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  #1  
Old 02-21-2010, 07:23 AM
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dlazarus6660 dlazarus6660 is offline
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Default Estes Star Booster Rocket or Glider?

I found this while searching for a different project last fall and keep coming back and asking 'Was this ever offered as a kit?'

Can someone tell me if this is a rocket or glider?

Was this ever offered as a kit?

Who is the designer?

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/ca...s97/97estb.html

Last edited by dlazarus6660 : 02-21-2010 at 07:31 AM. Reason: more info
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Old 02-21-2010, 09:22 AM
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It never made it to production... Glider or otherwise.
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Old 02-21-2010, 10:43 AM
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But it wasn't intended to be a glider...................rear parachute ejection.

Joe
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Old 02-21-2010, 05:50 PM
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Default Tell me more

Joe,

Tell me more!!

Daniel
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Old 02-21-2010, 06:07 PM
CaninoBD CaninoBD is offline
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Mike Dofferler comment on it in this post
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Old 02-22-2010, 07:14 AM
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mojo1986 mojo1986 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dlazarus6660
Joe,

Tell me more!!

Daniel


Length 18" (45.7 cm)
Diameter 1.6" (39.7 mm)
Wingspan 9.5" (24.1 cm)
Detailed display nozzles

Flies on C engines with a short delay, so probably wasn't going to be a high performance bird. I sure like the looks of this one, though. By the way, I'm getting this info from the Ninfinger link you supplied (had to get out my magnifying glass).

Joe
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Old 02-22-2010, 08:29 PM
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blackshire blackshire is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dlazarus6660
I found this while searching for a different project last fall and keep coming back and asking 'Was this ever offered as a kit?'

Can someone tell me if this is a rocket or glider?

Was this ever offered as a kit?

Who is the designer?

http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/ca...s97/97estb.html
Starcraft Boosters, Inc. developed several iterations of the Star Booster (see: www.starbooster.com/desig.htm and www.starbooster.com/starhawk1.pdf ). The Estes kit-that-never-was depicted the earliest version, which looked like North American's V-tailed B8G booster (see: http://www.astronautix.com/graphics/s/shutbnar.jpg and http://www.astronautix.com/lvs/shuttle.htm ) that they proposed during NASA's Phase B Space Shuttle design study.

The V-tailed version of the Star Booster would have used a LOX/kerosene-powered Ukrainian Zenit first stage that would have slid into the "glove" of the Star Booster's fuselage. To power its return to the launch site, the booster would have had a single turbofan engine mounted in its forward fuselage (with the air intake in the nose and a flush-mounted exhaust vent on either side of the fuselage).

The Star Booster was to have been fabricated out of aluminum, which was intended to function as a "heat-sink" structure during re-entry after staging at around Mach 3. I corresponded with Dr. Maxime Faget (who championed the original straight-winged Space Shuttle design that would have re-entered at a very nose-high angle of attack in a manner similar to the blunt Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space capsules) regarding the Star Booster not long before he died. He told me that the basic Star Booster concept was sound, but that it would have needed some kind of modest TPS (Thermal Protection System) to prevent the vehicle's aluminum structure from undergoing deformation under load during re-entry due to the high thermal gradients across the structure. The undersides of the fuselage, wings, and tail would have gotten pretty hot during re-entry, while their upper surfaces in the "lee" of the onrushing airstream would have remained cool, and aluminum can't resist such thermal gradient-induced deformation as titanium and Inconel-X (what the X-15 was made of) can.
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Old 02-24-2010, 03:28 PM
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Default Wow

WOW,

I like the concept, sooooo... any one make a model of this puppy!
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Old 02-24-2010, 06:57 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dlazarus6660
WOW,

I like the concept, sooooo... any one make a model of this puppy!
I'd love to see Starlight Model Rockets kit the Star Booster--the name tie-in alone would be great! Any of the Star Booster versions would make a good rear-motor (with a parachute- or streamer-recovered internal motor pod) boost-glider.
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http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
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  #10  
Old 02-24-2010, 09:16 PM
FlyBack FlyBack is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blackshire
... Any of the Star Booster versions would make a good rear-motor (with a parachute- or streamer-recovered internal motor pod) boost-glider.


Hmmm... I'm thinking, scale it up about 25% and convert it to R/c. Seriously. Motor pod ejection could trigger rubber band loaded elevators (trimmed for glide). A Spektrum AR6400 receiver on the ailerons a-la Edmonds Arcie II for steering. The whole flight pack could be done for about 5-6 grams. Fly it on a D12-3 or maybe an E9. Yup, I'm like'n it.

Regards,

FlyBack
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