First - Niiiice rocket.
Second - I respect a man who grills with charcoal.

__________________
John Adams
"There is a lot of rocketry under 20ns"

That's a rocket above the size I would feel confident flying on the E9.
I hope there was next to ZERO wind and the rod was at least 48"

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

GH,

Keep in mind, it's a thin walled 2.6" tube with a styrene cone, so it's pretty light, as long as Bill didn't lather on the paint.

I know the E9 is not the most potent motor off the pad, but in my experience, its reputation for being too mild is undeserved.

That said, I agree, no wind and a 48" rod

Doug

.

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YORF member #11

My sentiments as well.

The more examples I see of that rocket, the more it grows on me. Real nice build.

__________________
Retro-grouch

A very fine build Bill; that red mylar does indeed pop. Will we be seeing you again at NARAM this year?

__________________
John
YORF #003
SAM #004

Thanks.
As for grilling, I go both ways. I'd grill with old tires if the smoke didn't block out the sun.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

Thanks. As for NARAM, I hope so, but it's too early to tell. I'd like to at least make it up for Friday-Monday or something of the sort.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

You guys know me better than that. Long rod, 10 mph wind, 12 inch chute. (I liked the color of the 12" better than the 15". ) I like the E9s. Even after NARAM. It's the C11s that have me a bit pissed lately.

__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Mini Dactyl Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Marauder, Shrike, SST Shuttle

In paint: Canaroc Starfighter Scorpion Estes F-22 Air Superiority Fighter, Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II, Xarconian Cruiser Semroc Cyber III

Ready to fly: Estes - Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Groonie Der V 1/2

When I saw the new Optima kit in the 1990 Estes catalog I knew I wanted to build and fly one of them. It was a larger rocket model than Estes had made in several years. I have wondered if the Optima was a further reaction to Enertek and it's kit line (By this time Enertek was no more) or the recently announced AeroTech kit line.

I purchased an Optima and was a little disappointed in the model. The stock BT-80 body tubes were thin and flimsy compared to what I had been working with at AeroTech. A 'D' motor seemed a little on the wimpy side, surface-mount balsa fins and a plastic parachute. No, this would not do.

Since I had access to all the AeroTech kit components a rocketeer could want, I went to work replacing the Estes parts with AeroTech components. First off, a 29mm motor mount with ejection baffle and FIN-LOK rings. This way I could fly the Optima with a low 'H' motor if I wanted. I used one of the balsa fins as a template and cut out some 1/8" plywood fins with tabs that would go through slots in the body tube and into the FIN-LOK fings.

The lower body tube was 24" long so I needed to cut another piece of 2.6" tube to make up the required length of overall body tube. I used the kit nose cone and some putty to make a smooth seam with the larger O.D. body tube.

Eight feet of 3/8" flat elastic and a 22" fabric parachute finished the modifications. The only kit parts i used was the nose cone, forward balsa strakes and decals/stickers. I not sure if the model was so much a 'modification' as it was a high-power clone.

My Optima first flew at NARAM-32 in Dallas on an AeroTech F25-6W motor. I was very pleased with the fight and have only flown the model with F25 motors. It has flown at several NARAMs and was even recovered from the pond at NARAM-35 to fly again.

The Optima is a good-looking design. One of these days I will have to build the Semroc Mini Optima I purchased at NARAM-52.

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__________________
Bob
S.A.M. # 0014