Only two kits left.
MAC BlackFly build thread
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EXPjawa
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That's actually pretty tempting, Mike... 
dixontj93060
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dixontj93060
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The flies are gone :smile:
If there is enough interest we'll run another batch. Thanks so much!
Sounds like there's going to be a few BlackFlies around the spring launches this year.
MikeyDSlagle
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I talked to Mike months ago about a 3" Blackfly. Thanks for kitting them up Mike, and it looks like I missed out! Nah, I decided to pass since I saw Ethos was back out and priced only a bit more than the 3" Blackfly. I will have an Ethos soon, hopefully for my birthday next month.
A fellow High Cotton flier bought one though, so I will get to look at it at an upcoming launch; and regret passing on the deal. LOL.
A fellow High Cotton flier bought one though, so I will get to look at it at an upcoming launch; and regret passing on the deal. LOL.
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There are going to be swarms of BlackFlies at launches this year.
I also received a package yesterday.
CzTeacherMan
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Now you're talking... That stretched 54mm looks like it's a HED build. True? I like being able to add the Altimeter for data gathering... BUT, I like the proportions on the original better, as far as overall appeal.
Someday when I have money again, I think a 4" upscale will be a necessary addition to my fleet. That would be something akin to the Wildman Demon which is an incredibly fun, sleek flyer. And five fins just makes everything better.
gfunk
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Agreed on 5 fins making everything better! It's a bag of parts for now... I had just borrowed the NC from a crashed Scorpion Xl. Maybe HED, maybe normal DD with a chunk of extra 54mm air frame I have, or motor eject with a JLCR... looks like I can get the delay I need on the I200 without electronics, so maybe just pop and drop.
Focused on the 3" BF and my 4" Fibermax for now, build thread coming soon for the 3".
Ordered decals for all 3 today, thanks for posting your red vinyl BF decal pics for inspiration!
I'm in for the 4" 54mm motor upscale if you get critical mass for an order together!
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Nice looking family!!
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Received my 3" BlackFly kit Friday. Sweet looking kit. Spent Saturday afternoon working on paint scheme.
Colors represent a typical housefly (No Black flies this far North). Tailcone and stripe below NC are supposed to be silver but my paint program can't render it properly. Build won't start until June/July/August. Rocket budget has collapsed onto itself and formed a Blackhole..........
Btw, what font was used for lettering on original BF? Can't find it on the Net.... Although I will be ordering markings from Stickershock, I'd like to have the font for the rendering.
Many thanks to:
Mike P. for original design and awesome build thread. Way cool!
Mike C. for the supremely high quality kit.
gfunk for lighting the fire on the 3" BF interest.
Colors represent a typical housefly (No Black flies this far North). Tailcone and stripe below NC are supposed to be silver but my paint program can't render it properly. Build won't start until June/July/August. Rocket budget has collapsed onto itself and formed a Blackhole..........
Btw, what font was used for lettering on original BF? Can't find it on the Net.... Although I will be ordering markings from Stickershock, I'd like to have the font for the rendering.
Many thanks to:
Mike P. for original design and awesome build thread. Way cool!
Mike C. for the supremely high quality kit.
gfunk for lighting the fire on the 3" BF interest.
Very cool looking paint scheme, I likey the "housefly" colours.
What do you mean no Black Flies this far North I'm moving to your area. They are the biggest little PITA during the spring up North...well to be accurate the females are
I actually believe that they are found in every country and in all climates, including the Arctic. They are quite the adaptive little species which is why I named the rocket BlackFly.I can't recall what the font was called for the lettering I created that with Marks help, I sent him ideas he sent me back renderings until I got what I liked. In honesty it was more like we went back and forth until I figured I had exhausted Mark's patience. I have all of the original emails if Mark can't help you but I am sure he can especially if he is cutting the decals for you.
Looking forward to seeing some build pics.
Nytrunner
Pop lugs, not drugs
Do I correctly gather that the Blackfly has been added to MAC's inventory officially? I was just on the site looking for kits to recommend to a co-worker, when I saw the three sizes in the kit offerings.
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Thank you. Yeah, I really like it. So does my GF.
...What do you mean no Black Flies this far North I'm moving to your area. They are the biggest little PITA during the spring up North...well to be accurate the females are
Hmmmmm, I thought Black Fly = Horse Fly = Large Mean Human Flesh Eating Machine. Is this incorrect?
Okay, thx for the info. I'll drop Mark an email.
Black Flies are small and come in large swarms. They are called different things around the globe. Unless you're a flat Eather, then around the circumference of the flat plain or something like that.
Deer Flies are bigger than Black Flies and are typically by themselves but where there is one there will be more close by. They bug me the most and are the most aggressive by far.
Horse Flies are the biggest but not as much of a pain as Black Flies or Deer Flies.
Just come up to Northern Ontario in May and June and see for yourself. Of course if those flies don't feed on you there are always the swarms of Mosquitos.
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EXPjawa
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I figured I'll put this here, since this thread's quieted down for the moment. Black Flies, in their smaller, post-larval state, look a bit like this:
Downscaled to Estes BT60 tube with a 24mm mount. Mike Crupe printed the tail cone for me, the nose cone is an Estes PNC-60RL (available in the BT60 nose cone 3-pack), 20.5" long. And I just realized that in my haste to install the motor mount, I forgot to attach the recovery harness...
Downscaled to Estes BT60 tube with a 24mm mount. Mike Crupe printed the tail cone for me, the nose cone is an Estes PNC-60RL (available in the BT60 nose cone 3-pack), 20.5" long. And I just realized that in my haste to install the motor mount, I forgot to attach the recovery harness...
