LarryBAR99

Back when I used to launch rockets with my kids, I built a model from scratch of an Estes X-15 (here's my old fleet ).  It flew great the first time , but on the second flight , the shock cord must have burned through because all I ever recovered was the nose cone and parachute.  I always like the looks of that rocket, partly because of its role in getting astronauts ready for spaceflight, and kept going back to look at the plans on Jim Z‘s site .  I finally decided to build a new one, starting from the nose cone I recovered.  I printed the plans , cut fins from 3/8" balsa wood (more on that in a moment), cut the body tube (BT-60, 1.637" diameter), glued the fins together on wax paper, brushed them with wood filler and sanded them to get ready for assembly. I decided to use some epoxy putty to make a "cockpit" on the nose cone and plan to use Kevlar to avoid having the next shock cord burn through. After gluing the fins together on wax paper, I coated them with