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Contributed by Mark Tom Stoachowiak
(Contributed - by Mark Tom Stoachowiak)
Brief
I picked up my Broadsword at a local hobby shop about 1 year ago for about
$40.00 Canadian dollars. I already have a Big Bertha and I saw the the
Broadsword and at that moment I wanted it right away thinking that it would fly
like the Big Bertha, and it does. The Broadsword is basically a scaled-up Big
Bertha designed to take Estes D's and E's. You also might remember the Super
Big Bertha the Broadsword is the same rocket that's been "Beefed Up"
to take the more powerful Estes E engine. The main difference between the two
is that the Super Big Bertha just had a regular D engine mount and it had no
stuffer tube also. Whereas the Broadsword has a stuffer tube that is 24 mm wide
and is also the engine mount all in one.
Construction
The Broadsword has the typical Estes instructions which are of pretty good
quality and are easy to follow. The Broadsword is in the Challenge series of
rockets but they could of put it in the Beta Series because it's not a hard
rocket to build at all. the only annoying thing always occurs when you try to
glue the fins on a non-slotted body tube, so when constructing the Broadsword I
bought a bottle of C/A the I glued the fins on in a minute after I went over
the root with some 5 minute epoxy to form a beautiful fillet. I also got a
longer shock cord and tied it down to the last Centering Ring at the end of the
stuffer tube. Other than that the construction was a breeze.
Finishing
I painted my Broadsword exactly like on the box ( black on top red on bottom)
and this proved very east to do. Before painting the rocket I primed the body
tube and filled in the grains in the balsa fins with some microballoon filler
mixed in with epoxy. This method works Awesome! Because your fins get much
stronger and the epoxy doesn't weigh that much because of the microballoon
powder mixed with the epoxy. Also you need only 1 coat with this stuff the sand
it and your ready to paint, 1 COAT!
Flying
The Broadsword flies like I wanted it to (like the Big Bertha. It has semi-slow
lift-offs which I like and flies to around 350 ft with a D and double that on
an E. I also replaced the 18" parachute with a 24" parachute because
I found that the 18" one was too small.
Recommended Engines: D12-3, E15-4, E15-6.
Final words
The Estes Broadsword was last produced in 1996 and I believe they stopped
producing the Broadsword along with the Shadow because of the high failure rate
of their E engine on which they were intended to fly on. I Guess they didn't
want people using Aerotech engines in their rockets.
All in all I really enjoy this kit and I believe that Estes shouldn't of
stopped producing it.
![[NAR]](/images/archive/images/link_nartitle.gif) ![[Sport Rocketry]](/images/archive/images/link_sr_logo.gif)
The following excerpt is
from "Sport Rocketry". The intention is to allow guests to get a
basic feeling about a kit. We strongly suggest that you get a copy of the
referenced Sport Rocketry and read the entire article. Inside you will find
many helpful hints in construction as well as other useful information. For
more information, use the two links above.
(Sport Rocketry - Summer 1995 - page 28 - by John Viggiano)  "It is essentially a Super Big Bertha
with a revised engine mount and new decals. "
"The engine mount tube, half-millimeter wall heavy tubing, serves as a
stuffer tube and a structural strengthener. "
"The Broadsword has die-cut balsa fins and gussets. The gussets enhance
the fin-body joint by increasing the surface area. "
"A large 24" plastic chute is included with the Broadsword.
"
"The pressure-sensitive decal sheet is large, and is dominated by the kit
name decal. "
"I used D12-3 engines, as recommended by Estes for the first flight.
"
The entire article
gives the impression is that this is a nice kit for an novice/intermediate
modeler. Flight Log| Date | Rocket Name | Motor(s) | Altitude | Notes |
|---|
| 1994-06-03 | Ron Watkins's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | Good flight-predicted altitude-295 ft. -good recovery. | | 1996-08-11 | Ron Watkins's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | Good flight-predicted altitude-295 ft. -good recovery. | | 1999-06-18 | Paul Smith's Estes Broadsword | D12-3 | - | | | 1999-07-17 | Paul Smith's Estes Broadsword | E15-4 | - | Short chuff, using a copperhead. Then a perfect, fast, straight, high flight, perfect ejection. I... | | 1999-08-07 | Paul Smith's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | Engine mount destroyed. Cato on the pad. Blast deflector seriously bent. About 15 feet of... | | 1999-08-29 | Paul Smith's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | Another very low flight, ejection only about 10' up. Essentially a cruise missile, because of the... | | 1999-09-04 | Paul Smith's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | Perfect flight. | | 1999-12-18 | Paul Smith's Estes Broadsword | E15-4 | - | Perfect flight. I caught it on the fly. One misfire (Copperhead) before proper ignition. | | 2000-09-30 | Kevin Johnson's Estes Broadsword | D12-3 | - | I've got the Super Big Bertha instead of the Broadsword. This was flight 5 and was just about as... | | 2000-10-01 | Kevin Johnson's Estes Broadsword | D12-3 | - | Flight #6. This motor is perfect for the rocket. Broke a fin loading it in the car after the... | | 2000-10-14 | Kevin Johnson's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | Flight number 7. Loaded the D12-5 by mistake. Very long delay. | | 2000-11-05 | Kevin Johnson's Estes Broadsword | D12-3 | - | Flight number 8. Heavy weather-cocking due to the wind, and parachute did not eject with nose... | | 2000-12-09 | Kevin Johnson's Estes Broadsword | D12-3 | - | Flight #9. | | 2001-03-04 | Dan Patell's Estes Broadsword | D9-4 | - | | | 2001-06-05 | Dan Doleiden's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | My brother and I rebuilt his old broadsword. It had three nice flights, and then a cato. | | 2006-07-09 | Teresa Wagstaff's Estes Broadsword | E15-4 | - | This rocket is starting to wear out,getting thinner. After she launched, the wind caught it. The... | | 2007-03-10 | Michael Nipper's Estes Broadsword | E9-6 | - | Immediately on launch, the nose cone flew off and a fireball went up 30 ft or more. Massive... | | 2007-05-12 | Michael Nipper's Estes Broadsword | E9-4 | - | Ejected the nozzle on launch, motor burned out on pad | | 2007-09-15 | Michael Nipper's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | Great flight! This a fairly light rocket for it's size, and a D12 really does it right. | | 2007-09-15 | Michael Nipper's Estes Broadsword | D12-3 | - | Rebuilt after the last CATO, flew great. | | 2008-04-19 | Michael Nipper's Estes Broadsword | D12-5 | - | Good flight, ready to go again |
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