Estes Yankee Upscale Build

[Back_at_it]

As many have seen me mention over the years. Estes had a number of designs back in the day that I really have a fondness for. I'm not sure if it's really the design or just the nostalgia but I seem to be interested in building these same rockets again. My only complaint is they were too darn small so what am I to do. Well, Upscale it

About a year ago I found a nose cone for sale on Ebay that was 3D printed and sized for the LOC 3.1 inch tube. On a recent visit to LOC, I decided to pick up some tubing and other misc. parts to get a few on these upscales completed over the winter so lets get started.

Parts List.
- LOC body tubes. Using one full length section at 34 inches. Also cut a short length to 3.25 inches to bring the total body tube length to 37.25.
- 3D printed Yankee nose cone from eBay.
- LOC 3.1 inch coupler cut to 3 inches in length.
- LOC 1/8" thick centering rings.
- BMS 29mm motor tube cut to 20.50 inches.
- 1/4" plywood fins custom cut by Dragon Rocketry.
- Estes 29mm motor retainer.
- Not shown but included is a length of 700# Kevlar and approx. 12 ft. of shock cord.



First step in assembly is the motor mount. Here I have prepped the motor tube by removing the outer layer to allow the Epoxy to penetrate the fibers where the rings and fins will attach. Also note that the location of the mid ring has been marked. This mid ring will sit at the top of the fin tabs.



Before Assembling the motor mount I wanted to add a little strength to the shock cord mount point on the upper ring. To do this I'm using a scrap piece of plywood that has been sanded to fit the contour of the motor tube. The second hole in the ring is unnecessary and will be blocked with a misc. piece of Balsa and some epoxy.



Next was attaching the rings to the motor tube. The upper ring was epoxied in place approx. .125" down the tube. The mid ring was installed and aligned with the previous mark and allowed to cure.



That was as far as I got with this build but here is one more pic to show the scale of this build.

 

[darrenf]

Love this. The Yankee is also a rocket I have a soft spot for. Looking forward to seeing this come together.

 

[Papa Elf]

Back when I was a wee little boy, my Dad built an upscale Yankee with from my perspective a 3" mailing tube... but it was probability closer to 2 pr 2.5 because it flew on D12-3's. I do have a rocksim file I designed of an upscale I want to do one of these days in 4" dia.

 

[Back_at_it]

Little bit more work tonight. This build will use rail buttons due to the fact that I can see this flying on G and possibly baby H motors. I wanted a solid place to attached the buttons so I decided to add a bit of reinforcement to the inside of the lower coupler.

Not getting carried away here. I cut a couple of scraps of basswood to attach to the inside of the coupler. I started by sanding the inside of the coupler for better penetration.

Next the pieces of basswood were stacked with epoxy between them. The epoxy was then warmed to allow it to soak in.




More fun tomorrow.

 

[Back_at_it]

Made some good progress over the weekend.

Next step was getting the two tubes connected. First step was installing the coupler into the main tube. Here we see the coupler marked for orientation. I've also marked the midpoint for depth and a second vertical line that indicated where the backer piece is inside for the rail button. I then coated the inside of the tube and a most f the outside of the coupler in epoxy then slid them together. Heat was then applied to allow the epoxy to thin and soak into the materials.



After letting the epoxy setup, I attached the lower tube using more epoxy. The tubes were then taped to keep the edges down and tubes aligned.



With the tubes curing, I turned my attention to the fins. They were very smooth so they only received one coating of DAP brand wood filler. These were left to dry then sanded smooth with 400 grit on an orbital sander.



Time to start attaching fins. First thing I needed to do was cut the coupler where the slots run. This was easy enough with a sharp hobby blade. The fins were fitted and numbered for their respective slots. The outer layer of the tube was removed to allow the epoxy to soak into the materials.



Attaching the fin was done in two steps. I first warmed the body tube and the root edge of the fin. Epoxy was applied and brushed into the surfaces. I kept the epoxy warm for a couple of minutes to allow it to soak in. You can see how the color of the tube changes as the epoxy soaked in.




Next it was time for the first fin. A generous amount of epoxy was applied to the root edge and the side of the fin.