Nytrunner
Pop lugs, not drugs
I figured I'll put this here, since this thread's quieted down for the moment. Black Flies, in their smaller, post-larval state, look a bit like this:
Downscaled to Estes BT60 tube with a 24mm mount. Mike Crupe printed the tail cone for me, the nose cone is an Estes PNC-60RL (available in the BT60 nose cone 3-pack), 20.5" long. And I just realized that in my haste to install the motor mount, I forgot to attach the recovery harness...
Fortunately, you can really install a shock cord anywhere on something that size.
24mm mount for some Pro24 6grains?
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I figured I'll put this here, since this thread's quieted down for the moment. Black Flies, in their smaller, post-larval state, look a bit like this:
Very......... cute.
On the serious side, pretty kool. This should be a catalyst to spawn many, many siblings..... And I just realized that in my haste to install the motor mount, I forgot to attach the recovery harness...
Been there, done that. :sigh:
Please post more pics when complete.
jbuscaglia
Rusty-eyed Missile Man
I figured I'll put this here, since this thread's quieted down for the moment. Black Flies, in their smaller, post-larval state, look a bit like this:
Downscaled to Estes BT60 tube with a 24mm mount. Mike Crupe printed the tail cone for me, the nose cone is an Estes PNC-60RL (available in the BT60 nose cone 3-pack), 20.5" long. And I just realized that in my haste to install the motor mount, I forgot to attach the recovery harness...
Nice. I had the same idea when I first saw the design. Of course, like most of my rocketry related ideas, it has not yet come to fruition.
gfunk
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I figured I'll put this here, since this thread's quieted down for the moment. Black Flies, in their smaller, post-larval state, look a bit like this:
Downscaled to Estes BT60 tube with a 24mm mount. Mike Crupe printed the tail cone for me, the nose cone is an Estes PNC-60RL (available in the BT60 nose cone 3-pack), 20.5" long. And I just realized that in my haste to install the motor mount, I forgot to attach the recovery harness...
Great minds, Rick....
I too just made all the parts for a BT-60 / 24mm Black Fly. Butchered a Star Orbiter kit for most of it, an AeroTech 24mm adapter for the MMT, and a balsa tail cone. Just need to turn the tailcone pocket and taper to match the L2 Aeropack.
Should be a hoot on AT D9s and E18s. Maybe an F24 if I steal the T3 GPS nose cone off my DD Star Orbiter...
I am trying to resist the 18mm and 75mm versions! Five Black Flies should be enough!
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I figured I'll put this here, since this thread's quieted down for the moment. Black Flies, in their smaller, post-larval state, look a bit like this:
Downscaled to Estes BT60 tube with a 24mm mount. Mike Crupe printed the tail cone for me, the nose cone is an Estes PNC-60RL (available in the BT60 nose cone 3-pack), 20.5" long. And I just realized that in my haste to install the motor mount, I forgot to attach the recovery harness...
Rick that looks great and inspiring. However my build pile is so embarrassingly large I would feel too guilty adding another project to it. My biggest issue has been the lack of productivity this winter so I am really behind where I thought I would be. Having said that I have a Pluto Slam in transit
. I do think a 24mm version will make it's way into the pile, after all I originally wanted a pop and drop 24mm and we know how that worked out...3 BlackFlies later.You know, I am pretty sure that five BlackFlies constitutes an official swarm.
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First i want to say this thread has been amazing help for putting mine together thus far! I do have the first couple of what could potentially be a few questions: So when you mounted the Rail Buttons, Did you just find center point between 2 fins and use a piece of angle to get a straight line? They are mounted as close as possible to front/rear CR right? i am about to start mine, seems like most either drill into the CR's or get them as close as possible using various backing methods. How did you profile them if you don't mind going into a little about that?
Marking the placement for your rail buttons is always easier to do before you mount the fins. I have several sizes of aluminium angle that I use depending on the diameter of teh BT.
In my case I used the 3 piece 1010 rail buttons so there is a backing plate to screw into. See post 45. Obviously with these there is no requirement to place them where the CRs are, as a matter of fact you need to avoid the CRs because the backing as to clear them. To profile them I used a pair of vice grips to hold it and hammered it on a curved surface with a ball-peen hammer until I obtained an approximate profile. There are likely better ways to do this but my way worked very well and didn't take too much effort or special tools.
The basic placement guide I try to follow is to place the aft button as close to the base of the rocket as possible and the forward button should be somewhere near the CP. If the buttons are too close together then the rocket tends to lean. In my case I would have done better by placing the forward button about an inch higher, which for your reference would roughly be just under an inch above the top of the fins, so roughly 5" from the base.
I look forward to seeing some of your build pics, better yet where will you be flying from?
Ok perfect, that is exactly the info i was looking for thanks! I already did internal fillets on my fins before marking so i guess i will have some creativity coming my way.
I have been adding pics to my thread in the 2nd/3rd post but its been slow going between some home projects and some work projects taking up my time after hours. My goal is to make an L1 attempt the first weekend of May assuming i can finish and the weather cooperates. I may not have time for paint/finishing before then but we shall see. I will be Flying in Holtville with Tripoli San Diego.
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So I started on my BF last Friday. washing and sanding airframe, lightly sanded MMT and epoxied MMT to CR, then CR to airframe.
Saturday I worked on sanding the tailcone then applied a layer of 30 minute epoxy (mixed with a healthy portion of microballoons) to it.
Sunday evening I had a little time to sand down the epoxy coat on the tailcone.
Today I drilled the airframe for the rear rail guide. Then I prepped the fins and used JB Weld to attach them to the MMT.
Saturday I worked on sanding the tailcone then applied a layer of 30 minute epoxy (mixed with a healthy portion of microballoons) to it.
Sunday evening I had a little time to sand down the epoxy coat on the tailcone.
Today I drilled the airframe for the rear rail guide. Then I prepped the fins and used JB Weld to attach them to the MMT.
