Quick Question About Estes Jetliner (#3230)

[mh9162013]

Anyone know the length of just the main body tube?

I would try to figure it out by taking the overall length and subtracting the nost cone length (not including the shoulder). But part of the tail goes past the end of the main body tube (and there's also the motor hook).

Thanks!

 

[SecondRow]

Mine is 5 3/4 inches.

 

[mh9162013]

Mine is 5 3/4 inches.

Thank you!

 

[BABAR]

I haven‘t built this, but I have heard stability is a potential problem. Building it a little long (keep the rear the same and extend the nose forward of the wings, may help without too much influence on cosmesis. Might have to modify the decals a bit. Also seems like lots of people have gone with 18mm mount.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/estes-estes-jetliner-3230-gallery.52641/#post-2088000

 

[mh9162013]

I haven‘t built this, but I have heard stability is a potential problem. Building it a little long (keep the rear the same and extend the nose forward of the wings, may help without too much influence on cosmesis. Might have to modify the decals a bit.

If I end up ordering this kit, I will NOT be building it stock. I'll be installing an 18mm engine mount and probably adding a few more inches (or doubling the stock main body tube length) to the main airframe's overall length.

 

[BABAR]

The mods I saw looked much better (IMO for what that’s worth) than the original.

 

[mh9162013]

The mods I saw looked much better (IMO for what that’s worth) than the original.

I concur 100%, especially the ones by @lewsaturn

 

[mjennings]

My son's has never flown well on A10's. Not sure we ever got it to clear the rod.

 

[SecondRow]

My son's has never flown well on A10's. Not sure we ever got it to clear the rod.

I had the same problem. I ripped out the old mount and put in an 18mm motor mount.

I recessed the new motor mount in the tube a bit to account for the change in CG. That led to less space for the chute, so I cut off most of the shoulder of the nose cone to give it more room. It gets great flights on a B6-4. B4-4’s too, I think. It’s been a while since I’ve flown it.

 

[Zman1961]

+1 on the 5 3/4 inch tube length, and also on using the 18 mm motors. My son's was only able to get a 30 foot high parabolic arc on the A10, and it lawn-darted under power. This happened a couple of times before the nose cone broke. Can't imagine why Estes released it that way.

 

[Padruig]

Built one per original instructions, had all the issues.

Built another one with 18mm engine mount. Works ok...a little unstable.

Went back and CHAD staged the original with an A10-0 and it worked pretty good.

 

[Back_at_it]

Read everyone's issues with them stock so I built mine with an 18mm mount and stock length. Added 3/4 oz of nose weight. It really needs the nose weight.

Absolutely no stability issues at all. Flown once on an A8-3. Not a good idea. Really needs a B motor for good performance. Have flow it a number of times on B4-4 and B6-4 motors.

 

[mjennings]

Built one per original instructions, had all the issues.

Built another one with 18mm engine mount. Works ok...a little unstable.

Went back and CHAD staged the original with an A10-0 and it worked pretty good.

I was thinking about that after I commented above. We will have to give that a try before attempting a MMT surgery.

 

[goose_in_co]

I built mine stock as well. While not a spectacular flyer, it was a typical low and slow flight.

 

[cbwho]

I upsized the motor and used tubes for the jet engines. It's a great flyer and tends to arc a bit and look like a real plane. I suspect my jet tubes offsets the drag a touch.

 

[modeltrains]

Bought 2 a couple years back and haven't built them yet. Looks like some things to take note of here.

 

[MALBAR 70]

Mine always flew a bit wonky on just the A10. I'll have to try CHADing it sometime.