Super Big Bertha... Awesome kit

[Jozef]

Pouring rain here in Central Illinois the past week, so abandoned plans to paint a HPR build and pulled Super Big Bertha from the build inventory. What a great kit. Love the laminated fin design.... just like the Mega Der Red Max. Would be great to see more PSII issues with this construction. Deviations from stock include mini rail buttons, small diameter kevlar harness, nylon chute and baffled coupler. All wood glue except epoxy for motor mount and coupler to airframe.... don't like the "grab" from wood glues. When I go to HPR launches I always bring a couple of Estes E/F fliers to settle my nerves. Nice work Estes..

 

[shreadvector]

 

[5x7]

Is it a normal estes thin wall bt-80 tube?

 

[Jozef]

Is it a normal estes thin wall bt-80 tube?

Yes. Not like the white tube in the old PSII kits which were a tad thicker.

 

[scott johnson]

Are those C/L stunt planes I see in the background?

 

[scott johnson]

Recently completed a SBB, the fins were murder to get rounded. I tried a razor plane, ended up with 150 grit on a palm sander! Well worth the effort, it is a beautiful sight going up on an F 15.

 

[Jozef]

Are those C/L stunt planes I see in the background?

Yup.. A classic Jet Buccaneer that is 20 years old, A rebuilt Sig ARF and two Norvell .049 powered Baby Clowns. In the shop are a few others in bones and a Fancherized Twister with a Double Star 40. Have flown Cl in years. Local club folded 4 years ago. Still fly RC. Yellow plane in background in a 89 inch MXS-R with a 60cc twin

 

[Jozef]

Are those C/L stunt planes I see in the background?

Yup.. A classic Jet Buccaneer that is 20 years old, A rebuilt Sig ARF and two Norvell .049 powered Baby Clowns. In the shop are a few others in bones and a Fancherized Twister with a Double Star 40. Have flown Cl in years. Local club folded 4 years ago. Still fly RC. Yellow plane in background in a 89 inch MXS-R with a 60cc twin

 

[Jozef]

Recently completed a SBB, the fins were murder to get rounded. I tried a razor plane, ended up with 150 grit on a palm sander! Well worth the effort, it is a beautiful sight going up on an F 15.

I may round the LE only...maybe not. The rocket is intended to be "draggy" with slow liftoffs and longer burns... Got a pic of your SBB?

 

[scott johnson]

[GALLERY=media, 3464
79]IMG_3025[1] by scott johnson posted Aug 21, 2018 at 9:20 AM[/GALLERY]

 

[scott johnson]

I flew C/L back in the 1970s with my dad, had a Ringmaster with a Fox .35 and tried to get back into it a few years ago with a Skyray 35 with a Thunder Tiger .40 running a home made venturi. The years haven't been kind, got way too dizzy!

 

[scott johnson]

I'll be launching Sunday morning if the weather is good, just had Hurricane Michael pass through SC and dump a ton of rain on us. I'll shoot some video and share. I made the maiden launch last Sunday at the ROSCO launch in Rembert, SC and totally forgot to film it!

 

[Jozef]

I'll be launching Sunday morning if the weather is good, just had Hurricane Michael pass through SC and dump a ton of rain on us. I'll shoot some video and share. I made the maiden launch last Sunday at the ROSCO launch in Rembert, SC and totally forgot to film it!

Nice fleet of Berthas. Looking forward to your launch report. BTW, the Buccaneer has a TT40. Had a home in the OBX for 8 years... familiar with the hurricane thing.

 

[scott johnson]

 

[Jozef]

Beautiful flight. What motor was in it?

 

[scott johnson]

F15-6 BP

 

[scott johnson]

I want to try it on a composite 29mm, but will have to wait until Ken from Performance Hobbies shows up for the ROSCO launch in November. Hazmat shipping is a wee bit expensive, there are no hobby shops around here that sell rocketry supplies worth a hoot!

 

[scott johnson]

BTW, I am using the stock shock cord and the trifold cord mount. 24" nylon chute from Apogee. I have a second SBB in the build pile that will get kevlar mounted to the baffle. I also use the JLCR and a nomex chute protector, but still managed to put a hole in it this am.

 

[Jozef]

I've singed a couple of chutes as well. Been using a couple of sheets.of Estes PSII wadding for insurance...then the Nomex. Get it at Hobby Lobby using the 40% off coupon. Also found the Nomex from Mac Performance Rocketry to be the most resistant to blow-by and burn through. I have had several flights with CTI 3 grain F motors in a modified Big Daddy prepped as described with no issues. Hey... I did round the LE on my SBB fins. Glad I did. It looks better...more finished.

