Estes Mercury Redstone Body Tube Size??

[techrat]

Hey all.... For Super Bowl Weekend, I'm finally getting around to building the Estes Mercury Redstone, which has been hanging on my wall since July. I generally don't stick to scale models because they are daunting, but once you get the Escape Tower built, the rest is easy. But I'm curious about the body tube. At first I thought it was BT-70 because it's bigger than the BT-65 for the "Olympus", but no, it's smaller diameter than BT-70, but wider than BT-65.... So what is it, BT-68? Is it a tube that is specific to this one kit?

 

[DigBaddy]

ST-20

 

[samb]

@DigBaddy got it. The current Estes offering started life as a Centuri kit. 2 inch i.d. 2.04 inch o.d.

 

[rharshberger]

@DigBaddy got it. The current Estes offering started life as a Centuri kit. 2 inch i.d. 2.04 inch o.d.

Balsa Machining Service sells T204-34 a ST-204 34" long.

 

[RokitFlyr]

Why is it SOOOO hard for people to take the time to just look s@#$ up?

 

[ep29030]

Why is it SOOOO hard for people to take the time to just look s@#$ up?

Why would I look it up if someone will give me the answer at RF in a few minutes?

 

[RokitFlyr]

A lot of education along the way, not to mention a little fun. Such as the history of the kit that was from Centuri originally.

 

[samb]

@RokitFlyr It’s all good. Not everyone enjoys keeping a bunch of useless fun facts in fading organic memory to whip out at parties, bars, and online internet social media forums.

 

[RokitFlyr]

The question was about the tubes, So the answer must be useless information?
The point being, the info is readily available. Anything else?

 

[DigBaddy]

This thread may be what someone else finds doing research some time in the future instead of asking. No harm in helping that possibility.

 

[GlenP]

Often I search the forums for an answer to a question, and can never seem to find any related posts that answer my question.

Until, after I post a new thread to ask the question, then, and only then, will I find at the bottom a thread listed below where it says "Similar threads" do I see the answer to my question that I had been looking for.

I love irony!

My first Mercury Redstone kit did not have a plastic molded tower, you had to cut it from dowels.

 

[techrat]

FYI: I did do a search on TRF first for "Redstone" to try and find the answer. No dice. So I asked. I once heard there were were no stupid questions. How many times has someone posted on TRF asking "What's the best kit for my L1?" when the answers are already pinned to the HPR forum.

 

[spaceship<=>operator]

Semroc ST-20
Estes BT-67

 

[rharshberger]

Often I search the forums for an answer to a question, and can never seem to find any related posts that answer my question.

Until, after I post a new thread to ask the question, then, and only then, will I find at the bottom a thread listed below where it says "Similar threads" do I see the answer to my question that I had been looking for.

I love irony!

My first Mercury Redstone kit did not have a plastic molded tower, you had to cut it from dowels.

Generally if I want to find answers on TRF, I use Google...for some reason it can find crap that TRF can't (even old stuff I have posted).

 

[dpower]

Sometimes it's nice getting an answer directly from someone, rather than from an old thread. It can also spawn interesting discussions. No worries, ask away!

This kit was originally a Centuri kit, their tube sizes were all fractions of an inch, ST-10 was about 1.0" in diameter, ST-16 1.6" in diameter, ST-20 2.0" in diameter, and so forth. Most of those tubes were dropped when the Centuri line was dropped by the Damon corp in the mid 70's, but this particular one has stuck around, probably due to the mold for the plastic capsule and escape tower.

The original Estes Mercury Redstone was BT-60, and was a very challenging build, here's my build thread:

https://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=19188

 

[Blast it Tom!]

Yeah, I've been guilty of this myself, but when I bought this Estes Mercury-Redstone Kit as a BAR about 3 years ago, I had no idea that other manufacturers used other body tube sizes, nor the fact that it was an ex-Centuri kit, nor, indeed, the wild plethora of manufacturers that we are now graced with. So I can understand @techrat's confusion. Randy over at erockets has a really nice spreadheet that seems to be fairly exhaustive.