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Old 04-29-2014, 11:50 PM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Ft. Thomas, KY
Posts: 8,596
Default Ebay rescue rockets

I picked up another lot of birds tonight, which got me thinking about how many I have in my flying circus. Instead of driving myself crazy trying to do it in my head, I let the voices argue among themselves and checked my Rocket Reviews list. This is what I came up with.

Quest - Area 51 Saucer This was an afterthought that turned out to be the deal of the lot. Everything else in the box was junk, but this one just needed a little spit, polish, and super glue. 3 flights to date.

MPC - Zenith 2 Payloader Unflown as of this date. Not sure if the booster is too tight to properly separate.

FSI - Dart Came unknowingly loaded with an FSI A4-4. I just need to get the nerve up to fly it this year.

Estes - X-16 Missing fins replaced and waiting for paint.

Estes - Voyager II Pretty badly beaten, and I initially figured I'd build a clone around the original nose cone, but it turned out to be restorable and has logged several flights. Still not painted. 3 flights to date.

Estes - V-2 Badly built old K-series V-2. It's flown, but the fins were cut improperly, and every landing means another break. 1 flight to date.

Estes - Star Wars X-Wing Fighter Bought from the estate of a New York high school teacher. Missing a "pincher". Flown at NARAM 55. 1 flight to date.

Estes - Star Wars R2D2 Still needs some work, but should fly this summer.

Estes - Star Trek Came with a launcher and everything. Ugly, but carries itself with vintage cool. 1 flight to date.

Estes - Star Blazer My first Ebay rescue. 6 flights to date, the last coming 11 years ago.

Estes - Sky-Hi Sadly too far gone to save, but the nose cone lives on.

Estes - Screamer Poorly built Screamer that came with the Apogee Whiz, but it came with an unused decal. Unflown at the moment.

Estes - Satellite Interceptor Really rough when it arrived, but I did a lot of work and got it looking pretty decent, then printed off some decals for it. 4 flights to date.

Estes - Sandhawk Made the bid and had no expectations of winning the auction, but I was the only bidder. Broken fin repaired and flew it at NARAM 55. 1 flight to date.

Estes - Raven This kit was sold as "started, but complete and in good condition". It turned out to be two rockets, both mutilated. Eventually became an Estes National Aerospace Plane after I rebuilt the STEPPED ON nose cone. No idea what the second rocket was.

Estes - Mini Shuttle Replaced missing fin. A8-3 flight at B6-4 Field. Should have gone with the B6-4 like I do every other BT-60 bird.

Estes - Mini Bomarc Brittle old wreck that looks like it was painted with nail polish. 2 flights to date. Retired.

Estes - Micron Nicely done. Great patina. 1 flight to date.

Estes - Honest John A nicely done vintage kit, but fins are wiggly from repeated landings that turned the body tube to an almost cloth-like consistency. One flight to date.

Estes - Galactic Taxi Badly built with crooked fins. Replaced and straightened the fins and flew it on an A8-3.

Estes - E.A.C. Viper Broke a fin in a past life. Rebuilt as a three fin bird in that life. UGLY! 5 flights to date.

Estes - Challenger-1 Badly abused bird that fell apart when I pulled the nose cone out. This was a good thing because it meant I could replace the typing paper original body tube. 1 flight to date.

Estes - Bullpup 12D Replaced broken fin and flew it on a B6-4. Very squirrelly.

Estes - Beta A hot pink mess that came with the equally ugly Shrike. I'd still like to fly it as a two stager. 1 flight to date.

Estes - Astron Shrike Ugliest Shrike in existence. Looks like the kid painted it with whatever he found in the garage. 1 flight to date.

Estes - Astron Apogee Whiz Another afterthought that I eventually decided I had to repair and fly. The nose cone had been lost and replaced with a balsa sculpture which was lost on the first flight. 1 flight to date.

Ebay - Flying Turd The one that started it all. Bought back when the ability of Ebay to show photographs was in its infancy. It was listed as an Estes Wildfire, so I bought it to cannibalize the cone for a Satellite Interceptor clone. When it arrived it was a BT-55 upscale, badly built with epoxy and ugly as sin. Wound up redeeming itself by being a stellar performer at B6-4 Field. 10 flights to date.

CMR - Effy This one took some detective work to find out just what it was. Featherweight and screams off the pad. 1 flight to date.

Centuri Engineering Co. - Screaming Eagle Liked this one so much I did it twice. The first one was a starter kit from Australia, complete with launcher and a broken fin. Flew it once. The second was perfect with just the right amount of patina. 4 flights to date.

Centuri Engineering Co. - S.S.V. Scorpion This one was a heartbreaker. It was so badly beaten when I got it that I shored it up as best I could and flew it once. Cannibalized for parts. 1 flight to date.

Centuri Engineering Co. - Mach 10 I was thrilled to land this one, but the flights are disappointing when compared to my clones. 2 flights to date. Retired.

Centuri Engineering Co. - Jayhawk Rough old original. Flown once and retired. 1 flight to date. Retired.

Estes - Nova Star Ship Too far gone to restore, but the nose cone went to clone a Scout Ship Nova and the motor mount just pulled out. It was unglued!!!

Estes - Challenger II I first thought this one was going to join the Nova Star Ship in the junk pile because the body tube was badly bent, but the fin unit just pulled off and I was able to cut the body tube and insert a coupler to shore the bent section up. Other than that, the tube is yellowed and the decals chipping, but that's just "patina".

Estes - Vindicator (2) Neither of the two were flightworthy, but one was pretty obviously the better of the two. I scavenged the fins from one to complete the other. Not pretty, but it's all there.

Estes - Sunbird One of those "why?" birds from Estes. 4fnc and generic looks. Reattached a fin and flew it once. Shock cord broke and the rocket body chased its tail down while the nose cone and streamer fell straight to earth. The two pieces nearly collided at the 50-foot mark. Retired.

Estes - Comet Replaced missing fin and flew it on a B6-4. Left it ugly.
__________________
Bill Eichelberger
NAR 79563

http://wallyum.blogspot.com/

I miss being SAM 0058

Build floor: Centuri Design Contest F-150 Hurricane Estes - Low Boom SST Semroc - Gee'Hod, Shrike, SST Shuttle

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

Ready to fly: Estes - Multi-Roc, Solar Sailer II Semroc - Earmark, Snake Jumper

Last edited by A Fish Named Wallyum : 08-05-2014 at 11:01 PM. Reason: Adding more rockets
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