may I don't want to have my lines catch on the roots so I may coat them in some silicone to make them smooth.

Going to buy an I212 and adapt it down to 38mm for my test flight. If i have the money I may purchase everything I need for Dual Deployment and try it as well. Hopefully launch on the 6th with NCR here is Colorado. Hmm maybe i should message them first. lol.

Coming along quite nicely! I've always admired the looks of the Stealth. It's been on my (extensive) "to buy" list for a while.

Aerow said:

Decided to make some Fillets for the forward fins. Turned out pretty good. And did the same for the inside, with the fins sticking through I may I don't want to have my lines catch on the roots so I may coat them in some silicone to make them smooth.

Going to buy an I212 and adapt it down to 38mm for my test flight. If i have the money I may purchase everything I need for Dual Deployment and try it as well. Hopefully launch on the 6th with NCR here is Colorado. Hmm maybe i should message them first. lol.

Click to expand...

The nice thing about having a 54mm mount, you can always adapt down to a smaller motor for less expensive and lower altitude flights.:grin:
I have a home made 98MM to 54mm adapter plus Slimline adapters in 98 to 75mm, 54 to 38mm and 2 X 38 to 29mm. They really come in handy.

You could try some wide Duct or Aluminum tape over the forward fins to keep the lines from snagging. You can also remove any part of the fin that extends into fwd tube past your fin fillet as it isn't providing any added strength.

My Grandson and I built the 29mm Stealth with an Aero pack retainer. We have flown it several times and it work great.

Painted, Vinyl Decal in place, and Flown!!!! Level 2 Certification Earned.

Thanks to Joe Hinton and Jon Skuba for swapping me motors and certifying me.

J244 White, was going to use a skid but the club/Forest service doesn't allow them on the grasslands.

Motor Eject will a Jollylogic, 3154Ft and no damage.

Will Fly again at Oktoberfest on a K-Longburn with better video.



[video=youtube;M5XvjRgBsqM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5XvjRgBsqM&feature=youtu.be[/video]

Congrats! Great Flight!

Congrats! Thank you for flying Binder Design!

Congrats on the L2. Currently building a California Kid with my daughter ... Mike makes great kits!

Well Finally got to launch this again, only downside is....wait for it.....my dog chewed on the upper fins!!!!!! Wife forgot to close the closet in the bedroom and the dog got to it.

But anyways here you go, not my videos but he gave me permission to show them.

1st Stealth on a J140 White-First Dual Deploy to 4998 ft
[video=youtube_share;hSpKQsnB1b0]https://youtu.be/hSpKQsnB1b0[/video]


2nd Madcow Brack Brant II Fiberglass-Dual Deploy-Battery popped loose once struck ground-successful recovery and its a J150 Mellow, not a J140
[video=youtube;6a44tN62ES4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6a44tN62ES4[/video]

3rd LOC Vulcanite-Fathers Level 1 Cert Attempt H110 CATO
[video=youtube;YmOkNrAo8wQ]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmOkNrAo8wQ[/video]

All launch at the SCORE range in Pueblo, CO.

Questions for you as I am thinking about getting the Stealth,
1. Yous said that the Airframe was NOT preslotted. Is that correct?
2. Was it a relatively straight forward build?
3. what is the bigest motor you have flown on?

B787_300 said:

Questions for you as I am thinking about getting the Stealth,
1. Yous said that the Airframe was NOT preslotted. Is that correct?
2. Was it a relatively straight forward build?
3. what is the bigest motor you have flown on?

Click to expand...

Binder Design kits do not come pre-slotted.

DRAGON64 said:

Binder Design kits do not come pre-slotted.

Click to expand...

My Galaxy came pre-slotted. From the descriptions on the Binder Design web site most of the kits are pre-slotted.

asheriff said:

My Galaxy came pre-slotted. From the descriptions on the Binder Design web site most of the kits are pre-slotted.

Click to expand...

You could be right... I have the Binder Design Raptor, my 2nd purchase, and it was always my understanding they did not come pre-slotted... this may not be true for all the kits as I have stated.

DRAGON64 said:

You could be right... I have the Binder Design Raptor, my 2nd purchase, and it was always my understanding they did not come pre-slotted... this may not be true for all the kits as I have stated.

Click to expand...

Binder now pre-slots the vast majority of their kits. I'm sure there's some old stock still out there that's not slotted.

Not all of the kits come pre-slotted. Only the ones that I have designed or re-designed since I bought the company. None of the following legacy kits come pre-slotted as of yet: Stealth, Bat, Thug, and of course the already mentioned Raptor which has been discontinued. This list was much longer a few years ago but I've added new kits and discontinued old ones. The Bat is next up for the redesign, then the Stealth and Thug next year sometime.

All of the newer and redone kits feature our modular fin can construction with extra thrust ring and motor retention included and way better instructions. And the latest ones are CNC slotted.

So everybody is right, most are are slotted but some are not.

chuck5395 said:

Binder now pre-slots the vast majority of their kits. I'm sure there's some old stock still out there that's not slotted.

Click to expand...

Pretty much right on. You just delivered the first pre-slotted Bat kits to our Oregon launch dealer last weekend. We're working on converting the last few. It is actually easier to CNC slot them than it was to mark out all of the alignment lines on the old kits.

Binder Design said:

You just delivered the first pre-slotted Bat kits to our Oregon launch dealer last weekend.

Click to expand...

Yea, that California Kid was whispering my name the whole way over to the launch.