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Edmonds Aerospace - CiCi

Manufacturer:Edmonds Aerospace
Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Contributed by John Thro

Edmonds CiCiBrief:
The Edmonds CiCi is a small, very easy to build boost glider that ejects the spent motor casing when the ejection charge goes off. The parts are laser cut and fit together perfectly.

Construction:
Here's the parts list:

  • 8 laser-cut balsa pieces
  • 1 balsa nose cone
  • 1 motor tube
  • 1 l/8" launch lug

That's it!

The instructions were illustrated and very easy to follow. The instructions consist of a single one-sided 8.5" x 11" sheet.

All of the glider parts are laser-cut balsa and they fit together perfectly. The parts are entirely cut out, with no trimming or separating from a balsa sheet needed. It would be possible to end up with some parts misaligned but taking care to make sure the pieces don't "droop" out of alignment until the glue is dry is simple enough. In fact, I pretty much just held them in place by hand for a few minutes and that was good enough to keep everything aligned until the glue was dry.

One possible "gotcha": When the nose cone is installed, it looks like it's partially blocking the vent hole in the side of the motor tube. To supposedly "fix" this, I carved quite a bit of balsa from around the nose cone shoulder in order to open up the vent hole. After I did this and glued the nose cone on, I contacted Rob Edmonds by email, who told me that the vent hole is supposed to be about halfway obstructed by the nose cone shoulder. Oh well. As it turns out, this doesn't seem to make any appreciable difference either way. My sons and I have built three CiCi's, have flown two of them, and the motor ejected just fine from both of them.

The motor tube is glued to the top of the front of the fuselage. It is possible to misalign so it's not pointing precisely straight ahead. The launch lug is glued onto the side of the fuselage and against the motor tube, so the lug is automatically aligned by those two parts.

I've managed to build CiCi's with the vent hole on the same side as the launch lug as well as on the opposite side but that doesn't seem to make any difference in flight. I'd probably recommend having the vent hole on the opposite side from the launch lug, but I don't recall what the instructions say to do.

I used Aleene's Original Tacky Glue (in the gold bottle) for all construction. It's similar to Elmer's white glue but is thicker and supposedly doesn't shrink when it dries.

Edmonds CiCi

Finishing:
I absolutely love the finishing of the CiCi. There is none! Flying them bare and without being airfoiled is recommended. That's right up my alley.

You can "finish" the CiCi by coloring it with a marker or highlighter if you like and for the sake of improved visibility.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
My first CiCi flight was on an Estes A8-3. My main problem was not knowing how loosely the motor should fit in the motor tube in order to eject properly. I probably spent ten minutes, using very slightly larger and larger strips of masking tape on the motor, to get it just tight enough that it wouldn't fall out on the launch pad with the igniter clips hooked up.

Flight was perfectly straight up to maybe 100 feet, although I'm a poor judge of altitudes. The motor ejected perfectly, didn't hit anyone, and the glider performed a nice flat glide into the grass.

Second flight was on an Estes C6-5. Boost was good but the CiCi arched over considerably before the motor ejected. The glide was again very nice and the landing was in the grass.

Edmonds CiCi Third flight was on an Estes C6-3, as I thought the long delay of the C6-5 had caused the glider to arc over before ejecting the motor. On this flight too though, the glider arched over quite a bit before ejecting the motor and transitioned into a nice glide down into the grass once again.

Recovery:
There was no damage whatsoever other than some grass stains on the leading edge of the wings. No burning or scorching, no cracked or broken fuselage, nothing.

The only possible CON would be the fact that the motor is ejected from the model and free falls to the ground. Every CiCi flight should probably be a head's up flight for this reason.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I really like the CiCi. These flights were trial runs for an upcoming Cub Scout event, the Pack 1283 Rocket Launch 2005 coming up this June. I've purchased enough CiCi kits for all of the Cub Scouts in my den to build one for himself. Rob Edmonds has a great pricing program for schools and scouts. Just go to his website to take a look.

Main PROs: Very simple to build, perfect alignment of laser-cut parts, cool flight profile.