The fin was then inserted and excess epoxy wiped away. Once inserted, I applied more heat to allow the epoxy to thin and flow.

With the fin in this position the epoxy flowed down and created a perfect fillet on the motor tube. This was left to cure over night.

 

[Back_at_it]

Managed to get the remaining two fins attached yesterday and allowed them to cure over night.



This morning I began the first of the internal fillets.

 

[novahobbies]

Oh wow, this is awesome and a little hilarious - I love it.
The very first model rocket I built when I was a wee lad was a Yankee. I built it fast and messy, and it looked like CRAP, but it sparked my imagination and ignited a long term obsession with modeling in general, and rocketry in particular.
When I look back at the Yankee now, I can't say it's a rocket I'd choose to buy and fly. It's a bit ugly, innit? All those straight lines and harsh angles, not a single curve to be seen when you look at if from profile. And yet, I can't help but keep a soft place in my heart for the model that started it all for me. And an upscale version of this weird bird is just.....well, I'd love to see a midpower 40+ inch version of this old classic take to the sky. Keep the pics coming, and make sure you take a video of the maiden flight!

 

[Back_at_it]

Internal and external fillets wrapped up last night. Before work this morning I inserted the rear centering ring and installed the Estes 29mm motor retainer.



Next up will be final sanding and primer. I have someplace to primer this but paint might need to wait until the temps get back into the 40's next week.

 

[Back_at_it]

Nothing too crazy exciting. I was able to get the nose cone and the lower half of the rocket in primer last night. The cone has been sanded to 400 and is ready for paint.



Running short on primer so I decided to do the fins and tail section since that is where the bulk of the work was done. So far everything looks pretty good. Going to let this sit until my primer order arrives on Saturday.



Right now it looks like Tues. or Weds. before it will be warm enough to paint this thing outside but that gives me plenty of time to cut the vinyl and get started on my next much smaller build.

 

[mh9162013]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

Question: Why did you situate the MMT (and motor retainer ring) so far into the main body tube? Aesthetics? Or is there some other reason for its location?

 

[Back_at_it]

Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

Question: Why did you situate the MMT (and motor retainer ring) so far into the main body tube? Aesthetics? Or is there some other reason for its location?

Completely for aesthetics. I didn’t want to see the retainer hanging below the rocket.

Moving the mount forward also moved the CG forward but that isn’t a concern for a rocket with this length but would be beneficial in a shorter build.

The end of the retainer cap is actually flush with the end of the body tube. When a motor is installed the tip of the motor nozzle will protrude about 1/4 inch below the body tube.

 

[Back_at_it]

Weather has been dry enough here to get the rest of the rocket primed and the I just shot on the first color coat.

 

[novahobbies]

Looking great! This will be a beautiful rocket off the pad. Have you picked the maiden flight motor yet? With a 29mm mount, you have ALL sorts of possibilities (but I'm sure that was the point!).

 

[Back_at_it]

Looking great! This will be a beautiful rocket off the pad. Have you picked the maiden flight motor yet? With a 29mm mount, you have ALL sorts of possibilities (but I'm sure that was the point!).

I don't have a final weight on this but based on my SIM and the sum of the weight of the parts, I'm thinking this is going to come in right around the 30oz mark once all is said and done.

For a first flight, I'm thinking F67-6 which should be good for 700ish ft. If it turns out to be heavier I might need to use the F50-4. I have a stash of G40, G35 and G74's that could step up if needed but I'm pretty certain the F67 or F50 will do the job.

 

[Back_at_it]

Dragged the Yankee over to my buddies heated shop on Tuesday and shot on two coats of Ace Brand Safety Red. Brought it home last night.



Going to let this cure for another day before doing vinyl. The Ace brand paints are awesome but they take a while to fully cure.

 

[Back_at_it]

It's time to wrap this one up.

Late last week I cut the vinyl on my Cricut Maker. Used gloss white 651 vinyl.



Next up it was time to add the rail buttons. Used 3-piece buttons from RailButton.com



Attached the shock cord to the nose cone and Kevlar leader. This is a 15ft cord.




Finally, here is the finished product with an original Estes Yankee for scale.

 

[novahobbies]

Now THAT is a Yankee! Love it!

 

[Theory]

That’s awesome!!!