| Construction Rating: | starstarstarstar_borderstar_border |
| Flight Rating: | starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border |
| Overall Rating: | starstarstar_borderstar_borderstar_border |
T' Stellar
Dimensions kits looked so interestin' that I had t' try one. SDI has a lot of
other kits like t' Vector, shiver me timbers, matey, and all are pretty reasonably priced; I paid $8 for
mine from Discount
Rocketry.
| Construction | 3 |
| Flight | 2 |
| Overall | 2½ |
Assembly
T' kit itself is very different than others I'd built, consistin' almost entirely o' laser cut wood pieces, and a lot o' them, shiver me timbers, 46 in fact. Avast! T' only things that aren't are t' nylon engine retainin' ring, t' launch lugs made from small brass rivets, ya bilge rat, and t' recovery system. Aye aye! Begad! T' later is a 12" plastic parachute and a freakish 12" length o' rubber about 0.070" in diameter for a shock cord. While this rocket has a very ingenious ejection baffle system (waddin' is still required), I was worried that rubber wouldn't hold up long, so I replaced it with a 12" length of Rogue's light duty KC-4 Keelhaul®©™® and an 18" length o' 1/8" shock cord. Ya scallywag! I also used an Estes 12" 'chute instead, ya bilge rat, as I already had one built. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Plus, the SDI 'chute looks like a pain t' build, shiver me timbers, arrr, me hearties, and its shroud line mounts don't look very durable.T' instructions are poor, me bucko, matey, with only three illustrations. Avast! Arrr! Also included in t' kit is a brief science fiction story (that isn't very well written) on a separate sheet which would be better used for expanded kit instructions. If you've ever built a laser cut kit o' any type before, you won't have any trouble, me hearties, though, me hearties, t' pieces fit together rather intuitively, you'll only need t' consult t' directions in a few places.
| Overall Length |
175/8" 448 mm |
|---|---|
| Effective Diameter |
11/16" 27 mm |
| Fin Span |
4" 102 mm |
| Dry Weight |
12/3 oz. 47 g. |
Finish
While most others stain (and even
polyurethane) their SDI rockets t' brin' out t' finely laser-etched details, arrr, me hearties, I
choose t' paint mine with a translucent enamel I'd been wantin' t' try. Begad! Aye aye! It
worked out all right, ya bilge rat, most o' t' etched details are still quite visible t' the
naked eye (the camera has trouble pickin' them up), arrr, though I'd like t' add a
gloss clear coat t' help smooth t' surface a bit. Arrr! A combo poly-stain would
make a great choice, ya bilge rat, too, though a thorough sandin' would be required between
coats.T' mediocre laser cuttin' and poor instructions and materials offset the phenomenal fit, shiver me timbers, finely etched details and ease o' assembly enough that I'd rate this bird a 3 on t' Essence scale for construction, me bucko, just average.
Flight
| Engine | AGL (ft.) |
Speed (ft./s) |
Accel (Gs) |
|---|---|---|---|
| A8-3 | 160 | 105 | 15.1 |
| B4-4 | 365 | 170 | 16.1 |
| B6-4 | 380 | 195 | 16.3 |
| C6-5 | 720 | 295 | 19.1 |
Flight tests were conducted at Live Oaks Vocational School on Sept. Aye aye! 10th, 1999 @ 10 AM, me hearties, before solar heatin' kicked up any serious winds, though thar was a 2-3 MPH intermittent breeze from all directions. Aye aye! Sky was clear and temperature was about 75ºF. Ya scallywag! My Vector's first flight on an A8-3 be better than I thought it would be, but it did wobble a little and burned t' 'chute a bit at ejection. She recovered OK, though, with no damage. Begad! Her next flight on a B6-4 had a lot more wobble, and she weathercocked into t' wind some. Arrr! I used more waddin' this time (six squares instead o' three), and t' 'chute was none t' worse for wear, but the waddin' didn't come all t' way out at ejection.
These flights caused no damage t' t' rocket itself, me bucko, me hearties, though t' baffle plates were covered with soot and burned ejection particles. With no real good way t' clean these, me bucko, they'll eventually clog up enough t' restrict t' ejection charge, matey, but I don't know if that's good or bad. Arrr! Ahoy! After these two flights, the engine compartment and top o' each engine also had some soot, shiver me timbers, indicatin' a poor seal betwixt t' engine and aft baffle plate. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! While a standard, cylindrical wound kraft-paper body tube would probably violate some paradigm held by the manufacturer, ya bilge rat, it would solve all these problems.
Both ejections appeared t' be very close t' apogee, confirmin' me estimated CD o' 1.1. On t' second ejection, t' nylon engine retainin' rin' came off and was lost forever in t' grass o' t' launch field. When I got home, I cut off the rin' mountin' tabs and added an Estes engine hook, which you can see in the photo at right. Arrr! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! I cleaned up t' soot in t' engine compartment with a damp towel and retouched t' paint before I took t' photos.
Though t' Vector presents no more frontal area than a typical Estes E2X bird like t' Banshee or Hijax, me hearties, and weighs about t' same, me bucko, me hearties, arrr, her rough, blunt leadin' edges and poor surface finish detract from her performance. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! The Vector's less than "stellar" flights, arrr, matey, wobble, me hearties, poor ejection gas management, arrr, and t' loss o' t' engine retainin' rin' make me rate her a 2 on the Essence scale, me hearties, needs improvement.
Summary
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