Nerrf

[dtomko]

Had a great day of launching at the first annual NERRF yesterday. Good flights from my Trident, Starship Vega, Missile Toe, and Interceptor clones. The Interceptor, made from Moldin' Oldies parts, was a little wobbly on a C6-3, perhaps because of the heavier resin fin pods, but still was nice. My best, and most crowd-pleasing flight was my Blast From the Past Centuri Space Shuttle. After a bit of a twisty boost on a C6-3, a perfect separation and the orbiter and booster glided in formation for a few seconds before the orbiter peeled left, and circled around for a nice touchdown. The booster had a lovely flat glide to the right, over the crowd, over some trees, and into the middle of a river, which promptly carried it out of sight. It ditches quite nicely, in case anyone is interested. I hope Mike Jerauld gets production back up on these; you really need the vacuum formed nose cones he had to make this beauty glide.
It's nice to hold a crowd's attention at a mostly high power launch with something small and interesting.
Drew Tomko

[A Fish Named Wallyum]

Had a great day of launching at the first annual NERRF yesterday. Good flights from my Trident, Starship Vega, Missile Toe, and Interceptor clones. The Interceptor, made from Moldin' Oldies parts, was a little wobbly on a C6-3, perhaps because of the heavier resin fin pods, but still was nice. My best, and most crowd-pleasing flight was my Blast From the Past Centuri Space Shuttle. After a bit of a twisty boost on a C6-3, a perfect separation and the orbiter and booster glided in formation for a few seconds before the orbiter peeled left, and circled around for a nice touchdown. The orbiter had a lovely flat glide to the right, over the crowd, over some trees, and into the middle of a river, which promptly carried it out of sight. It ditches quite nicely, in case anyone is interested. I hope Mike Jerauld gets production back up on these; you really need the vacuum formed nose cones he had to make this beauty glide.
It's nice to hold a crowd's attention at a mostly high power launch with something small and interesting.
Drew Tomko

And the pics are......... :confused:

[tbzep]

I hate to hear the demise of the Centuri Space Shuttle clone. Sounds like everybody enjoyed the flight, though. Yep...we want pics!

[dtomko]

And the pics are......... :confused:

Perhaps the saddest part is that my wife had already left for home, with the camera, before the Shuttle flew :mad:
I am hoping someone there took pics and will post them at the NERRF site.

Just realized a typo in the original message; it was the booster that ditched. I retrieved the yellow orbiter and engine pod.

Drew

[jflis]

Here's the static picture, on the pad (will post these at TRF later and also on our web site) and the launch pix.

Great flight, beautiful glide. Terrible about how she landed...

That's my Tri-Glide on pad 20 :)

[dtomko]

Jim,
Thank you! Man that looked pretty.
I am going to have to take a moment now . . . . (sob sob).
We will need to start a concerted effort to get Mike Jerauld to resume production of these beauties!

Drew

[dtomko]

Heard back from Mike tonight. He's still not ready to get back into production, but he sent me fin patterns and tips on using a Big Bertha as a basis for the booster. He's also sending spare dowels and lugs.

What a guy! Rocketry people are just the best folks around!

When he gets that upscale D/E powered shuttle into production, I'll have to buy three!

Drew

[tbzep]

Heard back from Mike tonight. He's still not ready to get back into production, but he sent me fin patterns and tips on using a Big Bertha as a basis for the booster. He's also sending spare dowels and lugs.

What a guy! Rocketry people are just the best folks around!

When he gets that upscale D/E powered shuttle into production, I'll have to buy three!

Drew

I have been thinking about doing a clone, turning my own nosecones, etc. Are his tips for public use?

[dtomko]

I have been thinking about doing a clone, turning my own nosecones, etc. Are his tips for public use?
You can get just about all you need from JimZ's site: fin patterns, dimensions, etc. If you use a Big Bertha, Mike suggests cuting off the bottom of the nosecone to reduce weight. Also, use quality 3/32" balsa and try to get a 6" wide piece to make the booster wings one piece. Mike sent me patterns for one-piece wings; I'll ask him if I can share them.
The nose cones are a big issue: Semroc has balsa matches, and Moldin' Oldies has resin copies. I had the original Centuri kit with balsa cones and both gliders were bricks. I think the resin cones are too heavy as well. You could turn your own, or use Semroc's, and maybe hollow them out. Mike solved the problem with really excellent vacuum-formed copies. The blow-molded Bertha cone is also fairly light, and with the bottom cut off probably comes close. It's not quite the same shape, but at least now I can get a booster built fairly quickly.
Honestly, it's worth waiting for Mike's kit: the vac-formed cones, laser-cut fins, cut body tubes, vac-formed canopies, and thorough instructions. Mine came with decals, but I believe he had to stop including those; they were from Tango Papa anyway.
Drew

[Chas Russell]

I built a Centuri Shuttle clone using a couple of vac nose cones that Mike gae me. At a NARCON several years ago, I gave him an open Centuri Space Shuttle kit (I do have a sealed one) with the expectation that he would send me an upscale kit. I am disappointed that he hasn't been able to kit it as of yet, but I can be patient.

One thought I had was to cut down an old vacuum-formed eggcapsule. Its diameter would be slightly larger than a BT-60. Use a short tube coupler and trim the excess. Fair it in to the enc of the tube. It might be a tad longer, but would be definately lighter. FWIW.

Chas

[jflis]

For those who are interested :)

I have posted my NERRF photo albums. Part 1 can be found by clicking this link. (http://fliskits.com/photo_album/nerrf/2005/index.htm)

If I got your rocket in there, please be so kind as to send me your name, the name of the rocket and the motor used so that I can update the horrible lack of information in this album :)

thanx,
jim

[dtomko]

I received a package from Mike today with the laser-cut fins, trim tabs, dowel, and lugs. Man, this kit was a beauty. This was just what he had left of the orginal run. I really hope he gets his kits back up and running; you can tell from the picture what kind of quality Mike's stuff is. I may buy a Semroc cone and try to vacuum form my own booster cone, but will probably srounge up a Bertha cone and sand the sides a little.
And yes, I know how lucky I am to get parts for a second Shuttle, let alone the first from Mike.
Let the rebuilding begin!
Drew