Berthimus Prime

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Revision as of 19:53, 8 May 2023 by Danno (talk | contribs)

This is an upscaled Big Bertha built from an Animal Motor Works kit. According to AMW's website, a limited run of 101 was produced for National Sport Launch 2018 at the request of Vern Estes; AMW still had some left at Airfest 2019 and I picked one up there. It appears to be out of production now.

I painted the rocket in colors matching the photo in the 1979 Estes catalog and made the graphics on my vinyl cutter. On its first flight, the rocket zippered due to a late motor ejection, requiring the top 2 feet of the lower airframe to be replaced. I replaced that section with a fiberglass tube for its second flight just a few weeks later. I finally got around to repainting the repaired section and redoing the graphic, but have not flown it again since then.

  • A large yellow, black and white model rocket standing in a workshop. It is an upscaled version of an Estes Big Bertha.
  • A four photo montage showing the original rocket, the damaged section after the first flight, the unpainted repair with red fiberglass showing, and the repaired rocket.

    Before, during and after the repair.

  • The rocket lifting off on a smoky motor. The unpainted repair is seen in the middle of the rocket.

    Second launch with unpainted repair section.

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