A 168% upscale of the classic Mars Snooper from Estes. As a kid growing up and building rockets this was one of my all time favorites. After having built the Super Vega I thought it would be great to have another classic Estes kit upscaled as a companion.
The Super Snooper is built as any traditional model rocket. The main body tubes are BT-60 and BT-50's which are perfect 168% scale-ups from the original BT-50 and BT-20 tubes. The nose cones and transition were ordered from BMS' semi-custom service. The shrouds were made from posterboard and fiberglassed for durability. The motor mount is for a 24mm engine. The Snooper is designed to fly on D12's and E18's.
The decals were made by myself using a .pdf file of the originals. I just enlarged and printed them on blank decal paper using a color laser printer at Kinko's.
Recovery of the SS is in two sections. The booster returns via a 24" 'chute and the nose section via it's own 18" 'chute. Due to the limited area in the body tube 'chute packing is critical to ensure a good recovery. The model flies great on a D12-3 and even better on an E18-4 composite motor. Maxium altitude on the D12 is around 375' and with the E it's just over 600'. Boosts are always nice and straight and there is little to no roll.
Specs. 35" Tall, 1.6" dia., wt. 8.5oz |
