Sonic igniters from Estes stink. They have essentially been discontinued,
Thales Starstreak build
- Thread starter DrewW
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Sonic igniters from Estes stink. They have essentially been discontinued,
Yeah, getting that impression too!
I liked the idea of them for their slim fit into a C6-5 nozzle and the long wire.
Any alternate suggestions?
That is why I started making my own.
Reasonably successful day with the Starstreak at the QRS club launch, Cedar Grove, Queensland. Sorry, no video as yet, hopefully the club guys got it for me.
Flew the Bus with an Aerotech DMS H550ST and with one active Hitile (Dart) which had a C6-5 18mm motor in it. Borrowed a better ignitor from another club member, so ditched the Estes pro-Sonic 2 ignitors. GLOW was 3.77kg (8.31lbs).
Launch was good, not much weather-cocking, and the Apogee Simple Timer successfully ignited the Dart at about 350ft, which separated beautifully to cheers from the flight line! RRC3 deployed at apogee as programmed.
RRC3 download gave Bus data as 663ft max altitude, max velocity 231ft/sec (253kph, 157mph) and a descent rate under the BAMA 5ft Aerospherical chute of 24ft/sec (7.3m/sec).
Damage report
Flew the Bus with an Aerotech DMS H550ST and with one active Hitile (Dart) which had a C6-5 18mm motor in it. Borrowed a better ignitor from another club member, so ditched the Estes pro-Sonic 2 ignitors. GLOW was 3.77kg (8.31lbs).
Launch was good, not much weather-cocking, and the Apogee Simple Timer successfully ignited the Dart at about 350ft, which separated beautifully to cheers from the flight line! RRC3 deployed at apogee as programmed.
RRC3 download gave Bus data as 663ft max altitude, max velocity 231ft/sec (253kph, 157mph) and a descent rate under the BAMA 5ft Aerospherical chute of 24ft/sec (7.3m/sec).
Damage report
- Couldn't find the Dart as it flew on to about 1000ft, popped its chute and drifted in the wind about 1.5kms. We saw approx where it landed, but it was just too small to find in the 3ft high grass and brush. Need to go down to a B6 motor and streamer next time.
- Exhaust scorch markings to the transition. Will clean it up an consider blast plates.
Wow, those are old instructions. I followed them both back in the day and they work. There are some recipes for pyrogen I think are still floating around the net.
If one is in a state where they can get fourth of July sparklers, the ones with a wire. I've cracked and ground the material off of them very very carefully and that makes a decent dip. One must remember that a pyrogen in powder form is very dangerous. Any mix anyone does they have to be cognizant of the fact if a spark or fire gets anywhere near a powder mix, it will flash violently. On the other hand, it only takes a small amount of pyrogen to make a ton of igniters. Slow mixing of powders and or gentle crushing with a mortar and pestle will suffice. I wear kevlar gloves/safety glasses but have never had to depend upon them. That said, the risk of a small amount going off I believe is manageable. Doing the task outdoors, out in the open is even a better strategy. Once the slurry is mixed, it is a lot safer and I used to dip out in the garage. I haven't made any in a long time as I made a lot and still have a supply. Be safe. Kurt
Here's the link to the QRS launch day video with the Starstreak flight featuring from 0:40 to 1:06. You can just hear the Dart motor hissing off into the sky just as everyone cheers!
Sorry if this "steps on any toes" . . . It's been over 14 months, just fly it, all up, already !
Dave F.
Dave F.
Pem Tech
Notorious Member
lol, I just restarted the build of mine. After 14 months I’m back at even earlier stages.
Next months club launch is the plan for all three…and it’s planned to be our first public open day in two years since Covid!
now all I’ve got to do is make a replacement Dart!
Started building a replacement Dart. Don't intend for it to be a spinning canards version as clearances are not adequate on my Dart Carrier currently.
- Cannibalised the yellow test Dart I had from the maiden flight for the canards plus the motor mount tube which I'd made from a plastic tube of glitter and an Estes 18mm retainer.
- I had two leftover aft fins from the original construction phase so I'll make do with these. Made two new fins using the templates I'd kept. Bevelled the fwd and aft fin edges and then strengthened them by soaking in CA.
- Spare nose cone now has 48gms of ballast in it (combined weight of the lead shot and the epoxy). Curing in a cup of water to manage the heat.
- Need to F/Glass the BT50 body tube next.
Went through building several iterations of a cutting fixture for my 4” tubes. Tonight I finally got a cut I’m satisfied with. Here’s to getting restarted.
Replacement Dart build well progressed. Have surprised myself about how quick it has gone, which is good as it had to fit in in around other DIY duties at home. Reflects well on the learnings and experience of the original build stages, as well as the terrible weather here in SE QLD meaning nothing else can be done but stay at home!
- BT50 tube given two wraps of 98gsm fibreglass, imperfections filled with wood filler and sanded.
- Motor mount and retainer CA'd into position.
- Fin slots cut out with the Dremel and all four fins epoxied into place AND all eight fin fillets added over the last two days.
