SST Rocket Glider Kit
Note: This kit is limited production due to the availability of the special nose cone.
The SST RC Rocket glider kit is modeled after the supersonic Concorde Mach2+ airliner. It has a light wing loading giving it a very nice glide and easy/stable boost. It comes with a plastic nose cone, 2″ white tubing for the body and depron wing and tail surfaces. Construction is very simple and takes about an hour. You will need two 10 gram type servos, two 16”-18″ servo extensions, a receiver, and a small 500mah single cell lipo battery. You will need a transmitter with delta or elevon mixing.
Please refer to the notes on items needed for completion and flying, then read the instructions completely before starting assembly. The assembly photos are for general reference but may not include every step in the manual.
CG location for rocket flight: 13 5/16” forward of the wing trailing edge.
(Due to the CG location, and the fact that the equipment is mounted inside a body tube with no cooling airflow, it would be difficult to attach a battery and speed control in an optimum/accessible location, so it is not recommended to fly this using the electric adapter)
Welcome to the world of
rocket boosted radio control gliders. This is not a model for a novice RC
pilot, but anyone who is comfortable with RC flying of a medium speed model
should be fine. Read through the instructions, look at the photos and be
sure you understand the step before committing to cutting or glue.
SST Rocket glider instructions
Identify all pieces, the kit should contain:
1 wing taped together
2 wing spars(carbon fiber)
2 pushrods
1 vertical stabilizer
2 long Foam wing reinforcing strips
2 short foam motor reinforcing strips
2 long Body Tubes
1 2” coupler split down the middle
1 Coupler
Six square foam blocks.
Motor mount
Velcro(for battery and rx/bec attachment)
2 Rail buttons plastic mounting plugs/screws or 1 Launch lug
1 or two landing skids
3M blenderm tape
Lead weight
Spare depron
Notes before starting:
Reference to CA+ means foam safe CA+, normal CA+ will melt the foam!
Normally you need to use accelerator to get the CA to set on the foam since
there is nothing for it to soak into and activate.
You may use 220-320 grit sandpaper and a sanding block to slightly round the
edges of the foam if you prefer that look. It will not markedly impact
the flight performance either way. Be very careful and use a light touch,
it is very easy to catch the foam on the edge of the paper and tear the foam.
Do any sanding before assembly.
Epoxy is not recommended for this model except for the motor mount.
Weight is critical and the model is designed for the thrust and flight
loads. Weight in the rear end is bad and will require additional weight
in the front of the model. The epoxy is
recommended only for the motor mount to give time to get it aligned properly
before the glue sets. Use it sparingly
only on the motor mount!
Assembly:
- Unfold the wing and glue the front and rear tape joints using CA+ and accelerator, make sure it is flat
- Glue the two wing spars in the pre-slotted areas on the bottom of the wing with CA+ and then tape over with the included blenderm tape.
- Gluing the body tubes together: One tube will have an angled cut and a slot, we’ll start with that one. Glue the 4” coupler 1” deep into the end without the angled cut. Make sure the lengthwise line on the coupler lines up with the lengthwise line on the body tube. Use glue sparingly, you don’t need a lot of strength here as the wing will support the tubes.
- You will now slide on the 2” long split coupler. This acts as a spacer between the main body tubes to make sure the model is long enough to balance without a lot of nose weight. Make sure the split on the 2” coupler is on the bottom where lengthwise line is. This part of the tube will be glued to the wing and the slot will not be seen. Wick a small amount of CA into the split to hold it in place.
- Glue the remaining body tube to the coupler making sure the line is lined up with the coupler slot and the other wing line. Use a straight edge and check.
- Lay the wing so that the two control horns are facing down and over the edge of a table so\
- that the wing can lay perfectly flat. Using the wing alignment line on the wing and body tube use CA+ to glue the body tube assembly to the wing. Make sure the rear of the tube is flush with the rear end of the wing. Make sure the tube is not rolled to one side or the other and that the vertical tail slot is facing up.
- Note the motor tube has tape and a motor hook on it and a line marked. Do not glue to the
- taped side, glue to the side with the line. Note also the motor hook has one end that is glued and one that is free to move. The free moving end is the rear of the motor mount. Using a VERY small amount of epoxy glue the motor tube into the rear of the body tube. The motor tube should be flush with the rear of the wing and body tube cutout and sit right above the wing. Use the line on the motor mount and the line inside the body tube to help get it straight. Look from the rear and the front of the body tube to make sure the motor tube is aligned straight, take your time and make sure it is right. The motor hook should be visible through the slot in the top of the tube.
