#31
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Bill Simon has said he wished that he'd done that tube size naming some other way (he claims responsibility). And yes, that's exactly how BT-60 got to be BT-60. If you look at the oldest Estes catalogs you'll see the first place it was used is the Ranger and Cobra - both three motor cluster models.
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Bernard Cawley NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member SAM 0061 AMA 42160 KG7AIE |
#32
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It seemed like a good idea at the time...
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After wrestling with the (very rough) attached section, I wish Bill had done it some other way, too. "If the tube ends in '-J,' that means it's 2.75" long? Say WHAT?" "And why do the big letters have little (i.e., shorter) tubes?" .
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Jay Goemmer "Centuri Guy"/"Tau Zero" YORF Member 28 Semroc SAM #0029 NAR 86131 "I think about organizing things all the time. Never seems to happen. I find something that piques my interest and I'm off on a quest. Or a Centuri. " --Bill Eichelberger, 02/22/2022 “Centuri fret buzz in an updated form.” Bill “Wallyum” Eichelberger re: Estes Flutter-By 03 Sept 2014 |
#33
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I'm not sure but I think that some of the Estes tube length length codes just sort of "happened". If you think that the J designation for a 2.75" tube was interesting. What about the BT-5T and BT-20AE? Both tubes are 1.5" long. There were some tubes that had some pattern to their length code (i.e. BT-5BJ (2.0"), BT-20DJ (4.0"), BT-63CJ (3.0"), BT-50EE (5.5")), and then there were some that had codes specific to a particular kit (i.e. 1298 X-Wing Fighter used an XW length code, but the LL-1, BT-3, BT-5, and BT-20 tubes were all different lengths).
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'Til next time, Mike Toelle NAR 31692 L1 SAM 0373 |
#34
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Centuri Thunderroc 5340
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Centuri Thunderroc 5340 / ST-16180 (3) / 1.640” O.D. / 1.600” I.D. (1980 - 1983) Thanks yet again!
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Jay Goemmer "Centuri Guy"/"Tau Zero" YORF Member 28 Semroc SAM #0029 NAR 86131 "I think about organizing things all the time. Never seems to happen. I find something that piques my interest and I'm off on a quest. Or a Centuri. " --Bill Eichelberger, 02/22/2022 “Centuri fret buzz in an updated form.” Bill “Wallyum” Eichelberger re: Estes Flutter-By 03 Sept 2014 |
#35
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I don’t think Bill will take the blame for the letter suffixes. I always just assumed that this happened the same way the nose cone letters seem to have happened....pretty much when a new size (or shape) was needed they just incremented the letter by one. Although if that were strictly true I’d expect the body of the K-1 Scout to be BT-30A and the nose cone to be BNC-30A. For the body tube that turns out to be right, but the nose cone is BNC-30D. Oh well....
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Bernard Cawley NAR 89040 L1 - Life Member SAM 0061 AMA 42160 KG7AIE |
#36
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Per the Centuri plans at JimZ's, it is catalog #71043. Searching the Semroc "Classic Cross Reference" pages, that catalog # is a PNC-60AH. Interestingly, catalog #s 71013 and 71014 also show as PNC-60AH. So I would take it with a grain of salt. http://www.semroc.com/Store/scripts/xref.asp |
#37
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It also seems like it could be one of those things that get set up initially, and then whoever picks up the process has to muddle through it. Whether the muddling is successful, though... It's additional proof that "your mileage may vary." .
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Jay Goemmer "Centuri Guy"/"Tau Zero" YORF Member 28 Semroc SAM #0029 NAR 86131 "I think about organizing things all the time. Never seems to happen. I find something that piques my interest and I'm off on a quest. Or a Centuri. " --Bill Eichelberger, 02/22/2022 “Centuri fret buzz in an updated form.” Bill “Wallyum” Eichelberger re: Estes Flutter-By 03 Sept 2014 |
#38
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Back in the 50's and 60's money was pretty tight, especially for hobbies. The Estes/Centuri folks probably never had a clue how big the company would grow, much less realize how many dozens of nose cones and tubes they would eventually carry. I imagine when they came up with designations, they figured they wouldn't need something extremely organized for just a few variations.
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I love sanding. |
#39
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UPDATE: 26 Feb 2019
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Here's what I've got for now. It's not entirely complete, but it's been languishing on my hard drive for a month now without any updates. (I was laid off [again] recently, so the whole job search scenario has been occupying my time.) Please note the few "red letter" entries, for which I still need solid information. Submit any questions/corrections/etc. on this thread. Thanks! Cheers,
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Jay Goemmer "Centuri Guy"/"Tau Zero" YORF Member 28 Semroc SAM #0029 NAR 86131 "I think about organizing things all the time. Never seems to happen. I find something that piques my interest and I'm off on a quest. Or a Centuri. " --Bill Eichelberger, 02/22/2022 “Centuri fret buzz in an updated form.” Bill “Wallyum” Eichelberger re: Estes Flutter-By 03 Sept 2014 |
#40
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Awesome work, everyone.
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