Estes Big Daddy “MAX Q” is almost ready to fly!

[JoeFilgas]

On the day Starship launched I present my Estes Big Daddy “MAX Q”. It is named after two things. First we all know what Max Q means in the world of rockets. Secondarily it represents the mischievous “Q” on Star Trek Next Generation played by actor John DeLancie, who I had the opportunity to meet on a small turbo prop puddle jumper a few years back. He was sitting directly across the isle from my seat, but before sitting down I said to him “hello I’m not sure if I should call you Mr. DeLancie or “Q”? He was amused! I used the “Federation” font and utilized the STNG insignia on the fins. Blue and copper paints are both metallic.

 

[JoeFilgas]

Max Q flew perfectly on the D12-3! At a larger field I’d like to kick the horsepower up a bit!

 

[cls]

Looks great!

to power up, I used to put a CTI E75 in mine. The shortest delay was about a second over the top, but oh well.

Don't forget, Big Daddy drag race on Father's Day, Sunday, June 18. Just because.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Now that I've seen your paint job, I'm going to paint non-stock colors.

 

[86mustang408w]

Max Q flew perfectly on the D12-3! At a larger field I’d like to kick the horsepower up a bit!

Wow I can't believe it landed that close! Very Cool. I'm building another 24mm Big Daddy. I was thinking 29mm, but I feel you would have to lengthen the BT a few inches more.

 

[bad_idea]

Wow I can't believe it landed that close! Very Cool. I'm building another 24mm Big Daddy. I was thinking 29mm, but I feel you would have to lengthen the BT a few inches more.

Depends how long the motor you're using is, whether or not you've moved the nose cone anchor forward and by how much, whether you're packing the chute around the motor tube or not, etc. Big Daddy body tube is 254mm long and nose cone is 229mm long. Should be able to fit an Aerotech 29/360 (H & baby I) or 38/720 (I & baby J) or maybe a 54/1706 (baby K) with some creativity. Sadly the Big Daddy is 3" OD unlike the 3" ID of the typical high power tube, so there's no way to fit a 1 grain 75mm K motor.

Building it to hold up to those bigger motors is another matter. But I've seen a successful L1 cert flight on a plywood-finned Big Daddy, and one of the members here has flown one on some stout J motors.

 

[SolarYellow]

Shorter body tubes hold up better to more power than longer ones.

 

[JoeFilgas]

Wow I can't believe it landed that close! Very Cool. I'm building another 24mm Big Daddy. I was thinking 29mm, but I feel you would have to lengthen the BT a few inches more.

Thanks so much! It sure flew great! I’m currently working on another Big Daddy project, a highly modified payload bay version! I’m going to add a boattail and embellish the fins a bit. The dowels inside the payload bay are temporary to be replaced by green and red translucent acrylic rod. I’m naming this one E.S. KABOOM!

 

[JoeFilgas]