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I thought I remember the pictures on Hawk's Hobby's website showing dihedral and elevators on the Orbiter/glider. This thread shows a model built with dihedral and elevators (so that it probably the way that the kit was designed)...

While I was hoping for more kits that appeal to us BARs and scale rocketeers, the new Space Shuttle and mini kits will be welcome additions. Estes needs to focus on education and kids kits in order to be financially viable, so we can't really fault them for that. While I'm still hoping for kits...

I'm glad that Aerotech/Quest is coming out with the B14 composite (and I will buy them), but I still wish we could have a B14-0 black powder booster motor. Mallory Langford (of Estes) did say in the chat that new motors are always in development. It will be interesting to see which ones get...

The ability to direct stage is the main reason why I'd like to see more higher-thrust black powder motors. It is great to see that Aerotech is going to offer a B14 single stage composite motor, but I seriously doubt that any composite would work reliable as a booster motor for direct staging...

Well, I couldn't find my original templates, but I did find this PDF that I used for making a clone and a 1.8X upscale. I verified that the template page prints out to the correct size (the tube marking guide is the correct length for the diameter of a BT-20).

I have my original templates from my 1970's TK-31 (and I have the original model too). That's the good news. The bad news is that it will be a challenge to find them. When and if I do find them, I will measure them and post the dimensions.

I was so deeply disappointed in Starship Troopers (the movie). Hopefully someone will make a more faithful (and less ridiculous) version some day. The novel had dystopian aspects, and there are ways to present those aspects in a movie without making the movie seem like it was promoting fascism...

You guys are ahead of me. Mine is buried at the bottom of my way-too-big build pile. I heard that they don't launch well or fly well. Might make an interesting model some day.

I second the motion. The Estes 29mm motors would even better if they had a little more average thrust/ peak thrust. This is especially true for booster motors-- you can use a composite to get higher thrust for a single-stage rocket, but the only way to get a reliable direct-staging...

You're missing my point about NASA requirements. My point is that NASA is right to have requirements for safety and reliability-- I wasn't claiming that NASA did not have requirements. There are plenty of fan boys out there who are claiming that NASA is "holding back" Space X. That just isn't...

Given that public money is being spent on lunar Starship (which is aiding the entire Starship development program), and given that NASA is contracting with SpaceX to carry humans, NASA absolutely should have criteria for safety and mission success. We also need more transparency. Like I said...

While the Space Shuttle Main Engines were designed for re-use, the SLS RS-25s are designed for only four long burns. This allows for hot fire testing and a couple of aborted launches. So the entire notion that NASA is "throwing away" reusable engines just isn't true. Of course, the first batches...

A partially valid point... but also partially an apple-to-oranges comparison. While SpaceX is working to lower the cost of the productions of the Raptors through mass production and simplified design, part of the reason for SpaceX's lower costs is that they work their employees like dogs. No...

It drives me nuts when Musk (the the Cult of Elon Musk Worshipers) harp on the fact that each SLS launch will dump four RS-25s in the ocean. Well, the first Starship launch (and probably more) will not be reusable. That's dumping *33* Vulcan engines in the ocean. It will take 9 SLS flights...

The diameter of the model (1.44") suggests that Estes created a new body tube (BT-57?) just for this kit. (Or at least I have never heard of a 1.44" dia body tube before.)

While I love builder's kits (and scratch building), sometimes a RTF model is a welcome change. I have so little time to build these days, and I have such a huge to-build pile, so a RTF is a way to get a new model flying quickly.

Please put me on the wait list if you do another run.

Congrats on your retirement! I retired from the USAF back in 2003 (how is it possible that it was that long ago?!?). I'll turn 60 in November, so then I will become really-and-truly retired from the military. Even though we don't need to do the fitness tests any more, it is important to...

I can't find the photos of the "real" Rubicon that I referenced when I built my Estes model, but here are a few things that I found out. The Rubicon that was actually launched had a compartment on the top of the orange cone that housed the parachute extraction equipment. It consisted of a...

I did have the pleasure of using Estes B14s, but I never flew any FSIs. I would love to see a new B14-0 or a D25(ish)-0, or even the C5-0. One can always get composite motors these days if they just want high thrust for a single-stage rocket. In order to get a higher thrust booster motor for...