Main CONs: Ejecting the motor to freely fall back to the ground at burnout. This doesn't particularly bother me, but I know some people object to "spitting" a rocket's motor without a streamer.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

    Flight Log

    DateRocket NameMotor(s)AltitudeNotes
    1999-11-20David Fergus's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- straighter flight with an A than a 1/2A, still a little erratic, but not much. good glide in a...
    1999-11-20David Fergus's Edmonds Aerospace CiCi1/2A6-2- erratic flight up, good circular glide down
    2000-03-04David Fergus's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- ballistic flight path, didn't pull out of dive before it hit the turf, broke engine mount off.
    2001-05-05Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!A8-3- The CiCi did a big upside down U but once the ejection charge fired, it straightened out and flew...
    2001-06-17Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!B6-4- A little windy for this little one. It floated rather than flew, then I had to fight off a snake...
    2001-06-24 Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!A8-3- Drifted off toward the woods, but only made it to the edge. Great flight, but one of these times I...
    2001-07-22Sam Eichelberger's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-6- Fin broke on landing, but overall a nice, high, straight flight.
    2001-07-22Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!B6-0- Sailed off into construction site, flying straight and true. Recovered with little difficulty....
    2002-05-05Malcolm Smith's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- First flight built exactly as directions stated. Did a roll after ejection and began to glide....
    2002-05-19Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!B4-4- Nice long flight. Landed 20' from pad.
    2002-05-19Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!C5-3- Great flight, but long walk and search before recovery.
    2002-05-19Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!C6-3- Engine didn't fully eject and glider nosedived. Recovered intact.
    2002-05-19Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!C5-3-
    2002-08-08Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!A8-3- Not a great field for this kind of rocket, but I got lucky. Long recovery glide across B6-4 Field.
    2002-09-01Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!A8-3- Recovered at edge of the field after a long glide. My nephew then broke it in the car on the trip...
    2003-08-31Jim Salem's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiC6-3- Spectacular flight arcing over at the top. Delay smoke came at the end of the arc while the CiCi...
    2003-08-31Jim Salem's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Fine flight. Seemed a little late on ejection. Glided down in nice large circles.
    2003-08-31Jim Salem's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- Perfect motor for the CiCi. Went ~300 ft. high. Nice spiral glide down (spiral was about 100 ft....
    2004-04-04Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Fast boost with slight roll. Near apogee it was heading across street into forbidden zone. Motor...
    2004-05-22Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Nice boost, pitching down while under thrust. After ejection, performed a gentle S-turn downwind....
    2004-08-08Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Pitched toward belly off end of rod, then straightened out for a good boost. Did roll or two near...
    2004-09-18Dana Ryman's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-4- Went for NARTREK silver 30 sec duration. This puppy did 36 with a wonderful glide to boot! I...
    2004-11-13Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Fast boost, then coasted into the wind. After ejection, turned downwind before circling back to a...
    2005-02-12Edward Chess's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- 35 second duration flight.
    2005-04-02Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- Turned about 30 degrees off vertical off end of rod, then flew straight for rest of burn. Gently...
    2005-04-10Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Fast boost, then turned into wind at apogee. Ejected motor, then continued upwind for a few...
    2005-07-03George Beever's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- First flight, minimal glide.
    2005-07-31Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Immediately veered downwind off end of rod. Did a cool barrel roll during boost, then ejected...
    2005-09-18Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Twisted on rod, then veered off about 30 degrees immediately after leaving rod. Ejected motor...
    2005-10-16Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Some corkscrew during boost. Ejected near apogee. Fast glide, with small left turn, completing...
    2006-01-28Matthew Bond's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- First Flight! Straight up under thrust, arced over on its back during the coast. Flipped over...
    2006-01-28Todd Mullin's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-2- First flight. Great boost. Trimmed perfect except it didn't circle. Flew out to carrier land in...
    2006-02-25Todd Mullin's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2-
    2006-02-25Todd Mullin's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiC6-3-
    2006-03-16Hank Helmen's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-293 feet Good launch into an erratic arch , though generally in an upward trajectory. Nice smooth circling...
    2006-04-29Todd Mullin's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-4- Odd glide. Model is trimed to turn clockwise but the wind kept trying to turn it...
    2006-06-03Todd Mullin's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-4- Perfect boost...straight into the sun... Lost track.
