Fliskits - 3's a Charm

[JAL3]

Fliskits' #'s a Charm is a MMX downscale of their popular Tri-Glide. The rocket features streamer recovery with 3 parasitic balsa gliders that deploy at apogee.

The kits comes with all the parts, diagrams and instruction needed for the project. All you need is some glue, sandpaper, X-acto and a dissecting microscope. A 5 year old with the hands of a brain surgeon would help also.

 

[JAL3]

As with so many rocket models, construction begins with the motor mount. In this case it is the installation of the thrust ring. Instead of a piece of cardboard tubing, this one is a little piece of wood, basswood I think.

 

[JAL3]

In any event, the center of the ring was easily knocked out by poking it with a needle.

 

[JAL3]

A dot of white glue was then put in the top end of the motor tube and the thrust ring was pushed into place with an MMX motor.

 

[JAL3]

Like the thrust ring, the centering rings were made of wood and easily poked out.

 

[JAL3]

The motor tube was then marked 1/4" from the aft end and 1/8" from the forward end. The rings were then glued in place much like a "normal" rocket.

 

[JAL3]

Also like a bigger rocket was the shock cord attachment. I tied the Kevlar thread around the mount just abaft of the forward centering ring with a clove hitch. I then filleted it into place with some white glue. It was hard to get the small amount of glue I was looking for and my fingers were way too big to smooth the fillet.

 

[JAL3]

The body tube was marked for fin lines and lug lines with a marking guide where I butted the tube against the circle and made the marks. I generally prefer a wrap around but in this case, I encountered no problems. The lines were lengthened along a door jam and half the lines were marked as being for fins. The other lines, for the glider mounting lugs, were marked 2" from the rear end.

 

[JAL3]

When the fillets on the centering rings had set, a small notch was cut in the forward ring to accommodate the Kevlar thread. The thread was then passed through the body tube, the rear end of the tube swabbed with glue and the motor mount was inserted up to the rear centering ring.

 

[JAL3]

None of the balsa parts on the 3's a Charm are precut. Instead, the builder must cut them from the sheet balsa using template on a provided sheet.

 

[JAL3]

First to be cut out were the three fins of the rocket.

 

[kullas]

looks good so far. when i ordered the last time i almost got this one but i was afraid of loosing the small gliders

 

[JAL3]

The fins did not come out at uniform or and straight as I would have liked so I stacked them and evened them up with some sanding.

 

[JAL3]

Also cut from the balsa with a template were three plates to fit on the end of the fins.

 

[JAL3]

The plates were then glued to the fin tips using white glue and a double glue joint.

 

[JAL3]

looks good so far. when i ordered the last time i almost got this one but i was afraid of loosing the small gliders

I'm afraid of losing ALL gliders. I have had 2 types.

The first and most common type of loss is a high velocity impact with a terrestrial planet. Usually displaying chaotic spin characteristics. :confused2:

The second type, of which I have only had one example, glided well. It also glided too far. :dark:

I had this one sitting on my desk at home and I wanted to build another MMX before testing my new MMX pad next weekend. So far it seems like a neat little kit and has been easier than any of the other MMXs I have built.

 

[JAL3]

Each of the parasite gliders is held in place by a pair of pins fitting into a pair of short MMX launch lugs. These lugs are made of a plastic material so I had some doubt about their adhesion using white glue. I scuffed them up a bit with some sandpaper to give the glue something to grip and then glued the lower lugs in place flush with the end of the BT.

 

[JAL3]

When the lower lugs were reasonably dry, I scuffed the upper ones and glued them flush with the lines marked at 2"

 

[jflis]

John,
Coming along nicely

As an FYI, the centering rings are a pressed fiber material and the launch lugs are mylar (same as the outer coating on the standard body tubes.) They can be tough to attach as they are so smooth and glossy. A light sanding does wonders

jim

 

[Peartree]

Also like a bigger rocket was the shock cord attachment. I tied the Kevlar thread around the mount just abaft of the forward centering ring with a clove hitch. I then filleted it into place with some white glue. It was hard to get the small amount of glue I was looking for and my fingers were way too big to smooth the fillet.

I suppose if you *really * wanted to, you could fillet these with a Q-tip.

 

[JAL3]

John,
Coming along nicely

As an FYI, the centering rings are a pressed fiber material and the launch lugs are mylar (same as the outer coating on the standard body tubes.) They can be tough to attach as they are so smooth and glossy. A light sanding does wonders

jim

Thanks

 

[JAL3]

I suppose if you *really * wanted to, you could fillet these with a Q-tip.

I found another method that I will be getting to in a few steps. I needed the fillets because some of my lines are not as straight as they should be.:blush:

 

[JAL3]

The pins to hook into the lugs are cut from a minuscule strip of wood using a template on the template sheet. A total of 6 are needed. I found that by marking a line at the end of the template, I could more easily cut the pieces to length.

 

[JAL3]

The pins are held away from the fuselage by even shorter pins that act as spacers. They were cut in the same manner using another template.

 

[JAL3]

After the pins were cut, I figured the fins and the lugs were dry enough to mess with and I began the process of applying the fins. They were installed with white glue and a double glue joint.

 

[JAL3]

After letting each fin set for about 5 minutes, I applied the next.

 

[JAL3]

The pin assembly is simple in theory. A short pin was glued to a long pin with their ends aligned. The problem came in practice. It is difficult to grip, align and place those little things. eventually, though, they were done.

 

[JAL3]

The fuselage of each glider is a simple stick of basswood, only slightly thicker than that given for the pins. 3 were cut from the appropriate template using the same method as for the pins.

 

[JAL3]

At this point, I did not yet want to assume that the pins were dry enough to mess with so I turned to the nose cone. It was a nice piece of balsa.

 

[JAL3]

The shock cord was to be attached to the NC with a nail. The nail was pressed into the base of the cone and withdrawn.