Ye Olde Rocket Forum

Ye Olde Rocket Forum (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/index.php)
-   Projects (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=17)
-   -   Centuri Screaming Eagle (http://www.oldrocketforum.com/showthread.php?t=7564)

scigs30 08-15-2010 02:20 PM

Centuri Screaming Eagle
 
I am looking to build a clone of the Centuri Screaming Eagle. The Eagle and UFO were the only two kits I ever owned from Centuri. I can order what I need from Semroc but need help with the plastic can. If someone owns this kit I need a measurement of the can itself not including the bottom of the fins. I want to make the plastic section from a body tube but I need to know how long of a tube I need. Heck if anyone has an extra kit they want to sell, PM me, It will go to a good home, be built and flown. :eek: I have an Alps printer so I will make my own foil decals. Thank you very much.

tbzep 08-15-2010 02:42 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by scigs30
I am looking to build a clone of the Centuri Screaming Eagle. The Eagle and UFO were the only two kits I ever owned from Centuri. I can order what I need from Semroc but need help with the plastic can. If someone owns this kit I need a measurement of the can itself not including the bottom of the fins. I want to make the plastic section from a body tube but I need to know how long of a tube I need. Heck if anyone has an extra kit they want to sell, PM me, It will go to a good home, be built and flown. :eek: I have an Alps printer so I will make my own foil decals. Thank you very much.


I have the fin measurements in another thread. Fin Measurements. The measurements are in centimeters instead of millimeters. I have no idea why I typed it that way. The tube part of the fin can is 7cm long.

scigs30 08-15-2010 02:49 PM

Sounds good, I will make a 7 cm body tube for the fin can. Is the .050 thickness close to 3/64th of an inch? .047

tbzep 08-15-2010 02:58 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by scigs30
Sounds good, I will make a 7 cm body tube for the fin can. Is the .050 thickness close to 3/64th of an inch? .047


BTW, that fin thickness was already on the template I pulled from JimZ. It's just an average thickness. I have two Screaming Eagles and the fins are thinner at the top than the bottom. Believe it or not, I was able to see and feel the difference in only a few thousandths with my fingers, so I mic'd it to be sure I wasn't hallucinating. They varied between the two models and also between the individual fins. Near the top it was .046 to .048", and down at the bottom it varied from .057 to .062".

scigs30 08-15-2010 04:01 PM

Tbzep, I want to keep the fins thin so they somewhat look like the plastic fin unit. I am thinking of going with 3/64 or 1/16 basswood sheet. Since you have the fins, which one of these would look close to the original? Also what size is the parachute and how do I duplicate the shock cord mount? Did Centuri use rubber shock cord or elastic shock cord? Sorry for all the questions.

tbzep 08-15-2010 06:51 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by scigs30
Tbzep, I want to keep the fins thin so they somewhat look like the plastic fin unit. I am thinking of going with 3/64 or 1/16 basswood sheet. Since you have the fins, which one of these would look close to the original? Also what size is the parachute and how do I duplicate the shock cord mount? Did Centuri use rubber shock cord or elastic shock cord? Sorry for all the questions.


The trailing edge will be pretty close to 1/16, which is .0625. You might even be able to sand an ever so slight taper to them toward the leading edge. The edges are not squared, they are like most plastic fins where they look like a slightly rounded sharp taper to an almost knife edge. That makes the fins look even thinner than they actually are.

My Eagles both have dry rotted 12" black and yellow checkered chutes, very similar in design to SEMROC's chutes. They both had elastic cord material also. The shock cord mount is a three hole foil and nylon card that can be seen in Centuri catalogs. Here is an example.

BTW, one of my blue cans is much lighter. The color is even and is the same underneath the decal, so it looks like they didn't have enough blue pellets in their mix to get the color right. I have seen them with blue nose cones, but both of mine have red. The roll pattern decal at the joint of the fin can and body tube is different on the two, so I suspect they were manufactured at significantly different times. They have the same red/blue/chrome pattern, but is about half as thick as the other. The smaller one measuring in at just over 1/4" and the larger at about 1/2" thick.

scigs30 08-15-2010 07:15 PM

Thank you for the information. What material could I use for the shock cord mount?

tbzep 08-15-2010 07:26 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by scigs30
Thank you for the information. What material could I use for the shock cord mount?


The original stuff is a sticky backed foil with a little bit of nylon thread running through it. Except for the nylon threads, it is very similar to the foil decals that they provided for the Screaming Eagle, and also those little black and silver decals with recommended motors.

I bet somebody on YORF has an open and unbuilt Centuri kit that could photograph one for you. The only ones I have are stuck inside rockets where I can't get a decent shot.

scigs30 08-15-2010 08:05 PM

I have seen pictures of this rocket with orange plastic can and blue plastic can.

tbzep 08-15-2010 08:37 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by scigs30
I have seen pictures of this rocket with orange plastic can and blue plastic can.


I have only seen the blue fin cans, but I've seen both red and blue cones. I like the red cone with blue fin can best.

Do you think the fin cans were red but looked orange due to a color imbalance in the photo?


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:48 AM.

Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.0.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.