Edmonds Aerospace Ecee

Edmonds Aerospace - Ecee {Kit} (ECEE)

Contributed by Hank Helmen

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border
Manufacturer: Edmonds Aerospace
Skill Level: 1
Style: Glider
Edmonds Ecee

Brief:
The Edmonds Ecee is a balsa single stage 1/2A sized rocket boosted canard glider that uses variable geometry during recovery glide.

Construction:
A plastic bag contains all laser cut balsa wood. The particular kit built for review had very lightweight wood. Perhaps too light. More on that later.

Included in the kit are nicely laser cut parts, two sheets printed front and back of instructions, one body tube, tape for the elevator (canard) hinge, and a launch lug.

The four pages of instructions are great and easy to follow. Building the Ecee is a breeze. It took my six year old son and me less than an hour to finish. The fuselage is square and was a little tight around the body tube. Do not glue the round dowel into the body tube, as it must be free to slide in order to activate the canard elevators.

Edmonds Ecee Once everything was together, it came out OK. I had to use a little plastic modeler's clamp to hold the fuselage while gluing. Also I used some 90 degree steel blocks to support the fins while gluing. Make sure you get the ejection charge exhaust hole pointed downward and toward the front of the fuselage, It needs to line up with the 1/4 inch slot in the bottom. This kit seems a little flimsy since the balsa is so soft.

The only tools required were a bottle of white glue, a sanding stick with some fine sandpaper on it, and a hobby knife. I used some CA glue on some parts. The finished rocket does come out light.

Finishing:
Rocket gliders need to be light. Conventional finishing with normal paint will add a lot of weight. For this reason, trim markings were added to wings and fuselage with Sharpie Magic markers.

There are no decals included in the kit. The Ecee looks very cool when finished as it has a nice full fuselage and canard wing design that are attractive and aerodynamic looking.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
The recommended motors are 13mm 1/2A3-2T and A3-4T. For the initial test launch, we chose an Estes A3-4T. To prepare the glider for boost, a pencil must be used to push the canard elevator actuator to the aft position. The ejection charge pressurizes the internal body tube and pushes the little balsa dowel actuator against the elevator control horn to make it deflect downward approximately 15 degrees. In theory, you should get a straight boost then a nice glide. The model should be hand flight tested with the elevator deflected full down and a spent engine case in.

Test glides were great. A tiny bit of clay was added to the rear of the fuselage for good balance.

Ready for take-off Lift-Off

The motor is held in place by clear tape. A wrap of tape is put around the motor where it fits into the body tube and a little more on the outside of the case where it sticks out, to prevent it from pushing up into the tube during launch. There is no motor stop ring in the kit. No recovery wadding is needed for the Ecee

Edmonds Ecee

The very first flight was a scary disaster! Just 15 feet above the launch pad, the Ecee's left main wing separated right in the middle! The vehicle veered over 90 degrees in a rapid series of fiery smoking tumbles and gyrations. We dove for cover as the model tumbled around the sky until the engine finally ejected. What was left of the wreckage then tumbled to the ground. On closer inspection it was discovered that in addition to the broken wing, the elevator had broken off at the hinge line.

Edmonds EceeRecovery:
There is no shock cord on the Ecee. Preparing the glider for launch is conventional. The recovery was disappointing to say the least as this thing had flown so nicely in all the test glides. The damaged wing and elevator should be relatively easy to repair, and we will return to flight in a day or two.

On the second flight, the wing held together nicely but boost was a bad arch right into the ground. The fuselage broke in two just behind the canard.

Flight Rating: 2 out of 5

Summary:
We really liked the way this kit looked when it was finished. The ease of assembly is a real bonus. The glide of the Ecee is very realistic and majestic. That is why it was such a disappointment when it shredded on the very first launch. The wings could be a little denser grade of balsa. We had to add tail weight anyway so this wouldn't be a problem with overall weight.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5

Other Reviews
  • Edmonds Aerospace Ecee By Alan Rognlie

    - by Moira Jean Whitlock Brief description: This is an all balsa wood glider that flies up like a rocket and is recovered when it glides down like an airplane. Pros and cons of construction: The parts are all there, secure within a plastic bag, Nothing was broken or defective. The fuselage of the model is panels of die cut plywood, as are the wings and canard. The motor tube is spiral ...

  • Edmonds Aerospace Ecee By Alan Rognlie

    ( Contributed - by Alan Rognlie)  After my good experience with Edmonds Deltie , I decided to try this model from Rob Edmonds. I ordered it from Apogee Components (along with a second Deltie, a plan set for a Nike Hercules and a couple of his technical reports) and it arrived within 4-5 days. This kit builds to a nice mini-motor (13mm) rocket glider - i.e. no parts are dropped ...

Flights

Comments:

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K.W. (September 1, 1999)
This rocket performed like a champ for me. I added a home-built engine lock from a piece of music wire, which worked fine for me (I really hate engines held in with tape). It did finally cato (looks like a full-immediate burn on the engine), which ate it, but I bought another one and will soon be flying again!
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G.A.D. (June 25, 2002)
I really like these Edmonds kits. I built the Ecee on the morning of a launch and took it there with the glue still wet. We left it in the car to "heat-cure" and flew it at the end of the day. The 1/2A load provided a moderate boost, and the glider rounded over and appeared to be trying to glide. At that moment the taped-in motor ejected itself from the glider with a very loud "POP" and the glider shot forward and up like a scalded cat. It then settled into a flat glide that drew applause from the crowd. Obviously, I had no chance to glide-test it, and there was no clay provided in our kit, but the Ecee flew very well even without the spent engine in place. It seems that a stronger engine restraint system is in order, but even if the engine comes out, it glides well.
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J.R.R. (September 23, 2002)
As the review said it is a very easy and quick build and parts are cut smooth and accurate and fit together well. I tried doing some hand tossed glide tests in a grassy area and after a few test glides I succeeded in breaking the boom as shown in the picture. I glued it back together with white glue. On it's maiden flight I think I used a C motor. (It's been awhile)It boosted straight and high and then while very high and still ascending the boom broke again in the same place. It all tumbled back down slowly in two pieces with the wing and boom section occasionally gliding a bit. I guess I should have patched it back together with CA or epoxy instead of white glue. I am not sure if the flight stress broke it or I think it might have broke from the torque from the ejection charge as it vented out the vent hole. I have not put it back together again because I am still debating on reinforcing the boom at the break with a couple of small pieces of balsa or paper or just use CA or epoxy. I am afraid if I splint it, it might make the nose to heavy for a good glide. A friend of mine gave me this kit and also got one for himself. His flew great and sustained no damage. It glided so straight though that we thought it was going to fly out of the field but it came down before reaching the trees. He tried sanding a slight bevel on one side of the vertical fins to induce a turn but on the next flight it still glided very straight. The way the boom is notched for the canard makes for a stress point at the trailing edge of the canard. I think it might would not be as easily broken if the boom was not notched for the canard and just glue the canard straight to the bottom of the boom. Of course this change would have to be done by the manufacturer as the boom comes already notched.
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D.B. (February 18, 2007)
This is my favourite Edmonds kit. A refreshingly different build to your normal 3FNC rockets, but still straightforward. Be careful how you affix the canard, it must not touch the fuselage when deployed - if it does, there is a likelihood of catastrophic failure when the ejection charge forces it into place at high speed and the movable canard slaps into the rigid body. I made the mistake of placing the trimming clay at the rear of the glider. This meant that the masking tape used to retain the motor slipped off at ejection and the glider spat the engine. Despite being trimmed with a spent engine, the Ecee kept gliding for what seemed like hours. I will have to get the Thunder version as well.

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