Dr. Zooch Shuttle Build

[MondoRoc]

Good thinking, thank you! The basswood (?) in those dowels is really nice to work with.

I hope I can get it to fly, but I won't be really surprised if it's a brick.

 

[D Ritchie]

Finally finished my Zooch shuttle this week. I'll admit when I first got it I was a little disappointed in how small it was, but as the build went I became more and more impressed. With all the work to build the glider, I kept thinking "No way this thing is going to fly, no way". Then I took it out in the yard, tossed it, and it flew merrily away! Cool!

Probably the hardest part was attaching the SRBs. I don't care what kind of glue you use, attaching pre-painted parts is always a bear! That and painting the ET erases your SRB placement lines, so I really had to eyeball it.

Now all I have to do is install the recovery system and she'll be ready to go.

First flight is scheduled for our next SOAR club launch on Nov 8....I guess then I'll see if I'm as good as I hope I am....

 

[Pantherjon]

So, should we be ducking when your shuttle takes flight?:lol:

Looking forward to seeing it!

 

[Dr.Zooch]

Good thinking, thank you! The basswood (?) in those dowels is really nice to work with.

I hope I can get it to fly, but I won't be really surprised if it's a brick.

And... I think I forgot the extra dowels in your latest order... didn't I?

 

[Dr.Zooch]

Finally finished my Zooch shuttle this week. I'll admit when I first got it I was a little disappointed in how small it was, but as the build went I became more and more impressed. With all the work to build the glider, I kept thinking "No way this thing is going to fly, no way". Then I took it out in the yard, tossed it, and it flew merrily away! Cool!

Probably the hardest part was attaching the SRBs. I don't care what kind of glue you use, attaching pre-painted parts is always a bear! That and painting the ET erases your SRB placement lines, so I really had to eyeball it.

Now all I have to do is install the recovery system and she'll be ready to go.

First flight is scheduled for our next SOAR club launch on Nov 8....I guess then I'll see if I'm as good as I hope I am....

My bet is your STS will fly just fine- the crowd will cheer as the orbiter glides back and you'll smirk and say "Oh yeah... I'm good."

 

[Dr.Zooch]

Just a small correction on one step of the ET's orbiter attach pad here. I'm using some of the same basic steps for the Lifting Body Shuttle kit and while test building the attach pad I saw that the instructions said to make the pad base of two retangular pieces of balsa stock each being 1 and 1/8 inches long and 1/8 inch wide. Although this largely works just fine (I say that mostly because I've just had another batch of instructions printed up- and don't wanna make any small corrections until the next batch), a better size for the pad base stock is 1 and 1/8 long and 1/4 inch wide.

No real changes need to be made on existing shuttles, but if you are building one and reading this thread before building it... use 1/4, it's just a tad easier.

 

[MondoRoc]

My ET finally got painted yesterday, and with luck I'll have all of the spraying done during our little "warm" period here. It'll be as warm as 60 degrees for only a few more days.

I remember now how much I hate paint/finish. It is never anywhere near as nice as I would like. Perfectionism is a horrible disfiguring disease.

 

[luke strawalker]

Ok here's a question for the good Dr... and anyone else with experience who wants to chime in...

Now that the Old Krylon is virtually disappeared from the store shelves, what would you recommend to do the color of the shuttle ET tank foam?? I know that Dr. Z had recommended Old Equipment Yellow, Pumpkin Orange, and Rusty Brown Primer. So far I'll I've been able to find anywhere is a lonely can of Old Equipment Yellow.

Any other mail-order/internet sources of old Krylon??

Suggested replacement materials??

Thanks! OL JR

 

[Dr.Zooch]

The Old Equipment Yellow is actually the key (in my book). Any other pumpkin orange and brown primer should work. The actual secret is in the method of spraying.

 

[D Ritchie]

I used Model Master Go Mango (2970) on my External Tank, and it looks just fine.

Of course I'm slighty colorblind, so it could be a bright neon orange for all I know....

 

[luke strawalker]

The Old Equipment Yellow is actually the key (in my book). Any other pumpkin orange and brown primer should work. The actual secret is in the method of spraying.

Thanks... wonder about compatability issues though... IIUC the old Krylon is actually a lacquer, and spraying it in a 'layered paintjob' with other brands/formulas of paint... I dunno... Need to tap someone's experience here...

Appreciate it! OL JR

 

[luke strawalker]

I used Model Master Go Mango (2970) on my External Tank, and it looks just fine.

Of course I'm slighty colorblind, so it could be a bright neon orange for all I know....

Thanks... I'll check that out and 'see' for myself

Ok small joke related to what you said... there's an old saying in agriculture...

"If you want to know how to farm, just ask someone who went broke farming"... LOL OL JR

 

[woodengeezer]

I just ordered this kit today can't wait to get it, build it and fly it.:beer:

 

[Dr.Zooch]

Foose4string gets the award for best Dr. Zooch Shuttle moment at Red Glare today...

He launched his fine looking Dr. Zooch Shuttle on a C6-3. It flew fine up and over behind the crowd and parking area and popped there. The booster caught the wind and came back just past the crowd. BUT... his normally straight as arrow flying shuttle began a wide circle and on the 270 of the first turn was almost hovering over the crowd, then it continued the turn and lined up- almost like someone was piloting it- and made a straight in approach DIRECTLY OVER THE THE DR. ZOOCH BOOTH!... and I'm talking over the center post of the EZ-Up! It passed gracefully over the booth, then nearly over my head and what seemed like an arm's length in front of me, and then headed directly for foose, landing gently almost at his feet! We were stunned- you could not have done that flight better with an R/C. It was the most amazing flight of the shuttle kit I've ever seen and I don't think anyone caught it on camera- it caught us all off-guard.

 

[foose4string]

It was definitely one of the best flights I've had with it. I needed to redeem myself after the C6-5 flight. I'm always a little nervous about flying this with a C6-5 anyway, but I wanted to try one of the new Quest motors in it, while also providing Dr. Zooch with some valuable flight testing. The up part of the flight was fine, but the delay was much too long. The booster ejected about 20 ft from the ground, and the chute opened with not a second to spare. The rudder came loose from the orbiter, but was easily fix withed CA.

I say be cautious flying this on a C6-5 of any kind....especially if there is any amount of wind. It wants to cock a little bit in the wind, robbing it of a little altitude, altitude which is needed for a -5 motor(which can work on calm days).

The next flight on the -3 was about as perfect as it gets. The rudder repair may have changed the angle of attack just enough to cause a welcomed change in the flight pattern. I wish I had my camera turned on. I already have so many in-flight pics of this, I don't bother anymore. But something was telling me to photograph this flight, but I like to enjoy the watching whole thing, unobstructed, which is hard to do with a camera in front of your face.