Estes SR 71

[rbeckey]

Saw the new SR 71 in a hobby shop Friday. Hopefully the rest of the new kits will be right behind it.

 

[rkt2k1]

Does anyone know if the nose cone from the Estes Night Wing (EST 2177) is the same cone as the original (or new) Estes SR-71?

Thanks!

 

[cls]

Does anyone know if the nose cone from the Estes Night Wing (EST 2177) is the same cone as the original (or new) Estes SR-71?

I just went in to the garage and checked ... YES the Night Wing cone is the same as the new SR-71!! it's a neat nose cone.

... and we have an Apogee SR-72 on the "build-it" pile too.

all I need now is one of those Orbital Engineering space-planes.

 

[rkt2k1]

Choices, choices!!

Build the Night Wing (a very cool kit) or clone the SR-71, one of my favorite planes! Maybe I need to try my hand at resin casting and duplicate the nose cone. Might be easier (less fun) to just pick up one or two of the new SR-71 kits.

Thanks for the confirmation!

 

[womblegs]

I was going to ask the same Q about the nose cone. I've still got my original SR71, but the nose cone drifted away on the 'chute and the rest came crashing down. I'll have to make a trip over to see Tony at Apollo!

 

[Rocketmaniac]

Originally posted by rkt2k1
Maybe I need to try my hand at resin casting and duplicate the nose cone

That sounds like fun....... There are a few things I'd like to try and duplicate......... But it's on a long list of things I want to do..... Maybe someday........

 

[powderburner]

I had not heard about any of these new Estes kits. Is this a completely new kit or is it a re-release of the old Estes SR-71?
Is there a web site anyone can point to where this thing is shown? Thanks ahead of time.

 

[Stymye]

powder
judging from the photos, it's a re release..It looks like the decal has changed to stick on from the pic I saw..but I can't say this for sure..

 

[vjp]

Originally posted by stymye
powder
judging from the photos, it's a re release..It looks like the decal has changed to stick on from the pic I saw..but I can't say this for sure..

Yech - stick-ons are so tacky. Well, for the SR-71 I guess it's
no big deal, but they even put stick-ons in the latest batch of
Saturn V's. Ghastly.

I'm glad the SR-71 is coming back out, though.... I built my last
one with a measly 18mm motor mount, silly me. That will soon
be rectified.

 

[cls]

what is the big deal about stickers? if you don't like 'em then get scans from JimZ's site and print your own water decals.

we like stickers fine, they are great for fumble-fingers of all ages. stickers are sturdier than decals.

you can put the stickers in water with just-a-drop of detergent, then they slide around until they dry.

 

[WiK]

Talking of Orbital Engineering, has anyone seen Damage... recently?

 

[vjp]

Originally posted by cls
what is the big deal about stickers? if you don't like 'em then get scans from JimZ's site and print your own water decals.

we like stickers fine, they are great for fumble-fingers of all ages. stickers are sturdier than decals.

you can put the stickers in water with just-a-drop of detergent, then they slide around until they dry.

I don't have a problem with their application, it's just that to me they look - well - cheesy. And ever tried to apply a stick-on over a corrugated surface, like the Mercury capsule? For sport rockets they're great, but they leave a lot to be desired where scale appearance is concerned.

 

[sandman]

Actually the last set of waterslide decals from Estes (silkscreened I think) for both the SR-71 and the Bullpup were kinda "cheesy for waterslides.

Very thick and Solvaset had absolutely NO effect on them!

If it's stickers vs. cheesy waterslides...I'll take stickers

The cheesy waterslides were the problem Estes was having. Finding a supplier of "good" waterslide decals in the quantities that they require.

And they have to ship 'em to China to be put into the kits.

sandman

 

[cls]

OK, I see the point re: stickers vs. decals.


by the way I finished the SR-71 kit a few days ago. it came out pretty darn well. I thought the toughest part would be getting the paper shrouds for the fuselage top & bottom aligned correctly but that turned out to be easy... the hard part was getting just the right curves in to the shrouds.

the stickers in the kit went on easily and look great from a few feet away - far enough to not notice the imperfections in the shrouds

the fins and the shrouds are really precision cut, within a millimeter or so. so don't sand the fins much, just enough to deburr.

 

[vjp]

Originally posted by cls
by the way I finished the SR-71 kit a few days ago. it came out pretty darn well. I thought the toughest part would be getting the paper shrouds for the fuselage top & bottom aligned correctly but that turned out to be easy... the hard part was getting just the right curves in to the shrouds.

the stickers in the kit went on easily and look great from a few feet away - far enough to not notice the imperfections in the shrouds

the fins and the shrouds are really precision cut, within a millimeter or so. so don't sand the fins much, just enough to deburr.

Did you build it stock, or change the motor mount so it would accept 24mm motors?

I need to get hold of one, now that they're making them again, and this time build it "right" - i.e., 24mm motor mount, fiberglass-epoxy reinforcement on the paper shrouds, and a nylon chute.

Mr. SR-71, I'd like to introduce you to Mr. F21-6. Hoo Rah!

 

[cls]

it's for the kids so I built it stock. it takes 15g of clay in the nose.

I don't think you really want to put an F21 in there. if you want to over power it save your dough, go with 18mm RMS and put a D13-4 in it.

draggy models like these always do better with a slower longer burning motor. you do not want max velocity at burnout, because the drag is too high and it won't coast as long as it would if you used a more modest power motor for 2 or 3 times the burn... I'm assuming you are going for altitude. if you are going for Mach 3 then yeah you do want a big kick. How about a K 1050 instead!??!

anyways the body tube is BT 50 - good luck getting a nylon chute in there. and good luck getting it out again at the right time!

 

[rbeckey]

Thrustaero's 12 inch chutes are fine in a BT 20 and 18inch chutes work perfectly in a BT 50. The material is thin and light and packs perfectly in small tubes.

 

[cls]

Estes put a purple ldpe 18" parachute in the SR-71 kit.

I will check out the Thrustaero nylon chutes. sounds great if the material really is soft and foldable.


the last nylon chutes I made were out of sail cloth - 3/4 oz spinnaker material. they work great, hold their shape, really strong - but man is the material stiff! that is what you want on a light air spinnaker. not exactly what you want for a small bore rocket parachute though.

we ought to start another thread (pun) on parachute material.

 

[womblegs]

I'm in the final stages of repairing my SR-71 from years ago.
All I need now is the transfers, can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

[sandman]

womblegs,


"Transfers"? Do you mean decals? If that's what you need and you don't mind the current ones Estes will be happer to give you a set.

Try "snail mail" first from the UK.

sandman

 

[Micromeister]

The SR-71 makes a great 3 motor cluster! 3 C6 Lift off is a flash, Recovers nicely on the stock estes 18" chute with 1/8" elastic 40" shock cord. If you duct the out board motors into the main body a center motor ignition failure isn't the certain crash of just boosters in the outborad pods I've been flying my current model on C6-5 center with two C6-7s in the outboards, Add about 32g nose weight to bring the CG back the the original location. Flights like a BAT! By far the Quickest 3 motor cluster in my fleet.

 

[womblegs]

Can anyone tell me how much nose cone weight the SR-71 (stock built) needs? Or where the CG should be?

Gareth