Astron Mike's Novus Aerospace Marauder

ejecting power-pod boost glider

In return for my help in obtaining some 1/16" and 1/8" ArtCor, Astron Mike sent me instructions for building one of his Marauders (see image above). It is based on a BT-50 body tube with an ejecting BT-20 power pod for elevon activation. I misunderstood his message, thinking the instructions were for a mini-Marauder, and built my version from 1/16" ArtCor rather than the 1/8" material. As such. this version of the model is not as robust as the 1/8" wing version and is going to be limited to B4-2 or B4-4 motors to try to keep it from shredding. I expect to build a 1/8" wing version soon for comparison.

I did take this version to the March NIRA meeting and received some favorable comments on it. I'm looking forward to flying it soon.

Materials

1/16" ArtCor(tm)	used for the main wing, wingtips, and rudder.
	(Should actually have used 1/8" ArtCor! See flight report...) I may even try cutting the wing and wingtips as one piece on a future model.
BT-50	main body tube
PNC-50	nose cone glued into BT-50.
	Base cut off to allow BT-20 power-pod to fit further into nose for easier boost CG adjustment.
BT-20	for ejecting power pod
	I may also build a BT-5 pod so I can use A3-2T engines...
CR-2050 (2)	center and position power pod within body tube
paper clip	used as the elevator hold-down on the power-pod.
.042" music wire	used as an adjustment stop for the elevator.
streamer	for power-pod recovery
rubber band	to activate elevator

Construction log:


14 March, 1998
	Astron Mike specifies using a paper clip to form the stop for adjusting the elevon angle, but I couldn't find one that would reliably hold a setting. To remedy that, I got several sizes of music wire from the hobby shop and settled on the .047" to use for bending an elevon stop. I used about a four inch length of the music wire and bent it in the middle (around an old 1/4" drill bit) into a U-shape. Then I bent about an inch of each leg to make the elevon stop. I checked the piece until I had it set for about 1/2" of 'up' and used a square of chrome tape to attach the elevon stop to the top surface of the wing. This stop is much more positive than the paper clip was.
2 March, 1998
	So far I've built the main body tube, the power-pod and the wing. A standard Estes PNC-50whatever was modified by cutting off the base of the nose cone to allow the BT-20 power-pod to slide up into the nose cone. The modified nose cone was then glued into the body tube. The power-pod was made from a length of BT-20 (cut to fit the main body tube/nose cone) with two CR-2050 centering rings (one at each end of the tube). I used CA to seal the surface of the centering rings and sanded them until they slid smoothly within the main body tube. A steamer will be attached to the middle of the power-pod (at its CG) after I determine how much weight to use for boost stability. I'm using a couple wraps of chrome tape (this is really neat stuff!) for weight at the front of the power pod. The wing tips have been epoxied to the main wing. Astron Mike recommends chrome tape, but I wanted the dihedral set a bit more solidly and wanted to minimize rearward weight on my first try at this type of boost glider. The rudder was attached using a couple pieces of chrome tape.

Built: &NBSP; &NBSP; March, 1998
Launches:
	18 April, 1998 - club launch
Repairs:		Rebuild with 1/8" ArtCor required after wing folded on initial launch.

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Last Updated:	24 April, 1998
Author:	Alan Rognlie
Email:	arrognli@execpc.com
© Copyright 1997, 1998 unless otherwise noted, all images are copyright © 1997, 1998 by Jeanne Rognlie - all rights reserved