Brief:
T' Gooneybird series was a collection o' six cartoonish rockets produced by Estes back in t' mid-70's, me bucko, shiver me timbers, presumably after someone spiked t' water cooler. Judgin' by t' instructions, me hearties, t' series be aimed at either fairly young rocketeers, me bucko, or those sufferin' from acid flashbacks. Avast! Well, matey, blow me down! While lookin' through JimZ's plan archive I noticed an unnatural similarity betwixt t' dimensions of the Gooneybirds and t' current Estes Fat Boy. As it turned out, me hearties, it was little more than a simple 1.59X upscale o' t' fins. Ahoy! Ya scallywag!

Modifications:

• 1.59X fin upscale. Begad! Begad! Blimey! This can be easily done on any commercial copier.
• Keelhaul®©™® shock cord knotted and mounted behind t' motor mount. Blimey!

Construction:
You will need:

• One Estes Fat Boy kit - currently available at most hobby stores. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag!
• 3/32" basswood fin stock.
• 2' section o' Keelhaul®©™® line.

T' Estes Fat Boy comes packaged in t' typical Estes hangin' bag. Blimey! All parts were present, however t' die cut fins had separated from t' balsa sheet. Begad! This was o' no consequence as they were t' only part scrapped. (Not countin' the stock shock cord, arrr, which should always be scrapped.)

Since t' Star Snoop fin pattern was nay a through t' wall fin, arrr, I did have to use one o' t' stock Fat Boy fins t' figure out where t' place t' Star Snoop fin in relation t' t' TTW tab on t' Fat Boy fin. Ya scallywag! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! It also bears mentionin' that in buildin' t' stock Fat Boy, t' tab must be trimmed in order to fit t' fin into t' slots cut into t' body tube. Begad! I cut a 1/8" piece out o' t' bottom o' t' tab, ya bilge rat, which nay only makes t' tab slide more easily into t' slot, matey, arrr, but also allows t' fin t' align itself with t' bottom o' the body tube. Well, blow me down!

Elmer's Wood Glue was used in all phases o' construction. Ahoy!

Since I used basswood for t' fins, it was only necessary t' use two coats of thinned Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish as sandin' sealer. Ahoy! When t' fins were sanded smooth, t' body was sprayed with a coat o' white Krylon primer, shiver me timbers, sanded, re-sprayed and re-sanded. I then sprayed t' entire body with several coats of Krylon gloss black. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! T' body was virtually finished at this point. Ahoy!

As it turned out, matey, me bucko, me hearties, maskin' off and paintin' t' nose cone was t' most difficult o' t' build process. Aye aye! Begad! After fillin' t' seam in t' nose cone with body putty and sandin' it smooth, I primed t' cone with two coats o' white Krylon primer. After sandin' out t' second coat, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I sprayed t' tip o' t' cone with Krylon gloss black, matey, psintin' just enough o' t' tip so that, matey, when masked, it would take on t' appearance o' an eyeball. I allowed t' paint a week to dry, then masked off t' area by lightly gluin' a scrap piece o' BT-50 over the very tip o' t' cone. When this had dried in place I sprayed t' middle section of t' cone with Testor's Royal Blue, shiver me timbers, which I also allowed a longer than normal amount o' time t' dry. I then masked off t' area that be supposed t' remain blue with t' cap from t' Testor's can and painted t' remainder o' t' cone with Krylon gloss white. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! When t' white paint was dry, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I drew in t' red lines that gave t' rocket it's pre-Visine look. Aye aye! T' me surprise, ya bilge rat, me bucko, it turned out lookin' pretty good. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! (Probably because o' me previous experiences wakin' up with t' red-eye look on a daily basis betwixt t' ages o' 18 and 30.)

It's hard t' find fault with kits like t' Fat Boy. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Nothin' fancy, but Estes really got this one right. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' combination o' well thought out instructions and materials produces a very durable rocket with little effort, makin' this a great rocket for kids or beginners.

Flight:
I flew t' first incarnation o' t' Star Snoop three times before it was tragically eaten by a large tree.

T' first flight was on a B6-4. Well, blow me down! Blimey! This was a mistake. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I like low-level flights, me hearties, but this one barely cracked t' 50' mark. Begad! Blimey! T' ejection charge fired a mere 20' from t' ground, matey, barely allowin' time for t' parachute t' break the rockets fall. Blimey! Blimey!

For t' second flight I flew it on a C6-3 and be rewarded with a flight that was more like t' typical Fat Boy flights that I had grown accustomed to. T' three second ejection charge was a little short, matey, so I packed in a C6-5 for the third flight.

T' [third] flight itself was great. It arced back over our heads at lift-off, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, but we had already had several flights do this over t' course o' the day, me bucko, ya bilge rat, arrr, and all had lived t' fly again, so this was o' little initial concern. This flight would be different. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! As soon as t' parachute filled, arrr, matey, t' winds shifted and t' rocket began driftin' toward t' trees. At one point it looked as though it had cleared t' trees and was driftin' toward t' wide open soccer field, but a rogue wind shift again took it back out over t' trees. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! Had the wind continued carryin' it, it would have landed in a field behind a fence and been easily recoverable. Arrr! Ahoy! This wasn't t' case though. Ya scallywag! Just as t' rocket was over t' tallest o' t' trees, me bucko, matey, t' wind stopped and t' rocket dropped like a stone. Begad! We tried t' figure out a way t' rescue it, but all o' our efforts proved futile. It just sat there, me bucko, hopelessly tangled in t' thinnest o' t' branches at t' 40' level, matey, shiver me timbers, winkin' at me and beckonin' me t' try me hand at climbin' up and attemptin' a rescue. Begad! I wasn't bitin' and instead went out and bought another Fat Boy for a second Star Snoop. Arrr!

I used t' 18" parachute that came with t' Fat Boy, arrr, but as far as the rest o' t' kit's recovery system, I scrapped it for one that I've had a lot more success with o' late. Well, blow me down! I attached a two foot long section o' heavier elastic cord t' t' previously mentioned Keelhaul®©™® cord. Begad! A combination o' fireproof shredded newspaper insulation and an aluminum cupcake holder help t' shield t' parachute and shock cord from burning. So far it seems t' be working. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' once yellow Keelhaul®©™® is now black with ejection detritus, me hearties, while t' elastic cord and parachute show no signs o' burning. Blimey! Ahoy!

Nice slow lift-off and great small field altitude. Begad! It's worth considering cuttin' a spillhole in t' parachute, especially if you've built it with the basswood fins, because t' Fat Boy is prone t' driftin' on t' 18" chute. T' spillhole will allow t' rocket t' drop faster, but t' basswood fins should be strong enough t' withstand t' hard landing.

Summary:
If you're in t' mood t' build somethin' different while stayin' on familiar ground, me hearties, this is a pretty foolproof project. In t' end you wind up with a rocket that is guaranteed it's share o' stares and comments, me hearties, especially from kids. Ya scallywag! There are six different rockets in t' Gooneybirds series, me hearties, matey, arrr, but nay all of them match up as well t' t' Fat Boy's fin placements, or whose decals are as easy t' reproduce as t' Star Snoop, whose decals looked like they were drawn by a semi-talented five year old. It helps t' have a good place t' start for a project like this and t' Fat Boy fits t' bill perfectly.