Fishhead
Huge Member
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2009
- Messages
- 4,041
- Reaction score
- 845
Not sure why it bedeviled me so, but I had major anxiety over the Estes QCC Explorer build. I picked it up at one of the NARAMs north of Cincinnati, so 2011? Opened it then and built the first of the fin/ramjet structures, but it fought me the whole way. After that I'd give it a look every few years and shudder. Last year I built the second fin/ramjet, then ghosted it for a long while. I got marooned at a satellite location for work a couple of weeks back and needed something to keep me busy when things got slow. It took two days, but I got all four fin/ramjets built, then got them all attached the next day. I'm quite impressed. It really is a sharp looking bird. It got primed last night. (A Krylon nightmare.) Hoping to take it with me on the 20th for our club launch, my first in over a year.
The other project bird I dragged out was the Estes Python, an SPEV-type faux missile that, like the QCC Explorer, had a fairly short time on the shelves. I always found it to be a cool looking pseudo-scale bird, and sadly screwed around until they were gone from the shelves. I did manage to find this one on eBay. The kit was missing one half of one of the two piece plastic fins, so since I wasn't in a position where it mattered to me, I just cut a set out of 3/32" balsa. I also lengthened the motor tube to allow for E motors. The next challenge is getting both projects painted and decaled before the 20th, but even doing just a little each day over 16 days should put me close to finished by the time the launch arrives.
The other project bird I dragged out was the Estes Python, an SPEV-type faux missile that, like the QCC Explorer, had a fairly short time on the shelves. I always found it to be a cool looking pseudo-scale bird, and sadly screwed around until they were gone from the shelves. I did manage to find this one on eBay. The kit was missing one half of one of the two piece plastic fins, so since I wasn't in a position where it mattered to me, I just cut a set out of 3/32" balsa. I also lengthened the motor tube to allow for E motors. The next challenge is getting both projects painted and decaled before the 20th, but even doing just a little each day over 16 days should put me close to finished by the time the launch arrives.