    2006-10-08Edward Chess's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Very nice glide.
    2007-04-14Geoffrey Kerbel's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-0200 feet Nice boost with smaller motor. Much better glide with slight trim adjustments. Smooth landing...
    2007-04-14Geoffrey Kerbel's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiC6-3- Bad weathercock at launch, 30 deg. then straightened up. Heard motor pop but no sight of glider....
    2007-04-22Hank Helmen's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-4125 feet Another good flight on this bird. The B6-4 seems to be good power for this rocket. Circling 40...
    2007-06-10Edward Chess's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA3-3- Nice glide in clockwise circles due to some clay on right wing.
    2007-07-01Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- Fast takeoff with 2 rolls during boost. After ejection, very steep spiral dive back to ground. ...
    2007-07-01Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- ast takeoff with one roll during boost. After ejection, settled into a broad left-hand spiral to...
    2007-09-09Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- After sticking on rod twice in one day, the third flight was great. Straight boost. Glided for...
    2007-09-09Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Rocket bound on rod and never took off, even though it was freshly cleaned. This was the second...
    2007-09-09Bob Cox's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Rocket bound on rod and never took off. This was the second time this happened for this rocket,...
    2007-09-14Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- 17 second glide.
    2007-09-14Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-4- 27 second glide
    2007-09-24Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- 23 seconds glide
    2007-09-30Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- arched boost, straight flight, longish walk 27 seconds
    2007-10-07Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- 20 seconds, straight glide, need to retrim
    2008-02-03George Beever's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-2- Decent boost, nose-dived a bit before settling into a glide that was rather nose-down. Third...
    2008-03-01Mark Rose's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Bone stock build, with a little CA reinforcement. Straight boost, flat and fast glide.
    2008-03-01Mark Rose's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-4- Stock build, with a little CA reinforcement. Straight boost, flat and fast glide (no circling)....
    2008-03-09Mark Rose's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Did not boost straight--did not get enough height--ejection just before impact. Glider flew into...
    2008-03-09Mark Rose's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiC6-3- Nice boost to 350' or so, ejection just before apogee. Glide went on for well over a minute--many...
    2008-07-05George Beever's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- Gliding? More like falling with style.
    2008-11-16Mark Rose's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- Little too windy--glided okay, but hit somewhat fast, nose low
    2008-11-16 Mark Rose's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- Excellent flight--great motor on a semi-windy day
    2008-11-29Glenn Little's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-8- Maiden flight for this; 2nd launch of T-day '08. My first glider-type rocket, I could become...
    2009-02-16Mark Grisco's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiC6-3- it went crazy. ten feet off the ground for about 200 feet and slamed into the ground. it...
    2009-03-21Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- arched boost, ejection about 40 feet from ground, but glider performed well for the last few...
    2009-10-12Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-2- another good flight, higher this time, flew into a tree, recovered via a long stick
    2009-10-12Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-2- good clean flight
    2010-07-10Edward Chess's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-2- Motor ejected just past apogee, good boost, long flight in wind. Got slow circles due to clay...
    2010-09-18Mark Rose's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiC6-3- Weathercocked horizontal into land shark mode at about 250' AGL--good thing it only had a 3 second...
    2011-01-23 Jeffrey Gortatowsky's CiCiA8-3- Flew VERY well. Probably a 30 or 40 second flight. Big problem, no turn! It flew a LONG...
    2011-02-20 Jeffrey Gortatowsky's CiCiA8-3- Picture perfect boost. Excellent circling glide now that put a little clay on an outer tip. 30+...
    2011-03-05Jeffrey Gortatowsky's CiCiA8-3- Super flight. About 30 seconds. Turned well. Might be a tad nose heavy. Took just a teeny tiny bit...
    2011-04-22Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- snapped boom on landing
    2011-04-25Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiA8-3- great glide, started to gain altitube as it found a thermal.
    2011-06-15Matt Gillard's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB6-4- Came in hard, snapped boom.
    2011-09-03 Jeffrey Gortatowsky's CiCiA8-3- Spectacular flight and a crowd pleaser. A duration of 45 seconds. Landed on the pavement in the...
    2011-09-18 Jeffrey Gortatowsky's CiCiA8-3- Excellent boost and glide for 34+ seconds.
    2011-12-04Jeffrey Gortatowsky's CiCiA8-3- Super flight. Huge crowd pleaser. 40+ seconds.
    2012-01-22 Jeffrey Gortatowsky's CiCiA8-3- Another excellent flight. Lost a tad more altitude to porpoising. About a 23 second flight.
    2012-04-03 Bill Eichelberger's Apogee or bust!A8-3- Perfect flight, but flew right into the high branches of a tree. Same as the 2001 flight, but...
    2012-04-29Hank Helmen's Edmonds Aerospace CiCiB4-4200 feet A very good flight for a CiCi. Straight boost at first then slight arch over until motor kicked. ...

