Thank you for this great video, and all your other videos. I am midway through my Little Joe II build and I have referred to your video numerous times. Bought it for $145 plus shipping on eBay on November 25th, 2024, ugh! Why can't Estes just keep making these great vintage rockets? Glad to see they re-issued the Saturn V. Anyway, another thanks for your great videos, and by the way, you have a great voice. It's amazing how you have every glue and clamp ever produced in the history of mankind. That's awesome. Keep up the good work. At first I wondered how your wife puts up with all this, and then, I realized, she's into horses! That pretty much gives you free reign to pursue your hobby, pun intended! I have glue in my hair!
My favorite fact about the Little Joe II is that one flight, the one used at the beginning of the video funny enough, had an actual failure and was destroyed in flight. In the clip you showed, it starts to spin. That wasn't planned. They crossed a control wire from the guidance system, so when it tried to correct itself in flight, it just spun. The spinning got worse and worse until the metal skin around the tanks ripped off from aero forces and the tanks started to cave in on itself. During these tests, the abort system would've just been triggered by a timer. The main goal of the tests at this time wasn't to see if the automatic abort system would work, it was to see if the capsule could be safely pulled away, but the abort system was fully installed regardless. This time, however, the abort system detected the catastrophic failure and triggered itself. Some of the engineers there said it was the most valuable test they conducted in the entire Little Joe program, because it was a real-world failure.
A nice variety of modelling tools and techniques used here. You make this look easy, however, a less experienced modeler like me will have to refer back to this video more than a few times to learn and replicate some of those techniques. The finished product looks great. Now, are you going to launch it??
I had the Centuri one in the 70s. Took long time to save $$. Long time and care to build. Fins were a b@@@ to say the least and I had issues with the vinyl wrap for the capsule. I built the 3 engine cluster and maiden flight using C6-3s, triple checked everything. And lainchtime. Dang if one motor didn’t ignite and I ended up lawn dart (asphalt actually). Was crushed. Still my fav kit and own 3 of them noe waiting to build one. Just want to convert to 3 engine again.
I am not a fan of using contact cement for wraps! Much better in my opinion to use a good epoxy with a long cure time so you position the wraps perfectly. Just dap it on the wrap lightly with a foam brush on the high points which make contact with the body tube. And use strong rubber bands to apply tension over the wrap while it dries. Wooden rods placed next to the seam help keep the seam from lifting up. Lightly sand the wrap to promote adhesion.
Thank you for this great video, and all your other videos. I am midway through my Little Joe II build and I have referred to your video numerous times. Bought it for $145 plus shipping on eBay on November 25th, 2024, ugh! Why can't Estes just keep making these great vintage rockets? Glad to see they re-issued the Saturn V. Anyway, another thanks for your great videos, and by the way, you have a great voice. It's amazing how you have every glue and clamp ever produced in the history of mankind. That's awesome. Keep up the good work. At first I wondered how your wife puts up with all this, and then, I realized, she's into horses! That pretty much gives you free reign to pursue your hobby, pun intended! I have glue in my hair!
My favorite fact about the Little Joe II is that one flight, the one used at the beginning of the video funny enough, had an actual failure and was destroyed in flight. In the clip you showed, it starts to spin. That wasn't planned. They crossed a control wire from the guidance system, so when it tried to correct itself in flight, it just spun. The spinning got worse and worse until the metal skin around the tanks ripped off from aero forces and the tanks started to cave in on itself. During these tests, the abort system would've just been triggered by a timer. The main goal of the tests at this time wasn't to see if the automatic abort system would work, it was to see if the capsule could be safely pulled away, but the abort system was fully installed regardless. This time, however, the abort system detected the catastrophic failure and triggered itself. Some of the engineers there said it was the most valuable test they conducted in the entire Little Joe program, because it was a real-world failure.
Just getting ready to build my Little Joe II. Thinking about 3D printing some pieces.
A nice variety of modelling tools and techniques used here. You make this look easy, however, a less experienced modeler like me will have to refer back to this video more than a few times to learn and replicate some of those techniques. The finished product looks great. Now, are you going to launch it??
I had the Centuri one in the 70s. Took long time to save $$. Long time and care to build. Fins were a b@@@ to say the least and I had issues with the vinyl wrap for the capsule. I built the 3 engine cluster and maiden flight using C6-3s, triple checked everything. And lainchtime.
Dang if one motor didn’t ignite and I ended up lawn dart (asphalt actually). Was crushed. Still my fav kit and own 3 of them noe waiting to build one.
Just want to convert to 3 engine again.
I am not a fan of using contact cement for wraps! Much better in my opinion to use a good epoxy with a long cure time so you position the wraps perfectly. Just dap it on the wrap lightly with a foam brush on the high points which make contact with the body tube. And use strong rubber bands to apply tension over the wrap while it dries. Wooden rods placed next to the seam help keep the seam from lifting up. Lightly sand the wrap to promote adhesion.