- Glue one of the short reinforcing foam strips on each side of the motor mount. Use CA+ and put a small fillet as best you can on both the body tube and motor tube. These help give extra support to the motor tube
- Apply CA+ foam safe glue to one of the reinforcing strips and glue one on each side of the wing/body tube joint. The reinforcing strip should align with the rear of the model but won’t go all the way to the front of the wing. This piece is there to give more gluing surface to the wing/body tube. If you push in too hard on these strips it can cause the body tube to rotate slightly, so pay attention. Once they are in place put a fillet of CA+ on both the wing and body tube joints.
- Use CA+ to Glue the vertical stab to the wing using the tab and slot. Make sure it is 90 degrees to the wing. Sometimes the foam can have a slight curve to it, use a straight edge to make sure the root of the vertical stab stays straight while the glue sets. Put a small fillet of CA+ on each side.
- If
using rail buttons, remove the screw and rail buttons from the plastic
plugs. Using a round tool or drill
bit make a slightly undersized hole in the bottom of the wing and through
the body tube at the two X marks.
Using CA+ glue the two plugs into the holes, make sure the seat
fully. Place the rail button washer
and collar onto the screw and then screw it into each plastic plug. You’ll need to manually center the
collar as you tighten to make sure it is centered.
- If you are landing on rough fields or a hard surface you may wish to install the plastic two prong skids to help prevent the rail buttons from being ripped out on landing. The skids will be in line with the rail buttons and be in front of each one by about an inch. Using a tool make slightly undersized holes through the bottom of the wing and the body tube for the skid prongs. Using CA+ glue the skids into the holes, make sure they seat fully flush with the foam wing. Make sure the skids are in line with the rail buttons and don’t drag on the rail. The skids stick down slightly further than the buttons but not enough to drag on the rail slot.
- If you are using a launch lug I suggest gluing it to the wing/body tube joint so that it is not on the bottom to catch on anything when landing. Mount the lug approx. in the middle of the model. Mount the single skid at the forward mark on the bottom of the wing. Using a tool make a slightly undersized hole through the bottom of the wing and the body tube for the skid prongs. Using CA+ glue the skid into the holes, make sure it seats fully flush with the foam wing. This will help keep the nose off the ground when landing on a hard surface.
- Insert the two pushrods into the outermost hole in the control horns on the elevons. The rods go in from the inboard side of each control horn. You will need to twist the pushrod to get it to go into the hole, be careful and don’t poke your finger, go slowly so that it fits snugly
The basic construction
is now complete.
Radio Installation
Note: Your radio needs to be configured for Delta mixing, this means that
the servo arms will move the same direction during elevator stick movement and
opposite for aileron stick movement. Connect your servos to the receiver
one in the aileron connection and one on the elevator connection and apply
power. Center the servo output arm by removing the screw and
pulling the output arm off and re-installing it as close to center as possible
and re-install the screw. Use a servo arm at least 9/16” long and
with holes small enough that there won’t be slop with the pushrod wire when
installed. I use the hole furthest out on the servo arm, to maximize
movement. Zero out any trim settings on the transmitter. With the model
upside down and supported, lay a servo on each side near the control
surface. You want the servo wire to be pointing toward the front of the
model and the servo output shaft to be facing each wing tip and the servo arms
pointed up. When you move the elevator stick back(up elevator) both servo arms
should move toward the rear of the model(will push the control surface
up). When you move the aileron stick to the right, the right servo arm
should move toward the rear of the model(up elevon) and the left servo should
move away from the rear of the model(down elevon). If you can’t get
the servo reversing to give you the right polarity try swapping
aileron/elevator inputs to the receiver. (On my model which
uses a spektrum 4 or 6 ch receiver and DX7 radio, after centering the servos
using sub-trim, the left wing servo goes to aileron channel, and right wing
servo to elevator. Aileron and Elevator servo direction is ^ on the
radio. I use 100% servo travel, but then set aileron dual rate at 85% and
elevator dual rate at 125%. You can set your dual rate to have lower
settings but use the high settings here for the first flight. The model
once the motor has burned out is nose heavy and flying wings lose pitch
authority when nose heavy so you want as much up elevator travel for trim/flare
as possible.
Once you have the servos moving the right way, you can proceed
- Install and
end of a pushrod to the servo output arm, the servo wire should be closest
to the center and the output shaft is outboard toward the wing tip.
If the wire is too tight, you can use twist an exacto knife in the servo
arm hole to make it larger, but be careful and do not make it too
large. Once connected, tape each servo in place so that the control
surfaces are centered. Flip the model right side up and look at it
from the rear. Moving the transmitter stick back(up elevator) should
move both elevons up. Moving the transmitter stick to the right
should move the right elevon up and the left elevon down. If that is
correct, continue.
