About 2 months ago I got another sneek peak at giant leap rocketrys newest kit and addition to the almost ready to fly line of kits, I called Kent one Saturday afternoon asking if he could modify an escape velocity kit to a 54mm fincan and motor mount. Well a long story short I was told to wait and he had just the thing in mind for me that would be all I wanted and more. The Doppler shift was exactly what he promised yea I made a few modifications to suit my needs but this kit is gonna scream when I load it up with my pro54-6gxl L640 dual thrust.
When I called kent the main thing I wanted was the longest 54mm motor mount I could get hoping to eventually fly on a Loki L1400. The Doppler shift is built around a 2.5 airframe and is 64.5 long with an altimeter bay that is removable from the upper airframe. The booster airframe is 36 long with a 24 long 54mm motor mount and a hardpoint adapter although I chose not to use it in mine because of the longer motors I plan to use. I split my upper centering ring and epoxied the Kevlar shockcord to the side of the motor mount tube instead so that I can fly a pro54-6gxl or a 54/2800. The fincan is great to work with its an acme fincan thats been but down and drilled to lighten it by 15% then on top of that the astethics are great the new strakes or finders are a great addition to the kit they give this kit great lines and a look thats beyond three fins and a nosecone, plus the greatest part of all, they make finishing around the fins a breeze! Thats the one hang upthat ive had on putting an acme fincan inside of an airframe is the amount of time it takes to fill the wide slots that you have to make to insert the fincan. One other note that caught me off guard is that the acme fincan also doubles as the rear centering ring, just be sure to file down the middle of the fins so that you can completely close the airframe around it. The altimeter bay is also removable with a 1 switchband around it, the one modification that I made here was to trade out the removable rivets for 3 6-32 machine screws and t-nuts simply to make me feel better as I tend to get alittle excited with my ejection charges and tend to be closer to blowing it up than just blowing it apart.
A great addition to the way this kit is built is that the slimline retainer is included with it, I almost wish that I had swapped mine out with a kwik-loc just because the snaprings can be a pain at times. I also chose to swap the acme railguides that came with it out with standard rail buttons simply out of personal preferance . over all I love the kit and I definitely cant wait to fly my doppler shift my first flight will be on a k550 and my second flight will be on an L640 dual thrust, I bought a Doppler shift for two reasons I wanted a kit that I could abuse heavily over mach on 54mm motors or throw in a slimline adapter and fly on I211s all day long instead. Overall I love the Doppler shift and look forward to kloudburst when I can finally fly my first L motor
When I called kent the main thing I wanted was the longest 54mm motor mount I could get hoping to eventually fly on a Loki L1400. The Doppler shift is built around a 2.5 airframe and is 64.5 long with an altimeter bay that is removable from the upper airframe. The booster airframe is 36 long with a 24 long 54mm motor mount and a hardpoint adapter although I chose not to use it in mine because of the longer motors I plan to use. I split my upper centering ring and epoxied the Kevlar shockcord to the side of the motor mount tube instead so that I can fly a pro54-6gxl or a 54/2800. The fincan is great to work with its an acme fincan thats been but down and drilled to lighten it by 15% then on top of that the astethics are great the new strakes or finders are a great addition to the kit they give this kit great lines and a look thats beyond three fins and a nosecone, plus the greatest part of all, they make finishing around the fins a breeze! Thats the one hang upthat ive had on putting an acme fincan inside of an airframe is the amount of time it takes to fill the wide slots that you have to make to insert the fincan. One other note that caught me off guard is that the acme fincan also doubles as the rear centering ring, just be sure to file down the middle of the fins so that you can completely close the airframe around it. The altimeter bay is also removable with a 1 switchband around it, the one modification that I made here was to trade out the removable rivets for 3 6-32 machine screws and t-nuts simply to make me feel better as I tend to get alittle excited with my ejection charges and tend to be closer to blowing it up than just blowing it apart.
A great addition to the way this kit is built is that the slimline retainer is included with it, I almost wish that I had swapped mine out with a kwik-loc just because the snaprings can be a pain at times. I also chose to swap the acme railguides that came with it out with standard rail buttons simply out of personal preferance . over all I love the kit and I definitely cant wait to fly my doppler shift my first flight will be on a k550 and my second flight will be on an L640 dual thrust, I bought a Doppler shift for two reasons I wanted a kit that I could abuse heavily over mach on 54mm motors or throw in a slimline adapter and fly on I211s all day long instead. Overall I love the Doppler shift and look forward to kloudburst when I can finally fly my first L motor
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