 

[scott johnson]

Sadly, my SBB now lives about 40' up in a pine tree. Ordered some composite G40 motors, went like stink to around 1500'....set the chute release for 300' but the wind caught it and blew it across the field and into the tree. Been trying the past two days to get it down, nothing short of a chainsaw is gonna get it. Damn.

 

[shreadvector]

Sadly, my SBB now lives about 40' up in a pine tree. Ordered some composite G40 motors, went like stink to around 1500'....set the chute release for 300' but the wind caught it and blew it across the field and into the tree. Been trying the past two days to get it down, nothing short of a chainsaw is gonna get it. Damn.

Rocketus Eatemupus

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/the-scientific-name-of-the-rocket-eating-tree.52717/

 

[scott johnson]

Rocketus Eatemupus

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/the-scientific-name-of-the-rocket-eating-tree.52717/

Yep, the Southern White Pine....Aviationus Interruptus

 

[aerojacket]

Pouring rain here in Central Illinois the past week, so abandoned plans to paint a HPR build and pulled Super Big Bertha from the build inventory. What a great kit. Love the laminated fin design.... just like the Mega Der Red Max. Would be great to see more PSII issues with this construction. Deviations from stock include mini rail buttons, small diameter kevlar harness, nylon chute and baffled coupler. All wood glue except epoxy for motor mount and coupler to airframe.... don't like the "grab" from wood glues. When I go to HPR launches I always bring a couple of Estes E/F fliers to settle my nerves. Nice work Estes..View attachment 363612View attachment 363612

Count me in on wanting to see more such PS II offerings from Estes

 

[DankMemes]

I want to try it on a composite 29mm, but will have to wait until Ken from Performance Hobbies shows up for the ROSCO launch in November. Hazmat shipping is a wee bit expensive, there are no hobby shops around here that sell rocketry supplies worth a hoot!

Check out the Econojet/Economax line from Aerotech, Single use 29mm wihthout hazmat, up to an F67

 

[James Duffy]

...the fins were murder to get rounded. I tried a razor plane, ended up with 150 grit on a palm sander!

The fins are much, much easier to finish if all sanding and filling is completed before they are attached to the airframe.

To echo what others have said here, the Super Big Bertha kit is a great deal of fun to build. I assembled one to present to astronaut Scott Parazynski, who was our keynote speaker at the recent Houston NARCON.



James

 

[Jozef]

Beautiful work, James

 

[scott johnson]

SBB has been recovered! Here is it's flight before I put it in a tree, on an Aerotech F50 single use. Man, it goes like stink on a big composite motor....I launched it with a G40 when I lost it, probably went to 2000'

 

[scott johnson]

The fins are much, much easier to finish if all sanding and filling is completed before they are attached to the airframe.

To echo what others have said here, the Super Big Bertha kit is a great deal of fun to build. I assembled one to present to astronaut Scott Parazynski, who was our keynote speaker at the recent Houston NARCON.

View attachment 365547 View attachment 365548

James

Nice looking bird! Yes, all fin work must be completed prior to mounting. A "jitterbug" palm sander makes short work with rounding the LE, but ya gotta be careful of those fingertips! I papered mine, but only soaked the edges with CA. Ended up with some bubbles in the fin. #2 will get the full soak with some thin CA. They will probably end up tough as plywood!
I'm absolutely tickled I got #1 back. It lived in that dadblame tree for 4 days, was afraid the rain would move in and destroy it. I ended up bringing it down body first, then the chute, nomex and the JLCR. 50' of 1" pvc pipe in 5' sections with a coat hangar hook duct taped to the end. Snagged the shock cord and twisted until it broke free, then got lucky and snagged the chute. I brought it down to **just** out of my reach, was finally able to get it just low enough to snag the canopy with my free hand. It was all over then, no way that white pine was going to have it any longer!

 

[scott johnson]

Super BB on a G40:

 

[Nytrunner]

50' of 1" pvc pipe in 5' sections with a coat hangar hook duct taped to the end. Snagged the shock cord and twisted until it broke free, then got lucky and snagged the chute. I brought it down to **just** out of my reach, was finally able to get it just low enough to snag the canopy with my free hand.

How'd the pipe work out (or how did you prevent flexing)? Even a telescoping fiberglass pole had a ton of flex to it towards the end when I had to do a reach-recovery