Old Fireball XL5 HPR

alfavulcan · Nov 11, 2018

Thought I would post this. Old rockets never die, they have to die young! My son and I built this 20 some-odd years ago when he was around 11 or 12, he’s 32 now. It is built around a 4” body tube with a 38mm motor tube, and is 38” long overall and weight 5 lbs loaded. Last flight was with an aerotech H242 and recovered with a 5ft military surplus chute. The ‘wings’ and central fin are thin ply over hardwood framing. The outer pontoons are thin central plywood with balsa on either side then shaped. Nose cone started as a propeller spinner for a giant scale rc plane bonded to a short piece of 4” tubing. 2Flies pretty well after adding more nose weight. First flight years ago with a big Rocketflite H 220 silver streak was pretty wild, big heavy black powder motor, not enough nose weight. Last flown about 6 months ago and apart from a bit barrel roll flew quite well. Note old school 1/2” launch lug on bottom. Some build pics, but 35mm not digital

prfesser · Nov 11, 2018

Boy does THAT bring back memories! Beautiful!

Best -- Terry

alfavulcan · Nov 11, 2018

Thanks! Was my favorite show as a kid. Didn’t have a lot of information when we built it, mostly a lot of freeze framing a black and white VHS tape! Got the color wrong at first and repainted later when we found color pictures. Launch earlier this year

Space Ranger · Nov 11, 2018

Very nice, great job! I would like to try to do a model of it also in the future, also in 4" diameter, but getting the nose right would be the trick. Question: what is the tab attached to the rear of just one of the 'pontoons' ?

alfavulcan · Nov 11, 2018

alfavulcan said:
Thought I would post this. Old rockets never die, they have to die young! My son and I built this 20 some-odd years ago when he was around 11 or 12, he’s 32 now. It is built around a 4” body tube with a 38mm motor tube, and is 38” long overall and weight 5 lbs loaded. Last flight was with an aerotech H242 and recovered with a 5ft military surplus chute. The ‘wings’ and central fin are thin ply over hardwood framing. The outer pontoons are thin central plywood with balsa on either side then shaped. Nose cone started as a propeller spinner for a giant scale rc plane bonded to a short piece of 4” tubing. 2Flies pretty well after adding more nose weight. First flight years ago with a big Rocketflite H 220 silver streak was pretty wild, big heavy black powder motor, not enough nose weight. Last flown about 6 months ago and apart from a bit barrel roll flew quite well. Note old school 1/2” launch lug on bottom. Some build pics, but 35mm not digitalView attachment 366547 View attachment 366548 View attachment 366549 View attachment 366550

thanks! was my favorite show when i was a kid.

Space Ranger said:
Very nice, great job! I would like to try to do a model of it also in the future, also in 4" diameter, but getting the nose right would be the trick. Question: what is the tab attached to the rear of just one of the 'pontoons' ?

i was afraid someone was going to ask that! Turns out one of the pontoons is ever so slightly cocked so the tab is an aerodynamic crutch. I am debating cutting this one in half at the begining of the vertical fin. The actual version tapers towards the front at that point, I’m thinking transitioning from 4” to 3” and doing a proper repair of the wonky pontoon

vcp · Nov 11, 2018

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3200631

alfavulcan · Nov 11, 2018

vcp said:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3200631

Dang! Why build one anymore when you just print it out!

Sooner Boomer · Nov 12, 2018

alfavulcan said:
was my favorite show when i was a kid.

Yeah, me too. That and Supercar. I wonder if either is on video? I've got the "UFO" series.

alfavulcan · Nov 12, 2018

sooner.boomer said:
Yeah, me too. That and Supercar. I wonder if either is on video? I've got the "UFO" series.

Fireball xl5 complete series is available on dvd

BABAR · Nov 12, 2018

Very cool! Thanks for showing this one.

vcp · Nov 12, 2018

I was watching some SuperCar and XL5 just the other day, where? ... Roku search... both are on Amazon Prime.

alfavulcan · Nov 12, 2018

And oxygen pills and kicking your legs in space like you are swimming made sense when you’re a kid in the early 60’s

Faroutspacenut · Nov 13, 2018

So great! Really well done. I've been lucky to see several of the original Gerry Anderson models up close in in person (perk of having helped make the current Thunderbirds reboot).

alfavulcan · Nov 13, 2018

After thinking about rebuilding this XL5, instead I think I will go bigger, 6” - 7”diameter, 50-65”inches long and around 10-15 lbs. will use. 54mm mount and use a J or K. Hope to have ready for Naram in California, if not, LDRS for sure. Plan on more detail and 1 or 2 onboard cameras. Who says retirement has to be dull

prfesser · Nov 14, 2018

Your model looks much like the XL5 toy I had as a kid.
For anyone wanting to make their own XL5, here ya go.

Best -- Terry

vcp · Nov 25, 2018

I also just noticed that XL5 is on a free streaming service called tubi. Oh, they have Supercar there too.

Old Fireball XL5 HPR

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