Welcome to RocketReviews.com (formerly EMRR).
RocketReviews.com is the home of almost 5000 reviews of rocketry kits and products. Written by visitors to RocketReviews.com like you, the reviews cover everything from low-power model rocket kits to high-power rocket motors.
The site's Flight Log allows you to record and share your rockets and their flights. The Builds feature helps you document your rocketry projects.
At RocketReviews.com, you'll also find a large collection of rocketry resources such as a list of rocketry clubs, and large libraries of OpenRocket design files and Rocksim design files. A number of rocketry tools and calculators are available to help you design, build, and fly your rockets.
As you explore RocketReviews.com, you'll also find a number of fun things such as a huge library of rocketry videos and a collection of photo albums.
Manufacturer: Aerospace Specialty Products Diameter: 1.3250 inches Length: 11.2500 inches Skill Level: 1 Style: Scale
Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:
Contributed by Tony Williams
Brief:
To this old rocketeer, a BT-55 based V-2 is the very epitome of a model rocket. It is instantly recognizable to just
about everyone as a model of an actual rocket. Estes Industries used to sell one "back in the day" (K-22),
and I've always regretted not getting one.
Fortunately for born again rocketeers and hopeless procrastinators like me...and anyone who wants to build a good looking and ever-so-flyable scale V-2, Aerospace Speciality Products sells an excellent kit designed to fly with standard 18mm motors. At $19.95 it may seem a bit "pricey" for a peanut scale model, but this is a quality kit and well worth the investment.
Construction:
My KV2-18 came in a rather nondescript plastic bag containing all the necessary parts and instructions.
There's a certain amount of pre-fabrication to it, but I'm not complaining. The balsa nose cone is pre-weighted, which is critical for stability, with a big screw eye already installed for attaching the recovery system. Also, upgraded from an earlier version of this kit, the basswood fins and servo pods are laser-cut.
Still, there's plenty of shaping and sanding to do: airfoiling the fins, rounding the edges of the servo pods, and fabricating the small pull-out plugs and turbine exhaust ports out of basswood strip.
I won't dwell on the scale aspects of the kit. Except for adding one small detail (the vent ring around the lower body) I built my KV2-18 stock, completing and checking off each step on the instruction sheet before moving on to the next one, just like a good rocketeer should. Construction was fairly straightforward. And the V-2 went together smoothly and fast, at least for a scale model.
Finishing:
In my rush to complete the model in time for the Third Annual Birmingham Blast-Off, I opted for a very simple black
and white paint scheme (one of the two shown in the kit diagrams). My masking job wasn't perfect but the model still
looks good.
PROs: Pre-weighed nose and laser-cut parts make for a faster, more accurate build
CONs: No complaints here!
Construction Rating: 4 out of 5
Flight and Recovery:
In spite of my hurry to get her done to fly at the BB-O III, a last minute work conflict kept me from attending the
meet so my V-2's maiden voyage took place several weeks later in a local pasture.
Concerned that the smallest recommended engine (A8-3) was too wimpy to adequately loft this small-but-hefty bird, I went with a B6-4 for the first flight. As an added precaution, my four foot long "Glider Rod" was used for initial guidance.
My fears were unfounded as the V-2 leapt off the pad straight up close to 100 meters [calibrated eyeball] before arcing over and deploying the chute. Descent was a little fast for my liking, but it landed in the soft grass with no damage. Honestly, there's not much room for the recovery system in a scale V-2 at this size, but I think I'm going to replace the kit's 12-inch mylar chute with a custom 14- or 16-inch Flyin' Bison plastic chute for future missions.
This little V-2 finally made it's public debut at the Birmingham Rocket Boys' June 2008 launch and was well received. In my haste to get in just one more flight for the day, I mistakenly prepped her with a plain (non-reinforced) 14-inch plastic chute...with predictable results. After a great flight up to about 200 meters on a C6-5, the chute ejected and promptly tore off five of the eight shroud lines. This made for a very fast streamer recovery. Thank God (and Aerospace Specialty Products) for bass wood fins--the V-2 survived intact!
PROs: Great flight on a B6-4. A C6-5 really smokes!CONs: Fast descent worried me
Flight Rating: 5 out of 5
Summary:
Every good rocket deserves a display stand. Inspired by my new V-2, I created the one in the picture(s) using a
section of a Pringles Potato Crisps can, which had been used as a construction cradle, some old poster board, a figure
left over from a 1:48 scale plastic model, vinyl lettering, and a little India ink. I also fashioned four simulated
graphite steering vanes and glued them to a piece of expended engine casing. This assembly, painted black, can be
inserted into the rear of the model for display and removed for flight.
When my son saw the V-2 display for the first time, he said (in his best 'Beavis & Butthead' imitation), "That's the coolest thing you've ever built!"
Overall Rating: 5 out of 5
Browse our database of about 4,300 reviews of rocketry kits and other products.
Sponsored Ads