As promised, the build thread for my Hi-Flier XL’s booster.
The fins are smoothed with 220 grit sandpaper prior to removal from the balsa sheets.
The fins are cut out from balsa sheets.
The edges are sanded down to remove the “tabs” that held the fins in the sheet. I took my time on these, gently rubbing the fin stack along the sandpaper and checking every few passes.
To produce a rounded leading edge, I kept the sandpaper on the table and “rolled” the edges of the fins, producing a nice rounding. Once each fin was rounded, I kept going on the ones that had the longest root chords until the root edges all had the same length. The spans are not all the same, but it should still be alright.
The tube is marked. I scanned the first two pages of instructions prior to cutting out the tube marking guide, then taped it up on the tube, made tick marks, and extended the lines with a length of metal I bought at The Home Depot.
So far this is a pretty stock build. I will be posting more updates in the following days, and I’ll be making the booster and sustainer modifications soon.
The fins are smoothed with 220 grit sandpaper prior to removal from the balsa sheets.
The fins are cut out from balsa sheets.
The edges are sanded down to remove the “tabs” that held the fins in the sheet. I took my time on these, gently rubbing the fin stack along the sandpaper and checking every few passes.
To produce a rounded leading edge, I kept the sandpaper on the table and “rolled” the edges of the fins, producing a nice rounding. Once each fin was rounded, I kept going on the ones that had the longest root chords until the root edges all had the same length. The spans are not all the same, but it should still be alright.
The tube is marked. I scanned the first two pages of instructions prior to cutting out the tube marking guide, then taped it up on the tube, made tick marks, and extended the lines with a length of metal I bought at The Home Depot.
So far this is a pretty stock build. I will be posting more updates in the following days, and I’ll be making the booster and sustainer modifications soon.
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