Estes - Little Joe II (0892)
Contributed by Matt Gillard
I built this rocket more or less at the start of my rocket building history. It was my first scale rocket, and I did not do a great job on it. Its had quite a few flights now and is starting to show wear and tear. I'm writing the review because there are so many flight logs and they need something to sit under. Construction:
To build the kit I used:
The rocket was an interesting build mainly because unlike recent Estes kits, the Little Joe II rocket requires some skill. The motor mount build was like all motor mounts, but the only modification I made was to add a length of Kevlar® cord between the motor mount and the shock cord, which was the old style elastic. The mount is then glued into the body tube. An embossed sheet of cardstock is then wrapped around the body tube using spray adhesive. (My rocket build did not have this wrap, as I ruined the wrap before this stage--this is why I originally did not write a review). Strips of card are then added to the body tube, covering the seam. The four fins are cut from a triangular strip of quite dense balsa using a fin pattern. The fins are unusual in shape. Fillets of white glue are then added to the joins between fins and body tube. Silver spray paint is used to cover the bottom part of the body tube; the top part will have a printed wrap added.
A further wrap is then added to the top of the body tube. Finishing: Construction Rating: 4 out of 5 Flight: The body tube has plenty of space for the parachute, which needs to be protected by 3-4 sheets of wadding. Flights are good, check out the logs below. Recovery: Flight Rating: 4 out of 5 Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 Flight Log
What You Can Do
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Brief:
The nose cone is a more difficult build and is probably why the rocket has been given a skill level of
three, although I think the build is more like a hard 2. The capsule is plastic and comes in several parts. Plastic
cement is needed. The trickiest part is keeping everything in place whilst the cement sets. The screw eye is then fixed
to the base of the capsule.