Semroc's Nighthawk

[rosko_racer]

Having built Rokitflite's FakeWulf I decided to tackle this one. Got it about two weeks ago and immediately started building it. Gliders is one area of rocketry that I have been very interested in getting into. This model is really a challenge and very interesting since it has a few things I have never seen before in a rocket.

Assembled the pod first because I thought it was the easiest part. After assembling the canard fins I sanded them to their airfoil shape and strengthen the balsa with a coat of thin CA. Sanded to a smooth finish. After this the assembly was pretty much forward.

The Glider is another story: carving and sanding... lots of dust and chips all around!!! After assembly I used tape to protect the part of the wing that was not part of the airfoil. Took me about two afternoons to sand the airfoil. I also applied a coat of thin CA along the edges of the airfoils to strengthen the balsa there. Sanded the entire bird and gave it a coat of SIG's Sanding Sealer... it smells...

 

[rosko_racer]

Right now it is waiting to be sanded. Nice glider and fun to build but I did not liked all that sanding. Here are a few pics of how it looks right now. I was thinking of painting it close to what it looks like on the Estes 1973 Catalog.

 

[MaxQ]

Right now it is waiting to be sanded. Nice glider and fun to build but I did not liked all that sanding. Here are a few pics of how it looks right now. I was thinking of painting it close to what it looks like on the Estes 1973 Catalog.

I built one from scratch from plans...got some warm air on a cold gray day....it thermaled out on the first flight ...headed deep into the woodline, never to be seen again.

have the pod still....

 

[dpower]

The Glider is another story: carving and sanding... lots of dust and chips all around!!! After assembly I used tape to protect the part of the wing that was not part of the airfoil. Took me about two afternoons to sand the airfoil. I also applied a coat of thin CA along the edges of the airfoils to strengthen the balsa there.

Those are two great ideas, wish I had thought of that!

I was thinking of painting it close to what it looks like on the Estes 1973 Catalog.

Yeah, I'm kind of partial to that scheme too . If you figure out how to get those corner curves in the mask, please let me know!

 

[rosko_racer]

I think that I will first make the wing pattern out of paper. Then will place masking tape on a cutting board and use the paper pattern to mark then cut the curved corners. Then place the masking tape over the fins.

 

[Initiator001]

Right now it is waiting to be sanded. Nice glider and fun to build but I did not liked all that sanding. Here are a few pics of how it looks right now. I was thinking of painting it close to what it looks like on the Estes 1973 Catalog.

At the Old Rocketeer's Reunion during NARAM-50, former Estes employee Mike Hellmund displayed many Estes Catalog models that he had rescued from the trash dumpster.

Here's a picture of the actual photo model of the Nighthawk used in catalog pictures.

 

[Micromeister]

Right now it is waiting to be sanded. Nice glider and fun to build but I did not liked all that sanding. Here are a few pics of how it looks right now. I was thinking of painting it close to what it looks like on the Estes 1973 Catalog.

I haven't built a Knighthawk since my original back in the 70's. It was a really fine build that I enjoyed even with all the sanding. Back then I added the hawks Head and bill to the forward end of the glider. seemed like a natural thing to do, I'm glad to see Carl agrees

Biggest problem was I never got to fly the bird, it was destoryed by vandels a week before it's scheduled launch

 

[shuyge]

Right now it is waiting to be sanded. Nice glider and fun to build but I did not liked all that sanding. Here are a few pics of how it looks right now. I was thinking of painting it close to what it looks like on the Estes 1973 Catalog.

A word of warning on the yellow finish. I built one quite a few years ago and tissued it in yellow esaki. It thermalled a ways away but not too far. It landed in dry grass never to be seen again.

When I build the next one, it will be red and black...