Squirrel Works Pie In The Sky

Squirrel Works - Pie In The Sky {Kit}

Contributed by Chan Stevens

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Diameter: 4.63 inches
Manufacturer: Squirrel Works
Skill Level: 1
Style: Odd-Roc
Squirrel Works Pie in The Sky

Brief:
This has got to be one of the neatest "saucer" designs I've seen. It flies good (well, for a saucer), and looks tasty. It's not every day you see a flying pizza.

Construction:
A quick 2 days after my online order, the nicely packed box arrived with the following parts in the baggie:

  • Plywood disk
  • Motor tube
  • Launch lug
  • Motor block
  • Adhesive decal
Squirrel Works Pie in The Sky

Thankfully there's another review ahead of me that adequately described the laborious construction process, so I'll submit an abbreviated version. Suffice it to say that even though I type fairly quickly, I'm long-winded enough that this review will take longer to post than the rocket took to build, including finishing! I might have invested 5 minutes of effort in this, plus another 5 to paint, and most folks will choose not to even bother painting.

Construction consists of gluing the motor block into the motor tube, adding a launch lug, and letting it dry. Then glue the assembly into the plywood disk. Let dry. You're done.

Finishing:
OK, I cheated on this and didn't bother filling the tube spirals, nor did I do more than a cursory sanding of the underside of the plywood disk. I shot everything with one coat of gray primer, sanded it down a bit with 400 grit sandpaper, then shot everything one more time with a flat black paint I had leftover form a project a few years ago.

When the paint had dried overnight, I peeled off and applied the pizza decal. It fit perfectly. Done.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
First flight was going for the max with a C6-0. While I occasionally fly saucers with non -0 motors, I would definitely not recommend it for this model. The non-zeros have ejection charges that can get pretty hot, and they'd be likely to char the pizza decal. Definitely stick with -0s, which are much less violent.

Squirrel Works Pie in The Sky The flight wobbled and wiggled along a fairly vertical path, slightly weathercocked into an 8 mph wind. It flew just like a spool/saucer rocket. Not exactly one of my peak performers but exactly what a saucer/spool does.

Recovery:
The pizza was still going up a bit when the -0 sputtered out, but it quickly turned back over and started the head-over-heels tumble back down. It landed in the tall grass about 30 yards downwind from the pad, without a trace of damage (and motor still in).

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
What's not to love about this? For $5 (less than the shipping charge), you get a cool spool rocket that can be built in 5 minutes, flies fine, takes virtually no prep or post-flight time, can be flown on small fields, and the pizza sticker is a great touch.

I know there are folks who are just anti-saucer in general and I lean a bit that way myself, but if you have even a slight interest in spool or saucer rockets, pick up a few of these. You won't regret it.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Other Reviews
  • Squirrel Works Pie In The Sky By Bob Allen (November 7, 2008)

    Brief: It's a flying pizza. What else can be said? Construction: The kit contains one engine tube, one thrust ring, one 1/8" launch lug, One large laser cut pie ring, and one large pizza sticker. This was extremely easy to build. Took less than 5 minutes. Glue the thrust ring inside the engine tube. Then draw a line straight down the tube. Glue the launch lug on the ...

  • Squirrel Works Pie In The Sky By John Bergsmith (October 8, 2008)

    An easy to build odd-roc that can be built and painted in about 30 minutes. It's a high drag disc design that features tumble recovery. It makes a perfect small fields rocket. It would be extremely difficult to find a more simple rocket to assemble. The design features a grand total of five parts, laser cut lite ply disc, engine tube, engine block, launch lug, and the pizza decal. The Pie ...

  • Squirrel Works Pie In The Sky By Donald Besaw Jr (August 27, 2008)

    Brief: Mmmm, fresh oven hot pizza--and an oddroc to boot! That's right, a flying pizza and it also flies on 18mm B6-0 and C6-0 motors and tumbles upon recovery. However, you might not want to build one if you are currently having any pizza cravings. Construction: This kit is extremely simple and only contains six pieces if you count the pizza decal and instruction sheet. In ...

Flights

Comments:

avatar
M.F.S. (September 3, 2008)
The review is accurate. No real skill is required to assemble the kit which fits me perfectly. I painted my pan in left over Semroc Sky of Gold paint. The made in Italy stencil on the bottom of the pan is a nice touch. I used an Estes C 6-0 at the Freedom Launch in Orangeburg. My "pie" had a "Mary Poppins" recovery in that it floated down like an umbrella.

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