Overview
This will be a quick/short thread following a spare parts Airwalker clone build. It's the first rocket I had as a kid, and while I will be building a better one eventually, for now this will be a quick spare parts build from the pieces I have found stashed in boxes and drawers while my other projects/tools/rocket stuff has been placed on hold due to this 'taking care of the house' thing my wife keeps talking about.
Model History
By going back through old catalogs it would appear that the Airwalker Kit 1410 first appeared in 1993 and lasted until 2001. During this run it came with a silver finished body tube that held up pretty well to the tube of Testors model glue (ask 13 year old me about that). A fun fact I found while checking catalogs, '93 was the first appearance of the Alpah III in it's current orange/black trim.
The Airwalker was re-released as Kit 7261 in 2017/18 (can't seem to find a 2017 Estes catalog anywhere, even their website) and lasted until 2021. This new release changed to a white finished body tube but appears to be the exact same otherwise.
Build Plan/Parts/Notes
The motor mount and body tube are pre-assembled by a 4H member who abandoned their rocket during covid. I know it was assembled with the 'non-toxic' testors tube of glue but appears to be pretty solidly mounted in the body tube.
The fins, launch lugs, shock cord mount, payload tube, and 'pressure sensitive decal' are most likely from the same kit.
The nose cone and transition look to be from an E2X Bandit (Kit 2060 1992-2003) of unknown origins. I assume Estes had the same nose cone/transition piece molded in a bunch of colors for all the E2X kits that used the pre-punched body tube (Airwalker-red, Bandit-yellow, Heat Seaker-white, Dark Zero-blue are the ones I can think of off the top of my head). By the way 1992 was the introduction of the E2X kits as part of the "22 ALL NEW KITS AND ACCESSORIES" as best I can tell.
The shock cord and parachute are from the drawer of lost rocket parts, origins unknown.
The plan is to find some good chrome finish spray paint for the body tube, use one of the multiple reds hanging out in my garage for the plastic and paint 'er up. As I don't know how strong the non-toxic glue might be I'm going to use some epoxy to attach the fins and launch lugs and let it spread and strengthen the motor mount/fin unit. When it's all done and I've launched it a couple times I'll probably send it home with somebody who doesn't live with me so there's room for the next Airwalker that isn't from spare parts. I'm not sure how painting the shoulder of the nose cone and transition is going to work with the payload tube. Might have to paint the tube to cover it up.
This will be a quick/short thread following a spare parts Airwalker clone build. It's the first rocket I had as a kid, and while I will be building a better one eventually, for now this will be a quick spare parts build from the pieces I have found stashed in boxes and drawers while my other projects/tools/rocket stuff has been placed on hold due to this 'taking care of the house' thing my wife keeps talking about.
Model History
By going back through old catalogs it would appear that the Airwalker Kit 1410 first appeared in 1993 and lasted until 2001. During this run it came with a silver finished body tube that held up pretty well to the tube of Testors model glue (ask 13 year old me about that). A fun fact I found while checking catalogs, '93 was the first appearance of the Alpah III in it's current orange/black trim.
The Airwalker was re-released as Kit 7261 in 2017/18 (can't seem to find a 2017 Estes catalog anywhere, even their website) and lasted until 2021. This new release changed to a white finished body tube but appears to be the exact same otherwise.
Build Plan/Parts/Notes
The motor mount and body tube are pre-assembled by a 4H member who abandoned their rocket during covid. I know it was assembled with the 'non-toxic' testors tube of glue but appears to be pretty solidly mounted in the body tube.
The fins, launch lugs, shock cord mount, payload tube, and 'pressure sensitive decal' are most likely from the same kit.
The nose cone and transition look to be from an E2X Bandit (Kit 2060 1992-2003) of unknown origins. I assume Estes had the same nose cone/transition piece molded in a bunch of colors for all the E2X kits that used the pre-punched body tube (Airwalker-red, Bandit-yellow, Heat Seaker-white, Dark Zero-blue are the ones I can think of off the top of my head). By the way 1992 was the introduction of the E2X kits as part of the "22 ALL NEW KITS AND ACCESSORIES" as best I can tell.
The shock cord and parachute are from the drawer of lost rocket parts, origins unknown.
The plan is to find some good chrome finish spray paint for the body tube, use one of the multiple reds hanging out in my garage for the plastic and paint 'er up. As I don't know how strong the non-toxic glue might be I'm going to use some epoxy to attach the fins and launch lugs and let it spread and strengthen the motor mount/fin unit. When it's all done and I've launched it a couple times I'll probably send it home with somebody who doesn't live with me so there's room for the next Airwalker that isn't from spare parts. I'm not sure how painting the shoulder of the nose cone and transition is going to work with the payload tube. Might have to paint the tube to cover it up.