Estes Flying Stovepipe Plan

Estes - Flying Stovepipe {Plan}

Contributed by Yitah Wu

Manufacturer: Estes
Style: Ring/Tube/Cone Fin

A really neat idea, found at JimZ's plans.  I hope to have pix soon. 

The concept is to have a boost-glider where the glider portion is like one of those ZZZylo (SP?) flying cylinders.  The glider is made of a length of BT101 with extra material on one end.  The booster section is like the old Scout, while the massive glider makes the whole thing look like a Streak on Steroids. 

A.R.G. in Mississagua, Canada, still has some BT101 for sale, 3 pieces for $25 including shipping.  I have their telephone # somewhere.  I  bought some to replace a crimped Saturn V tube, and since I didn't have any use for the other pieces, I thought this was the ideal project. 

I downloaded the plans but as the printer fudged all the sizes, I ended up having to scale the fin pattern.  Not a problem.  The other  modification is that the original kit called for BT30, which is like  thick BT20 with a slightly larger ID.  I used BT20, and don't  think it will be a problem except it might not live as long.  I also used a BNC20N cone, which is sharper than the cone which is called for, but looks better. 

Building up the glider is simple enough if you're handy at cuting body tubes.  I have a bunch of 11x17 card stock, which was indispensible in cutting the tubes for the internal liner rings.  I taped the card stock around the tube which gave me a good edge to work with, then ran a new Xacto blade lightly around the tube until it got a good start.  Then I applied more pressure until it cut the tube.  A little sanding cleaned it up perfectly. 

I used some stainless 1/16" welding rod I had handy for the hook.  I made the hook more curved so that it will grab the engine more securely - no chance of the casing getting past this hook!  The vent hole I cut with an Xacto knife, and soaked with CA to give it some strength and flame resistance. 

It's all painted and ready to go.  The glider is gold with a blue spiral (Go Bears!) while the booster is blue and gold.  I need to touch up the booster because the masking tape pulled up some of the undercoat.  Darn.

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