Have 5 Minute Epoxy, Will Repair Broken Fin on Astrobeam

[brockrwood]

Man, the thin, plastic fins on the Estes Astrobeam are very fragile. Third time fixing broken fins.

The glued on cardboard fin tip is ugly, but should be aerodynamically valid.

 

[Voyager1]

It might be prudent to epoxy a layer of paper to both sides of the fin to strengthen those fin pieces.

 

[Hobie1dog]

There are a lot of LPR/MPR rockets that are so fragile

 

[PDawg]

Awesome. I love trying to get one more flight out of a rocket.

 

[brockrwood]

Awesome. I love trying to get one more flight out of a rocket.

I know it’s a gimmick, but the Astrobeam looks pretty cool flying at night with the LED’s flashing. You can’t really see the ugly, repaired fins at night.

 

[Back_at_it]

Had the same thing happen to my Outlaw. The fins are very brittle and one snapped on landing a couple of years back. I found the piece and reattached it using BSI 30 mins but it only held up to one more flight before snapping off again. I ended up cutting the entire fin off and the base, sanding off the chrome and making a replacement out of thin Balsa soaked in epoxy. Ended up painting one fin and the surrounding area around the base in black to match the body.

I don't know what kind of plastic Estes uses but almost nothing sticks to it.

 

[goose_in_co]

You could "paper" the fin with clear packing tape for more strength.

 

[brockrwood]

Broke off easily. Trying super glue next.

View attachment 579955

You could "paper" the fin with clear packing tape for more strength.

Ooo! Great idea!

 

[BABAR]

the fins are also a bit dangerous. No rule against catching a low power bird on descent (there is for High Power, but that's kind of a Darwin Award anyway, IMO), but I had a kid at a launch try to catch my Astrobeam on descent, caught the fin can on his hand, not a big cut, but really surprised me.

May be a good reason they don't make them anymore, I think.

 

[brockrwood]

the fins are also a bit dangerous. No rule against catching a low power bird on descent (there is for High Power, but that's kind of a Darwin Award anyway, IMO), but I had a kid at a launch try to catch my Astrobeam on descent, caught the fin can on his hand, not a big cut, but really surprised me.

May be a good reason they don't make them anymore, I think.

True. The Astrobeam fins are super thin. It’s weird. They don’t have to be that way. I can see that it is like catching a razor.