(Contributed - by Michael Doherty - 03/10/02)
Brief:
The Estes Super Big Bertha is an upscale version of the immensely popular Big
Bertha kit. It is based on a BT-80, and has a 24mm motor mount to accommodate
the recommended D12-5 engine. Recovery is via a 24 in parachute.
Construction:
The kit contains 2 sections of BT-80, die-cut fins on 3/16th balsa, parachute,
plastic nose cone, a long stuffer tube, chute, centering rings, engine hook,
and a very narrow (1 inch) tube coupler. This kit also marks a new low in shock
cord material. An 11 1/2 inch long piece of 1/4" elastic. Without a doubt,
the single most laughable thing I've ever seen from Estes.
The instructions were clear and straightforward. No problems there. Titebond
yellow glue was used throughout. I did make a change to the shock cord
attachment, however. Instead of the usual trifold mount, I opted for a some
1/8" tubular Kevlar®
which I secured around the stuffer tube. I then fed it up through the top
centering ring (I made a small hole) and tied a 5' x 1/4" of elastic to
that. This will give me added security for the cord, and the toughness of
Kevlar®.
One other thing I did was try epoxy clay for the fin fillets. I had tacked on
the fins with CA. I then used yellow glue to add the supplied fin gussets (for
stability, I'm guessing. By rolling the clay into thin 'snakes', it went on
nicely. A finger dipped in water allowed easy manipulation of the clay into
some good fillets. Dries hard as a rock, and sands nicely. A little more
practice, and I'll be good at it. :) One thing I disliked about the kit was the
tube coupler. It is a 1" wide, thin walled piece of tube. Despite a
centering ring to help hold it, there is not enough of a shoulder to make this
as easy as it could, and should be. Other notes: I used a hand sander to put
nice sharp leading edges on the fins, which are rather large. The yellow glue
is very 'grabby' and doesn't allow for much working time. May look for
something with more working time. The chute was pre-finished and attached
quickly to the nose via a swivel.
Finishing:
No special finishing needed. Just some primer, sanding, primer, paint, paint,
clearcoat :). I did not go for the 'box perfect' finish, and instead did a
yellow/white/metallic blue 'fade' finish. The nose is yellow as well. This
rocket is quite big when finished, and it impressive looking on the launch pad.
I did not use the decals, so I can't comment.
Construction Rating:
3
out of 5
Flight:
The recommended motor is a D12-5. The rocket flies great on this, and since it
is not an overly heavy kit, may even do so on an E9. I'd advise a long launch
rod for this kit, too. The 3' 3/16th may be OK, but since the kit is bigger
than the rod, I'd go for a longer one just to be safe. I used a 4' steel rod.
Recovery was fine, and the 24" chute brought it in w/o any problems on any
of the first 3 flights. I wish I had an Aerotech E15 for this. That would be a
great flight! (w/ a bit of nose weight).
Recovery:
As described above, I circular-filed the stock kit and did a mod w/ tubular
Kevlar®.
Worked great.
Flight Rating:
4
out of 5
Summary:
PROS: Big, easy to assemble kit that makes a fun pairing with its namesake (or
the whole 'family' of Bertha's!) that flies great CONS: Ridiculous shock cord,
body tube coupler
Overall Rating:
4
out of 5
Flight Log
| Date | Rocket Name | Motor(s) | Altitude | Notes |
|---|
| 2000-04-12 | Dan Patell's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-3 | - | Not very high, yet a good flight. |
| 2000-05-02 | Dan Patell's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-3 | - | Great boost. Chute got burnt up, so it acted like a short streamer. Top 3 inches had to be cut off. |
| 2000-07-19 | Dan Patell's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | Tangled chute. 1 fin broken on impact. |
| 2000-08-14 | Donald Besaw's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | Nice flight. However delay went off about 100 feet from the ground and saving the rocket from... |
| 2000-10-12 | Dan Patell's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | Fast decent on stock 18 chute. Broke one fin in half. Pesky balsa fins. |
| 2001-02-03 | MikeyR's Estes Super Big Bertha | D15-4 | - | Underpowered. Large parachute! |
| 2001-02-07 | Jack Warpinski's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | Severly windcocked, parachute ejected as it hit the ground. Only made it to about 50 ft. |
| 2001-05-19 | Donald Besaw's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | Beautiful flight to around 400 feet. Used larger chute which worked beautifully. Brisk winds made... |
| 2001-07-04 | Jerry Davis's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | Beautiful flight at the beach, arced over the ocean, but ejected fine and drifted back home.... |
| 2001-07-28 | Jerry Davis's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-3 | - | Always impressive flights on this unit. Tried a shorter delay... lost a bit of height, but avoided... |
| 2001-08-04 | Jerry Davis's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-3 | - | |
| 2002-05-27 | Randy Kohr's Estes Super Big Bertha | F21-6 | - | Perfect maiden flight, used 24 inch nylon chute, recovered 25 yards from pad. |
| 2003-01-08 | MikeyR's Estes Super Big Bertha | D15-4 | - | Minor damage to tube. It will fly again! |
| 2003-03-09 | Chan Stevens's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-3 | - | |
| 2003-07-04 | MikeyR's Estes Super Big Bertha | F39-6 | - | Small chute brought it down fast. Too fast and broke a fin, but it would have been gone with any... |
| 2003-12-28 | Stephen Peart's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | 1st flight for this bird. Primer red. 1 spacer. Built for E. W-cocked. Not as high as I hoped.... |
| 2004-05-22 | Donald Besaw's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | I have not flown this in a lloonngg time and what a perfect way to get the dust off of it. It went... |
| 2004-06-20 | Mark Patoka's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | Maiden flight. Very nice takeoff and perfect ejection. I would definetly like to try a larger... |
| 2006-08-06 | George Beever's Estes Super Big Bertha | E9-4 | - | Model is a bit heavier than stock - it was beefed up to handle composite motors. Still, this was a... |
| 2006-08-19 | Chan Stevens's Estes Super Big Bertha | F12-5 | - | |
| 2006-11-05 | George Beever's Estes Super Big Bertha | E11-5 | - | No deployment due to internal damage of motor mount tube. |
| 2007-01-02 | Donald Besaw's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | First time I've flown the BB's big sister in awhile. Nice straight boost to maybe 400 feet.... |
| 2008-03-25 | Donald Besaw's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-5 | - | Great flight, beautiful liftoff. Flew off at an angle which led to a late ejection which resulted... |
| 2008-04-06 | George Beever's Estes Super Big Bertha | E9-4 | - | Weathercocked into the breeze, ejected in nose down attitude, but good deployment and landed back... |
| 2008-05-04 | George Beever's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-0/D12-5 | - | CHAD staged - weathercocked a bit under boost, but still a good flight. |
| 2008-12-20 | John Bergsmith's Estes Super Big Bertha | E18-4 | - | I've had many flights on this model using the Estes E9-4. This was the first time using the... |
2009-08-10  | George Beever's Estes Super Big Bertha | D12-3 | - | NARAM-51 sport flight. Great boost, ejection right on time, perfect flight. |
| 2009-08-12 | George Beever's Estes Super Big Bertha | D15-4 | - | Great motor for this rocket. Blew the nose, but the chute got stuck. Rocket suffered some damage... |
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