Hey Everyone,
I just spoke w/Christine at Estes (very nice lady, btw) who informed me that the Dark Energy kit is a definite release and is due around Aug/Sep timeframe.

The reason this particular kit is important to many of us BARs is that it marks the return of PNC-55CB (aka the Odyssey/Rigel 3 nosecone) making clones of those kits a possibility once again.

When I explained why I was asking about this particular part, she put me on hold and went back and talked to one of the builders who was engineering the kit (JumpJet was that you?) He told her that the part for the prototype was indeed taken from an old Odyssey kit and that it had been sent out as a master to make new moulds. Hopefully there wont be any changes made in the re-tooling process.

JumpJet, if you can shed any more light on this it's always appreciated...

Don

the re-release of the 55cb is good news indeed!

Yes, I can shed some light on this. The tooling for the original nose cone is no longer with us. I recreated the nose cone from scratch useing cad. The original was made by hand so there were NO dimensions for all those details on the nose cone. This new replacement is a close relative to the original but not an exact copy.


John Boren

John:

Is Dark Energy the model with the built-up body whose prototype you showed at NARCON?

I don't know anything about a top secret prototype that was shown at NARCON that only NARCON attendees may or may not have seen before it was or possibly wasn’t destroyed before returning home.

This is a picture of the Dark Energy model that used the original nose cone from years gone by.


John Boren

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Sooo . . . The goal being maximum drag and maximum visual "interaction"?

Motor waster!

Just Jerry

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Jerry,


This model goes a heck of a lot higher then your standard flying saucer, Cone, Spool, or other high drag type of model and I fllown more of these myself then I care to admit too. But yes, it allows you to fly a C powered model in smaller size field. It still flies hundreds of feet up on a C size motor, it just doesn't go out of site.

Oh, and by the way it is COOL looking watching it fly.


John Boren

I probably should have said .

HI JOHN.

Jerry (not dead yet)

Jerry,


Were those two photos there before on your original post since I just now saw them for the firts time.
!
Yep, thought you were against motor burners. I for one love all type of motor burner models expecially now that I work for a rocket company that sells motors.

By the way, love your model although it could use a bit of paint to make it look pretty.

John Boren

1. I often edit my posts shortly after posting and sometimes then add the attachments.

2. Minutes between our posts. We should both get a life.

3. Nobody is more in favor of motor wasters than I, and nobody enjoys added performance to alleged motor wasters than I. Piston launch a POINT!!!

Just Jerry

See USR motors. BTW paint and decals, who needs those?!?
"Rockets are a necessary evil." - Gary Rosenfield