#1
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Estes Astro tube length?
Hello All,
Tonight I was looking at the online "plan scan" of the Estes Astro kit, #1937 (see: http://plans.rocketshoppe.com/estes/est1937/est1937.pdf ). What is the length of its BT-20 body tube? If it is--as I'm guessing--the same length as the body tubes in the Estes Viking and Wizard kits (9" long, if memory serves), either of them could be kit-bashed to make an Astro, since all three rockets use the same BT-20 plastic nose cone. Its simple yet attractive decal sheet could also be easily "Excelsiorized." :-) Many thanks in advance to anyone who can help!
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: 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 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR |
#2
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I measured it at 8 and 5/8". Sounds like you could trim the 9" tube.
Bob |
#3
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BT-20B, 8.65 inches.
I think..... Allen |
#4
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I thank you both very much for your replies! The 9" tube length I had in mind was for the Centuri Viking (which they also sold to Scouts as the Akela-1); the body tube of the later Estes Viking (as I recall from ones I had) seemed a bit shorter. I don't think Estes created a new tube length for the Astro (they reused/reuse existing-length tubes as much as possible), so it's likely that the Astro used the same BT-20B that is used in their Viking and Wizard kits.
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: 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 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR |
#5
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In the future, someone post a list of all the dimensions of all the Estes kit B/T and N/C and part #'s. I use to have it handy but now I can't find it since my computer reboot.
Found it and it was John Brohm. N/C are in a seperate list. http://www.psc473.org/howto/EstesTubes.pdf http://www.psc473.org/howto/EstesNoseCone.pdf
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If it flies, I can crash it! |
#6
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Quote:
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: 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 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR |
#7
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One other consideration is the Astro's fin thickness, which isn't indicated in the kit's instructions. The fins' appearance in the kit insert illustration (and the *lack* of any instruction to sand their edges round) -seems- to suggest that they may be 1/16" thick (the similar-size fins of the Estes Mark [Kit #K-2] were 1/16" thick); what do you all think?
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: 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 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR |
#8
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Quote:
I'm measuring 3/32". If i had to round to a 16th", i'd say 1/16th". |
#9
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Quote:
Looking at the Astro's fin pattern, it looks a lot like (an) Alpha fin pattern (there have been several similar yet perceptibly different variations of the Alpha's fin planform over the decades). It's enough to make me wonder if the Astro, which was only in production for a very short time (just a year or two, if memory serves) [CORRECTION: it was in the Estes catalog from 1985 to 1991, although that's still a relatively short production "life"], was a SPEV (Spare Parts Elimination Vehicle) kit that was created to use up all of the last of one particular Alpha fin planform, to create space for the "successor" Alpha fins (maybe when they replaced old die-cutters?).
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Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see: 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 All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com. NAR #54895 SR Last edited by blackshire : 07-26-2013 at 04:27 AM. Reason: This ol' hoss done forgot somethin'. |
#10
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Measuring the kit. Not sure how else i would do it.
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