    Comments:

    D.F. (December 1, 1999)

    1. My kit came without clay, but had the little tube marking piece. I bought it from Apogee Components over the Internet; a very easy experience with a quick arrival. 2. I too, tried a test glide in the house. I too, saw the nose down attitude. In fact, the third test glide resulted in a break in the same location as shown in the picture above. Having read the above review, I was thinking, Oh no, I bought a bum steer! I reglued the break, and took it to the local MASA launch in Elk River MN the next day anyway thinking Oh well, the failure will be spectacular. Much to my surprise, the thing flew well on both a 1/2A6-2 and an A8-3. I did not try and tinker with it to get a good test glide. I flew it as-is out of the box (plastic). SO, DO NOT TRY TO TRIM THIS GLIDER. FLY IT AS-IS! 3. Some notes on whether to finish this by painting would be appreciated, as well as some warning about not trimming before your fly. I rate this a 4. 5 on build, a 5 on flight and a 5 overall. My 10 year old daughter could do it all by herself if Dad would just get out of the way and let her do it. This review is misleading in that the builder deviated from instructions before he flew it.

    S.B. (January 1, 2001)

    The CiCi is a quick build and looks nice. It flies well on A8-3 motors, but Rob, the glider designer, told me to find a big field and put it up on a C motor. Well, I tried a B6-4 first and both wings shredded. And not at the weak points where the rudders(?) were glued to the rear wing, but in the middle of the rear wing. Not pretty! I need to research the cause and try it again. Generally, Edmonds products are easy to build, look good and fly well. The review was solid

    B.E. (May 1, 2001)

    Mine came with neither the clay or tube marker, but went together nicely. I flew it six hours after I built it, but could have gone sooner. The CiCi went up in an upside down arc and just when we were about to give it up as a power prang, the ejection charge fired, the rocket performed a loop and righted itself, then headed off for the trees still flying at between 100 and 200'. (The trees are atop a large hill.) It hit near the treetop and bounced it's way down until it got stuck about 15-20' from the ground. After a couple of whacks with a tossed stick it flew the remaining distance to the ground unharmed. Interesting flight. I can't imagine the field that you'd need to fly this one on a C6-5. I'll trim it to glide in a circle next time. Choose your engines carefully for the CiCi. Start at the bottom and work your way up or kiss this one goodbye. It's a heck of a glider.

    B.C. (May 1, 2001)

    This was first attempt at a project of this kind. I figured it would be a great way to make use of the plethora of A8-3 motors I had left over from Blast-Off Flight Packs. The build was easy and it is amazing how precisely cut the parts were. The flight of my CiCi was fine, and I didn't have anything break and was pleased to see that an modestly priced kit could perform as well as it did. Before I assembled ANYTHING on the CiCi, I contacted Rob Edmonds regarding the use of paint, sealer, tissue for the wings, etc. He informed me that it is best to build it stock as the instructions show. Hence, that is exactly what I did. Neat little glider and a perfect use for A motors!

    D.S. (January 17, 2003)

    My CiCi flies great, except when the ejection charge snaps the fuselage in half. I've had to re-glue it 4-5 times because the ejection just breaks it in half. By now, all the CA has fixed the problem. When it flies right, it really is quite nice.

    J.C.S. (August 31, 2003)

    The CiCi was the star of the show for my neighborhood rocket launch today! Flew multiple times on A8-3, B4-2, and C6-3 on a field about 400 ft. square. B4-2 flights were perfect! The C6-3 flights rocked but were on the edge of being a bit too large for this size field. Recovery was in large graceful circles. [BTW, I tried for this effect by adding a fillet along one side of the fuselage.] No breakage problems though I took the suggestion from the tip below and poked a second hole in the body tube opposite the existing one. Stock construction other than that. Highly recommended!

    J.W.M. (September 2, 2003)

    I built my CiCi in about 12 minutes. The lazer cut parts go together very precisely. 1st flight was on a A8-3. I never thought ANYTHING could fly away, out of sight and into a swamp 1/4 to 1/2 mile away on an A8-3! and on a calm day! I lost it, but returned (in long pants) to find it later that evening. I have now trimmed it to fly in circles!!

    D.W. (August 22, 2004)

    I built my CiCi in about 7 minutes, used CA throughout. No problems. I used a center cutout from an estes engine mount(a bt20 sized disc of fiber paper) glued to the inside of the left vertical stab.(for trim weight) I also dusted the model with fluorescent pink paint and then rubbed it down with steel wool for a "stained" color effect with almost no weight. Also added the additional hole for the engine to vent. I did nothing in the way of sanding or shaping. Flew it 4 times in the first outing on A-8-3's, perfect results, nice straight boost,100' circles to the ground. The kids were ecstatic, and I was amazed. GREAT KIT!!!!!

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