Estes Sky Dart II - Interesting Little Rocket-Glider

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BSNW

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Hey all-

While I am working on my L3, I thought it would be fin to do an Estes build at the same time. I picked the Astron Sky Dart II. A rocket glider is a new thing for me and I thought I would give it a go. I also thought I would share the fun. It is an interesting kit and looks cool. I have never seen one at any of the launches I have been to (and I go to a lot of launches). So, here we go!

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I cannot figure out why the Forum tool is flipping my images. They are the correct orientation on my computer but when I put them in my post they get flipped. Sorry!

If anyone can flip them or knows how to do it once it has been put in the post, please let me know.
Andrew
 
This is interesting......

Seems like this little part is the top portion of the motor pod. The washers are for weight.

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Hey Neil!
I hope you are well these days. I also hope you have been able to get out and launch a little.
Andrew
 
This Doodad gets glued to the top of the motor mount tube/motor pod. I say that because it seems like this pod gets kicked out with its own parachute and the glider.....glides....I hope! (BTW.....seem slike the images are posting the way I want now).

That is all I got to last night....until next time!

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Used to have the foamie Estes Space Shuttle that had washers/rear eject motor pod similar to that. It worked pretty great, until I stepped on it in the middle of the night....:doh:. I was rough on equipment as a youngster......
 
I'll be following this - I'm curious as to how well it will glide.

Steve
 
So I was able to do a little work tonight.

I got to say I have built a lot of Estes kits and I have had almost all of them come with good balsa. This kit is no exception. With all the large pieces, I was nervous I would get a "potato chip" piece. All were good. This is the page on the instructions I worked on. BTW: I miss the old "written word" instructions they used to have. Take a look at an old Estes Kit and you will see what I mean. I built an Interceptor-E and it had those written word instructions. Anyway....it is all still good relaxing fun at the hobby table.

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I used a piece of wax paper to glue these items. I was fortunate to find a perfectly good Corning high temp-chemical proof glass reaction plate. If you have ever worked in a chem lab you know what I am talking about. WHAT A FIND! The lab next to mine was cleaning out and I pulled it out of the waste bin in the hall. It looked like it was never used! It is a about 2'x2' and is completely flat. It makes for a GREAT work surface....especially with this type of gluing (see post #1).....Anyway, I digress.

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Next came the outer portions of the "mono wing". I had to do a bit of sanding to get everything to fit. But it all turned out.

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Next I used my sanding block to get everything nice and flat/smooth on the seams. The instructions call for rounding the leading edges of the wing. I think I will do this tomorrow. I do not want to rush this kit!

Have a good evening all.
Andrew
 
The lines of the wing and tail remind me a little of the Johnny Quest Dragonfly...
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I added a cardstock boat tail to mine:
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The skydart is a brilliant little boost glider. Simple to make and easy to trim.

I recommend tossing it gently in your yard for a half hour from head height so you can set the glide. Then put a drop of superglue at the screw so you dont lose the setting.

For some reason mine took a leftwards set and does a 20 ft wide downwards spiral once the pod ejects. Looks real nice
 
Not sure if a mechanism could be made light enough for this particular sized rocket, but would be cool if you had like a small wind-up toy that could slowly rotate a geared ring with one small offset weight on it attached to the wing centered at the c.g. After ejection and during the glide, a stop would release the gear and the little weight could rotate slowly around the ring to shift the balance of the glider from nose to tail, left to right, and create a kind of stalling, diving, turning glide. Would need to time the total glide time and the number of revolutions, and get the c.g. shift calibrated to the diameter of the geared ring, etc... Maybe could be rubber band powered with the right amount of friction. Now, that would be falling with style! I think I may have read about that idea originally in an article from Model Rocket News or somewhere. Similar thing could be done with control surfaces and a rotating offset control wheel kind of thing, but the shifting cg would have a similar effect.
 
So I had some time this weekend to do some work! I rounded out the leading edges and put the tail section on. I am really enjoying this kit so far.

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Next came the side intake thingies. I will say you need a good-unused-SHARP razor for this as the yubes are thin and bend easily.

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SO GUESS WHAT!!.....I made a HUGE mistake! See photo below. What I did was I used the 6" BT-20 for motor mount and NOT the 12" section of BT-20. I found this out when I cut the intake side pods! UUGG!!! . I had to fix this....as the weighted end of the motor tube needs to be 6" more forward to make this stable during boost.

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THE FIX....

I took the longer section and removed 6". I then cut the yellow engine spacer in half to use it as couplers. I then cut the too short motor tube and spliced everything together.

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Now BACK to the side pod/intakes....
Once everything was cut and somewhat sanded, I saturated the insides with watery CA. I then sanded everything a bit more.

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Oh....
This is how I sanded the curved portions.

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Here are some photos of the attachment of the intakes....

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THEN after sanding and sealing with watery CA.
IMO I think it would have been better to put these on before the mono-wing. I could have done a better job of finishing the top portions and gotten everything clean....THEN attached the wing.

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Next came the fitting of the wing stop/thrust block/thingie that holds down the flap that makes it glide properly....thing. I later "sealed" with watery CA and sanded smooth...then test fit again...everything seems to be good to go.

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After I put the launch lugs on...I guess I am ready to start finishing. I know this is a glider so I have to keep this all light. In the meantime, I did put small wood glue fillets on the tail. Once this dries, I will move onto the filling,priming....sanding and finishing. Good times!
Andrew

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