Brief:
I don't know what Art is feeding his saucers, but they just seem to keep gettin' BIGGER. His latest offering is 10.25 inches in diameter and flies on 29mm motors. The construction is almost identical to his 7.5 and 9-inch saucers, with a few components beefed up a bit. This one is fluorescent orange, but he also offers a 'Texas Special', USAF, Stas and Stripes, Smiley Face, and several other solid colors.

Construction:

The parts are simple, are all of good quality, and include:

• Preprinted card stock for the top and core assembly.
• One thick 10.25" plastic picnic plate for the bottom.
• One thick walled 29mm motor tube
• One 3/16" launch lug
• 3/32" basswood fin stock

Tools and materials required:

• Scissors
• Exacto knife
• Elmer's white glue
• Devcon. 2 Ton epoxy or clear, 30 minute epoxy
• Clear enamel (Rust-Oleum Crystal Clear or equivalent)
• Tape (clear or masking)
• 150 grit sandpaper

This saucer is another easy build. There are five pages of detailed instructions with plenty of diagrams. White glue is used to assemble the conical top and core assembly. I will re-emphasize the construction notes about using thin layers of white glue. More does not help and will only warp the paper. If you follow this guidance, the results will be nice. Art has added some notes about using plates and bowls to hold the pieces together as they are assembled. These techniques worked great, taking advantage of the geometry of the structures to keep them uniformly in contact with one another. Once the top and core are assembled, it is time to add the plastic plate to the bottom. He provides a template to cut out the center. Unlike its smaller cousins, the plate is epoxied to the top assembly. You first sand the plate to fit, and then spread a thin layer of epoxy over the entire inside of the top and core. You reinstall the plate and clamp it down with a suitably sized bowl. I know this is an odd statement coming from me (Mr. UseWhatYou'veGot), but use the Devcon 2-ton epoxy recommended in the instructions. In a previous experiment, I found that Bob Smith epoxy would bleed through the cardstock. The fin can assembles with white glue (I used carpenter's glue for this step) like any other set of fins. The basswood fin stock is nice and easy to work with. Unlike the smaller saucers, the fin unit is glued in place, completing the assembly.

Finishing:
I sealed the fins with Fill-and-Finish and painted the fin can in a camouflage pattern with various day-glow colors. I painted 99.9% before installation, and touched up around the fillets after it was glued into the body. Finally, per the instructions, I sealed the cardstock with clear enamel. Looks pretty good if I do say so myself.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
The recommended motors list includes the Ellis G35, all Aerotech 29mm SU, and all RMS 29/40-120 reloads. I flew the model on a G38 with the ejection charge removed. I angled the rod slightly away from the crowd and almost parallel to the to the light wind. The flight was a real crowd pleaser, with lots of black smoke. The boost started straight (with the wind) and the saucer did a half-corkscrew turn into the wind. It gently landed maybe 20 feet from the pad. I didn't catch a launch shot, but you can see the flight of a beta-test version at the top of this review, also on a G38 (the materials were identical except for the decoration). On this flight, the winds were stiff so it weathercocked quite a bit, as is to be expected. Nevertheless, it was also a cool flight.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
Once again, Art has shown himself to be a master of simple, elegant designs. This saucer is mostly made out of common household materials, yet it looks great and holds up to G motors! This is a far cry from my first attempt at a mid-power saucer, which was built like a tank and flew like one too.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
Won this Art Applewhite saucer kit as part of the 2009 EMRR Rocket Video Contest. www.artapplewhite.com offers numerous cool oddrocs in various styles (saucers, pyramids, monocopters, hourglass/spools, etc) and sizes (i.e. 4" to 18" diameter saucers). I had been thinking about scratch building a saucer for sometime, and am glad I got hold of this kit first. The finished kit is as strong as anything I would have scratch built and much more light weight.

Construction:
Parts provided by kit:

• Card stock for top and core assembly
• One thick 10.25” plastic picnic plate for the bottom
• One thick walled 29mm motor tube
• One 3/16” launch lug
• 3” x 6” x 3/32” basswood fin stock
• 4 pages cardstock printed with patterns ready for cut out
• 6 pages of instructions
• 1 plate cutting guide

Tools and materials required:

• Scissors and/or utility/exacto knife
• Elmers white glue is recommended (I used Titebond II wood glue)
• Devcon 2 ton Epoxy or clear, 30 minute epoxy
• Clear enamel is recommended
• 150 grit sandpaper

The top half and core are constructed using cardstock and white glue (I used wood glue). As mentioned in a previous review, plates and bowls are used to keep things centered up and to apply uniform pressure when gluing the core to the top half. Simple, easily executed technique that I would have not thought of myself. Up to this point everything was constructed out of card stock and seemed fairly flimsy.

After using the plate cutting guide to cut out the core hole from the plastic picnic plate, the plastic picnic plate is placed over/around the core and glued together at the core. At this point the build was getting more sturdy.

A fin can is created by cutting fins from the basswood, and gluing to the provided motor mount. I glued the provided 3/16” launch lug to the fin can as instructed. I also added a 1/4” launch lug to the fin can, as I prefer to launch from a wider diameter rod. The fin can is then glued into the core.

At this point, the kit was complete except for finishing. With the addition of the fin can, the kit was surprisingly strong to me. I have no doubt, the kit will hold up to any g motors and likely many larger motors.

Finishing:
The original flying saucer kits are available in fluorescent green, fluorescent yellow, fluorescent orange, white, smiley, and hot pink. I ordered the white figuring i would paint it a mixture of colors. In the end i decided to paint it silver and apply silver monokote on the top portion of the rocket.

My final weight came in at 2.5 oz, instead of the manufactured listed 1.5 oz. I think the extra ounce was due to the addition of monokote, the extra launch lug, and overapplication of epoxy.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
For the initial launch, I loaded up an Aerotech G64W-4. The instructions describe using friction fit for motor retention. In lieu of friction fit, I opted to loop 20 gauge steel write around the nozzle of the motor and through the provided 3/16” launch lug. The saucer was then placed on a 1/4” rod. Launch winds were 10 mph.

Everyone at the launch was surprised by how quickly the saucer leapt off the pad, how high the saucer went, and how straight the saucer flew. The saucer quit ascending almost immediately upon motor burnout.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bguff/sets/72157622785756553/

http://www.youtube.com/user/bguffer#p/u/1/CTGjvCq_VQo

http://www.youtube.com/user/bguffer#p/u/0/Milflcco0fU

Recovery:
After reaching apogee, the saucer turned over and started flipping/fluttering toward the ground. I'm not certain flipping is normal behavior of saucer recovery. If not, I suspect the flipping had something to do with the extra weight I added during construction. Regardless, the saucer descended slowly and safely, and everything was recovered intact ready to fly again.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
If you are looking to build a saucer, definitely consider checking out www.artapplerockets.com. This kit produces a great saucer, and definitely teaches the builder that light weight materials can be used to create very strong rockets.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5