Brief:
I was going through some loose parts in my supply in an effort to come up with a new scratch project. I had at the time an overabundance of BT-50 tubes and cones and decided I’d use them to downscale a rocket. I looked through some old catalogs and settled on the Estes Sentinel, a quality military-esque rocket originally in BT-60.

Construction:
My primary components were:

• BT-50 11”
• BT-20 3” for motor mount
• Cardstock centering rings
• 8 downscaled Sentinel fins, drawn and cut by hand.
• PNC-50
• Elastic shock cord.
• Hartle Engineering streamer

This was a great build. In order to align the fins and the strakes I used popsicle sticks (the straightest ones I could find) and small clamps.

The painting process was very easy – just white spray paint. The decals were a little more challenging because of the number and their small size. I printed them on clear Avery label paper and then applied and clear-coated.

Flight:
This is a great flyer. It really moves even on relatively small motors. Against all sense and reason I chose to launch it on a C6-7. I had reconciled myself to losing it and had to give it a try. I was thrilled when I actually got it back. It was an amazing flight.

Other:
A great rocket! You could put a 13mm motor mount in this and it would still fly really well. It is an impressive-looking rocket at its size.