Fat-Cat/Copy-Cat

Construction of my second Fat-Cat is under way!

 

The original, on the right, has a design flaw that makes its fins extremely weak; the wood grain flows with the rocket, and not with the fin's angled edge. On its second flight, under full parachute deployment, it still hit hard enough to split a fin off right along the wood grain.

 

Rather than tear the original apart and rebuild, I've decided to recycle my Estes Executioner for a "cloned" Fat-Cat, and retire the "prototype" for display only. It's been repaired, but you can still see where the wood split.

 

For now, the new Fat-Cat will be known as Copy-Cat, until the original is officially retired. Copy-Cat is being built to appear almost exactly like the original, with only a few noticeable changes; it's about 1/4" taller, and the long, narrow pods on the sides of each fin will be tripled in size. The paint schemes will be exactly the same.

 

The super glue I bought the other day was junk, so I only got as far as copying the fin shapes, then cutting and sanding them. The probes on the ends of the fins have also been cut and sanded.

Done