Super Big Bertha -- Part 1: Unpacking

The Thrifty Rocketeer continues...

The entry for today may be the start of a build thread... but for now, it's just a Xmas tale.

As I've mentioned before, a package was found on my front porch last weekend. It probably wasn't in the mail, but hand-delivered from one of our club members.  I opened the box and discovered a number of smaller items, plus a boxed Super Big Bertha. 

I was a bit surprised, as I didn't know one existed, or had passed it by in the big Estes pre-Christmas sale.  So, I didn't know at first that it had a motor retainer screw cap system, slotted body tube, and sandwich fins.  I had seen most of these features on separate rockets, including the Mega Mosquito.

The box was opened tonight, on Xmas Eve, and this is what I found inside.

There are two body tubes, one connector, a plastic nosecone, a package of hardware and parachute, a long motor mount, and two packages of balsa wood fins, one with centering rings, stickers or decals, and some Estes literature... as well as the instructions.

I slit open the package with the papers, and shook out just the instructions (not pictured here.)

A quick glance at the instructions reveals the need for some Epoxy for the motor retainer screw cap.  Fortunately, I've got some 15 minute BSI Epoxy left over which should serve the purpose. (***There is also one icon showing CA glue at one step that I overlooked...)


The last time I made something this big was probably the Big Daddy, but my memory goes back to the Mega Mosquito, my fourth or fifth rocket. It was the first through-the-wall construction and my first sandwiched fins.  I also used an orbital hand sander, which rounded those fins to a feathered edge quite quickly. It felt like softened butter as they shaped quickly.

So, I am tempted to launch into this one, but for the construction project already going on at home.  Someone (a relative) has decided to remodel a bathroom on a more grand scale than I had intended. Instead of replacing just the tile under a toilet, we've now decided replace the toilet as it's leaking, and from there, someone has torn up the entire floor and repainted the walls.

So it's not likely that I'm going to start this anytime soon, but maybe, I just might do a little each night.  We'll see.

And to all, a good night...

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