My First HPR Scratch Build....Upscale Estes Blue Bird Zero

[Fuddrucker]

Just thought I would share, and because I am pretty excited, my upscale recreation of the Estes kit, Blue Bird Zero.

It has a 38mm mount, can be launched on either a 1/2" rod, or a rail. Just a simple design with chute recovery by ejection charge. Rocksim says it should do about 2300' on an I195.

...Gary

 

Very nice! Can't wait to see the launch pics...

BTW, what was your scale factor?

 

[Fuddrucker]

Originally posted by SpaceGarbageMan
Very nice! Can't wait to see the launch pics...

BTW, what was your scale factor?

2.5x. Seperation is at the transition of the blue and white colors. The nose is not glued on either since I thought I would possibly use that space for a payload bay down the road sometime.

Thanks.

 

[Stymye]

very nice !
what paint did you use for the upper half?

 

[stevem]

nice looking BBZ! this is a favorite rocket of mine, I have a 2x version that flies on either cluster of D12s or 29mm (I made an interchangeable mmt for it)

I made mine to be simple also - however I forgot to put something in there to keep the laundry up high in the BT.

On her maiden flight the laundry fell tot he back end of the BT and never ejected - she flew satraight up and straight down. OUCH! I have since rebuilt it and now have a baffle system in place that will keep things where they should be. Haven't flown the rebuilt bird yet.

Let us know how she flies - and of course launch pics would be nice!!

 

[Fuddrucker]

Originally posted by stymye
very nice !
what paint did you use for the upper half?

PlastiKote Light Blue Mettallic Automotive paint.

 

[Missileman]

Great looking rocket and the I195 is one of my favorite motors.
I flew my first HPR scartchbuild on an I195. Blackjack motors are cool.

 

[Eagle3]

This is my 3X Blue Bird Zero prior to it's maiden flight on a H238. The fins are 1/4" balsa TTW and laminated with card stock. I'm hoping to fly it Oct 9 at the JMRC sport launch.

 

[eugenefl]

Wow - all very nice looking upscales. Nice work guys! All that's missing are launch photos!

 

[Fuddrucker]

Looks GREAT Eagle3!! What size chute did you decide on, and how much does it weigh without the motor. Mine is about 5lbs and I am thinking about a 54" chute.

How was the flight on that H238, altitude?. I am planning on getting mine up in the air at RocStock in November. It may happen at the Oct. launch though. I have a H238 and an I195, just don't know what I want to launch it on first yet.

Oh Yea, since I posted the pic of mine, I have removed the black lettering and replaced it with white lettering. Looks WAY better with the white now.

...Fudd

 

[stevem]

what did you use for lettering? vinyl?

 

[Eagle3]

Originally posted by Fuddrucker
Looks GREAT Eagle3!! What size chute did you decide on, and how much does it weigh without the motor. Mine is about 5lbs and I am thinking about a 54" chute.

Thanks Fudd! Mine separates at the color line. I had a 38" chute for the bottom section and a 28" for the upper section. The chutes tangled though and it came down on just the 38" which was reefed a little. Still landed OK. I built it out of THOY reject parts (minus the fins) I got from Rich Rau when I worked for him one summer. It weighs in around 4lbs.

How was the flight on that H238, altitude?....

Went from 0' to 500' instantly and then it looked like it hit the speed brakes. That's a lot of surface drag. It was a very cool flight though and I plan on using the same motor in October.

Oh Yea, since I posted the pic of mine, I have removed the black lettering and replaced it with white lettering. Looks WAY better with the white now.

...Fudd

I never finished the decals on mine. *scribbles note on to-do list*

 

[Fuddrucker]

Originally posted by stevem
what did you use for lettering? vinyl?

Yep.

I had used waterslide decal paper for inkjet printers and just made the letters black since I cant print in white. Turned out ok. I had tried some other colors but black looked best.

After a while I thought I would ask my neighbor if he could make me some vinyl letters since he had done some work in the past for me. He owns his own printing company and someone who works with him has the equipment to make all the vinyl stuff. I consider myself pretty lucky to know someone who will make me any type of vinyl stuff for free as long as it is not to complicated.

...Fudd

 

[Eagle3]

I recently noticed a glaring error in my upscale 4" Blue Bird Zero plan. The distance from the forward fins to the base of the body tube was way off. The plan is fixed now at;
https://www-personal.umich.edu/~buzznau/plans.html

I sure hope no one built one with the old dimension.