Estes/New Way Little John Question

[DocSeuss]

Hey, I've got the New Way version of the Estes Little John and I don't know if I'm blind or what, but the pictures of the rocket make it look like the fins aren't flush from the base of the rocket.

How far up should I put the fins? Half inch? Quarter inch? Something else?

Sorry if this is a silly question.

https://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/est0819.htm

 

[Rob Campbell]

Hey, I've got the New Way version of the Estes Little John and I don't know if I'm blind or what, but the pictures of the rocket make it look like the fins aren't flush from the base of the rocket.

How far up should I put the fins? Half inch? Quarter inch? Something else?

Sorry if this is a silly question.

https://www.spacemodeling.org/jimz/est0819.htm

Not a silly question. It looks like the fins are forward of the aft end of the body tube. However, the instructions don't state how far forward they should be.

 

[SolarYellow]

According to Peter Alway's drawing, the correct scale distance for the TE of the fins to be up from the rear of the BT is 0.072 inches for BT-50.

(I didn't do all the research just to post this. I have an LJ scaling spreadsheet and just typed in 0.976.)

 

[Rob Campbell]

According to Peter Alway's drawing, the correct scale distance for the TE of the fins to be up from the rear of the BT is 0.072 inches for BT-50.

(I didn't do all the research just to post this. I have an LJ scaling spreadsheet and just typed in 0.976.)

5/64ths of an inch will be very close to that value. This was probably an oversight when the instructions were updated to the newer format.

 

[DocSeuss]

According to Peter Alway's drawing, the correct scale distance for the TE of the fins to be up from the rear of the BT is 0.072 inches for BT-50.

(I didn't do all the research just to post this. I have an LJ scaling spreadsheet and just typed in 0.976.)

5/64ths of an inch will be very close to that value. This was probably an oversight when the instructions were updated to the newer format.

Thank you both!

New Way's kit here is a bit odd. They included some extra stuff (like a chute swivel, which I've never used before since all I'd ever built back in the day was Estes kits) that isn't in the instructions, then included a copy of the original Estes instructions, so there's a bit of a curve, especially for someone just relearning how to do all this stuff for the first time in 20 years, haha.

 

[SolarYellow]

5/64ths of an inch will be very close to that value. This was probably an oversight when the instructions were updated to the newer format.

There are cheaper and more expensive options, but Fowler is at least a decent brand and this is a pretty good price for a tool that will help you build better models for the foreseeable future:

https://www.amazon.com/Fowler-54-101-150-2-Xtra-Value-Electronic-Resolution/dp/B0015S6GMM/?th=1

 

[neil_w]

A digital caliper is... well, if not exactly *essential* for rocket building, it sure does come in handy sometimes. I think I have a cheaper one than that and it has proven invaluable on several occasions.