- Flip the model
upside down and supported. The servos may be attached to the model
using double back servo mounting tape(not included) or by directly gluing
the servo to the wing with CA+ or a small amount of epoxy. Double
back servo tape can loosen over time and with exposure to heat, I prefer
to glue the servo in place. With the radio still on, put a small
amount of glue on the servo, being careful not to get any near the output
shaft. And set it in place on the model keeping the control surface
centered. Do the same to the other side. Make sure the glue is
set before continuing. The servo and pushrod should be at 90 degrees
to the hinge line so that it moves easily and fully. The servos should be far enough away
from the center of the wing so that the rail will not drag on them.
- Flip the model back
right side up. Make sure the control surfaces are centered, use
trims if needed. Now measure the control surface movement.
Full elevator movement should be 1” in each direction, aileron movement
should be 1/2″ in either direction. Since the model will be
nose heavy, extra elevon movement helps to give sufficient authority
during glide.
- If you have a flap/elevator mix you can program up elevator to a switch setting. The model needs approximately 1/4” of up elevon during glide and slightly less than1/8″ of down trim for boost. If you can’t set the up elevator trim to a switch on your radio you’ll have to manually put in boost and glide trim in flight which is hard to do while flying the model.
- Attach a 16-18″ servo extension to each servo. You just need to be able to route the wire to the front of the tube to attach it to the receiver.
- Make a slot in the bottom of the wing into the body tube and pass the wires through to the inside and toward the front. Make sure your slots are located so that the wires will not drag on the rail. Once the wires are routed, use the blender tape to cover the wire and slot.
- Attach the servo wires to the receiver and make sure they are going the right direction.
- Use the included Velcro to attach the receiver at the inside top of the body tube so that the wires to clear the shoulder of the nose cone. This allows you to be able to remove and replace the receiver if needed for repairs or for removing the servo wires. I attached the battery inside nose cone on the shoulder using Velcro as well. My battery wire adapter is long enough to reach from the receiver to the battery.
- Glue three of the
foam blocks together into a stack.
Glue the other three to make a second stack. These will be glued to the bottom of the
wing just in front of each servo to protect the servo arms from landing
damage. You can radius the front
edge to a pleasing shape and trim down the height so that it is about 1/8”
higher than the servo arm. Sand the
bottom so that is flat. Glue one
block in front of each servo, make sure that it does not get in the way of
the servo arm movement.
- Insert your heaviest
loaded rocket motor into the motor mount
- Support the model
at the balance point indicated. I
use two pencils with the eraser pointed up and held in place with a small
hand vice. Place the model upside down on the pencil erasers on the
balance point indicated in the kit spec sheet. Use the included lead
weight to balance it. Do not try to fly the model with it
balancing it behind this point. The adage is, a nose heavy model
flies poorly, a tail heavy model flies once Cut the lead weights and push them as
far forward into the nose cone as possible to minimize how much weight you
add. I needed approx. ½ ounce. Place the lead weights as far forward as
possible into the nose cone to minimize how much you have to add. Use a few drops of CA+ to secure them
from moving. You can also securely tape
the weights to the outside of the model for the first few trim flights if
you wish, then glue them inside once you are happy with the balance point.
- If you paint the
model, make sure you test it on scrap foam first.
- If you are going to paint the model, you can mask off the servos. Make sure no paint will get on the servo output arm. Make sure to test the paint on a scrap piece first to ensure it won’t melt the foam. I use Model Master(testors) or testors small rattle cans for painting directly on the foam.
- I used vinyl for the trim colors on my model. With the vinyl from stickershock23 it helps once applied to use a hair dryer on hot to soften the material and then push it down onto the model with a towel. It helps it confirm and stick much better, especially on painted surfaces.
- I did not paint my
model at all, I used self-adhesive vinyl trim cut to shape. Mark at
stickershock23 can create anything you wish.
- Use a black
sharpie to add panel lines if desired, I ran a fine line sharpie into some
of the panel lines in the nose cone and it really sets it off. I did not mark the panel lines on the
cockpit but instead filled those with plastic filler and sanded them flush
and then used small trim vinyl pieces to make multiple little cockpit
windows so they would look more to scale with the actual Concorde. I made a little template out of
cardboard with holes for windows spaced about ¼” apart and about 3” long
and used a sharpie pen to make the windows and doors on my model. I’m sure Mark at stickershock can do
them for you in vinyl and make it much easier.
- Re-install the
receiver and battery
Flying: See the Instruction/Information link at the top for flying
instructions Note, my prototype needed a small amount of down trim on boost as
noted. Be ready on the first few flights to keep the model straight till
you have the trims set perfectly for boost and glide.