- Canards epoxied in place, plus two new rail guides made up from the curtain track fittings and also epoxied in place today.
- Vent holes added. Getting close to painting it in readiness for the 13Mar deadline.
Finished the new/replacement Dart - base coat of matt black and then two medium coats of White Knight's "Super Chrome".
Also made four small chutes to stop the Darts from drifting far and bring them down quicker - 20cm hexagonal chutes from rip-stop nylon. OR simulation says they'll come in at 9m/sec (29ft/sec) but better a little risk of damage than a very high risk of losing all three at the next launch, hopefully next Sunday.
Also made four small chutes to stop the Darts from drifting far and bring them down quicker - 20cm hexagonal chutes from rip-stop nylon. OR simulation says they'll come in at 9m/sec (29ft/sec) but better a little risk of damage than a very high risk of losing all three at the next launch, hopefully next Sunday.
Prepping the Starstreak for tomorrows flight attempt to air-start all 3 Darts.
Simple Timer has been re-set to initiate the Dart ignitors at 1.5secs after launch detection as opposed to the 2.0secs last flight, which should be about 275ft off the pad.
Flying it again on a DMS H550ST with the RRC3 deploying at apogee, motor back-up, and the JLCR set to 500ft.
GLOW will be 4.1kg (9lbs). Two Darts have B6-4 motors and the third has a C6-3.
Using new ignitors for 18mm motors that I got from our suppliers fresh delivery at the last launch. They test fire very energetically!
Also using some of those little black rubber grips from cloth covid face masks as my ignitor wire grommets into the holes in the transition. Also using short off-cuts of insulation from the ignitors to secure the ignitor tips into the motor nozzles. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
Simple Timer has been re-set to initiate the Dart ignitors at 1.5secs after launch detection as opposed to the 2.0secs last flight, which should be about 275ft off the pad.
Flying it again on a DMS H550ST with the RRC3 deploying at apogee, motor back-up, and the JLCR set to 500ft.
GLOW will be 4.1kg (9lbs). Two Darts have B6-4 motors and the third has a C6-3.
Using new ignitors for 18mm motors that I got from our suppliers fresh delivery at the last launch. They test fire very energetically!
Also using some of those little black rubber grips from cloth covid face masks as my ignitor wire grommets into the holes in the transition. Also using short off-cuts of insulation from the ignitors to secure the ignitor tips into the motor nozzles. Fingers crossed for tomorrow!
Successful mid-air launch of all 3 Darts 
!!!!!!!
Launched off the long (2.5m) rail, which helped give it an almost perfect vertical ascent. All Darts ignited together and performed a starburst of exhaust trails to much acclaim from the crowd! Bus apogee was 625feet (190m) and max velocity 246ft/sec (75m/sec).
All 3 Darts came down nice and quick on their little 20cm homemade chutes, landing in a nice grouping only about 50m apart.
Bit of a hot landing for the Bus as the chute tangled and only opened fully at about 10feet. 1 fin broken off, and damage to the forward outer ring.
Hopefully better launch photos and video to come from the club guys.
!!!!!!!Launched off the long (2.5m) rail, which helped give it an almost perfect vertical ascent. All Darts ignited together and performed a starburst of exhaust trails to much acclaim from the crowd! Bus apogee was 625feet (190m) and max velocity 246ft/sec (75m/sec).
All 3 Darts came down nice and quick on their little 20cm homemade chutes, landing in a nice grouping only about 50m apart.
Bit of a hot landing for the Bus as the chute tangled and only opened fully at about 10feet. 1 fin broken off, and damage to the forward outer ring.
Hopefully better launch photos and video to come from the club guys.
Successful mid-air launch of all 3 Darts
Brendan,
EXCELLENT, sir . . . Well worth the wait ! ! !
Dave F.
@BrendanH69 fantastic work! Hoping I’ll pull together my attempt over the next couple months.Successful mid-air launch of all 3 Darts
Launched off the long (2.5m) rail, which helped give it an almost perfect vertical ascent. All Darts ignited together and performed a starburst of exhaust trails to much acclaim from the crowd! Bus apogee was 625feet (190m) and max velocity 246ft/sec (75m/sec).
All 3 Darts came down nice and quick on their little 20cm homemade chutes, landing in a nice grouping only about 50m apart.
Bit of a hot landing for the Bus as the chute tangled and only opened fully at about 10feet. 1 fin broken off, and damage to the forward outer ring.
Hopefully better launch photos and video to come from the club guys.
A few more pictures of yesterday's launch.
I read that the UK is sending Starstreaks to Ukraine.
cool design, Great job of building these things guys. 
FYI, somebody else posted this on another thread:
Here's a link to a new article about it.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...issile-shoots-Russian-helicopter-Ukraine.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...issile-shoots-Russian-helicopter-Ukraine.html
The smoke trails look like the Devil's fingers!
Yeah I've seen that one before and it's in this build thread on page 1 as post no.9.
Check out the other two Royal Ordnance animations on page 3, posts 87 and 88.
