I always liked the shorter version better as well. I thought that they went to the longer tube because of stability with the plastic nose cone, but Rocksim belies that. I think you are correct that they used up all the 16.4" tubes and reduced the number of separate parts to keep in nventory. The BT-55V was used in several kits, but the BT-55 was used in many more.

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Carl McLawhorn
NAR#4717 L2
semroc.com