Sad story - forensics of one rocketeer's failed experience

Don't expect that title will grab many readers, but here it goes...

I happened upon a HeliCat kit at a local Michael's store. The box was dinged up a bit but was marked down to $5. I couldn't resist so I picked it up. When I got home I unpacked the box. The launch pad was not assembled and in the original bags. The launch controller was bagged new as well. I put the HeliCat parts aside without much of a glance and put the pad and controller into circulation.

A couple weeks later I came back to the rocket, thinking I'd put it together quickly for my kids. I also wanted to check out the spinning nosecone recovery. I noticed that the kit stickers had been applied to the BTs, but it didn't really register as a possible warning of what was to come. When I started to build the rocket, I realized that this kit had not been dinged up at the store but rather purchased and returned. The coupler was glued in place to one BT. The other BT had glue smeared inside it but was not affixed to the coupler. Further examination found that the fin can had been assembled, but then failed. Finally, one of the eyehole pivots that takes the post of the rotor blade on the nosecone was broken off.

Near as I can figure, someone bought this kit and used the wrong type of glue to assemble it. There is dried glue on every mating part, but most are not joined to their partner. If I had to guess, it would seem to be Testor's glue... maybe the blue tube? I see some poor kid getting frustrated with his brand new rocket when the day after building it the rocket fell apart. It makes me a little sad to see that some new rocketeer had such a bad experience that they chose to return their failed model.

It would have at least been something to see that it had been flown, but the motor retainer was clean and the shock cord and parachute were still bagged. The poor soul didn't even get one flight out of it.

I'm still pleased with the purchase - I have a perfectly suitable pad and controller and a couple of scrap parts that could be used down the road. It really is a shame that the previous owner didn't get some enjoyment out of it.

I got a Rascal starter set years ago that was a lot like that. They mounted the motor mount in the body tube after losing the motor hook. The two centering rings were glued a 1/2" apart and a new motor hook had been fashioned out of a piece of wire no more substantial than a twist-tie. The whole structure could be wiggled back and forth because the model glue they used was for plastics. The fins looked like they'd been cut out with a chisel. The pad was in good shape, but the launcher was wrecked and missing pieces. Pretty good chance that the builder never bothered with the hobby again.

Still, not bad for $5

The good thing is that if you can get the nose cone fixed, the ST-13 BT from Semroc (they are still in business last time I checked and ordered some stuff a month ago - still fast service as always) is the body tube you need. Build a custom rocket (or mimic the Helicat with a traditional material fincan assembly) and go flying! I rebuilt my son's Cosmic Cobra (has the same nose cone and a 'reversed' fin can from the Helicat) doing this and it flew a few times before I decided it needed to be retired.

FC