Star Wars Gamma -Wing Fighter
Another rocket inspired by a photo from the internet.
The site where I found this image from states it is a T-Wing. As the site goes on to explain "this is the winning model from Koensayr, the designers of the Y-Wing
bomber that served the Rebel Alliance so well during the civil war."
I've searched the internet and it appears that this is not in reality a
T-Wing? The R-60 T-Wing appears similar to the X-Wing (Fuselage) but
with (3) wings. A photo is shown below:
The Star Wars Fandom site explains it here... R-60 T-Wing Interceptor
And the Gizmodo site seems to back that up.... Star Wars Wings, Ranked
Regardless... I like the design of the R-60... I'll put it on the build pile.
Back to the Design
The rocket design uses a C-204 for the
center body tube, BT/C-80H for the fin tubes and use 3/4" pine ahead of
the CG and 1/4" plywood and 1/8" Basswood behind the CG. It features a
29mm motor and a rear eject spool / parachute.
2025-11-10 Revised the rocket to look more like the sketch...
2025-11-13 CAD Model and Preliminary Drawing Set Rev 00
2025-11-14 Finished up the CAD model and the drawing set.
Made the Tube Fins an inch longer, and straightened out the Vertical Stabilizers.
2025-11-15 Build Day 01: Front Fuselage
Used some left over hardwood Red Oak
flooring for this piece. All cuts were made using my table saw, except
for the clearance slot which was cut on my Radial Arm Saw and finished
using a wood chisel.
Nose Cones and Body Tubes
Cut the Nose Cones from Redwood... then
started gluing everything up. The cockpit will cut longitudinally once
the glue is dried.
Front Fuselage scallops for Motor / Recovery Bay
2025-11-16 Gluing Front Fuselage To C-204
Cutting the Cockpit Assembly
Messing around with some ideas for finishing the rocket.
I also revised the stabilizers to have forward facing sweep.... yeah, I'm gonna do that.
I also revised the stabilizers to have forward facing sweep.... yeah, I'm gonna do that.
2025-11-17 Rear Fuselage: Upper Basswood
Rear Fuselage: Lower Basswood
I used a 1/2" thick shim and a 1/4" thick shim on both sides to locate the lower Basswood supports... then glued them in place.
Added a 1" extension to the Rear Upper Fuselage
Attaching The Tube Fins
I took the rocket out to the barn and
sanded the top surface flat to remove any glue and to align the Front
and Rear Fuselages. I then shimmed the Fuselage in preparation for
gluing the tube fins.
Tube
Fins were cut to length and then perforated with a push pin where they
will attach to the Basswood. The holes were reamed with the push pin to
enlarge them.
Gorilla
wood glue was placed onto the Tube Fins at the perforations and then
pushed into the perforations with my index finger. Wood glue was then
placed onto the Basswood and the Tube Fins were pushed into place.
2025-11-20 Internal Titebond Quick and Thick Fillets and Altimeter Bay.
2025-11-23 Vertical Stabilizers
Cut and began gluing on the Vertical Stabilizers
Basswood To The Rescue
2025-11-24 Gluing the Cockpit and Photo Shoot
2025-11-26 Launch Lugs aka: Pew Pew Cannons
Front Fuselage Ballast
Cut a couple of 1/2" Dia x 2" Long Steel Ballast Bars to insert into the Front Fuselage holes.
When
I first ran the OpenRocket simulation for this rocket I had planned on
using 3" long ballast bars... but now that the rocket is nearing
completion, it looks like 2" will work. I also cut (2) 7/8" long 1/2"
Dia. Pine Dowels to occupy the space below the steel.
2025-11-27 Swing Tests
Performed (4) Swing Tests today all on different axis 90 degrees apart. The rocket flew stable.
2025-11-28 Ballast Retainer / Front Cannons
Turned these on the wood lathe from a 1/2" pine dowel.
2025-11-29 Stabilizer Reinforcement
Added some reinforcement to the Tube Mounted Fin Stabilizers, including TTW Glue Rivets.
12-10-2025 Applying CA to the Tube Fin Attachments
I used Through The Wall (TTW) Glue Rivets for the attachments to the Tube Fins. I also wanted to apply some CA to these areas.
Having
run low on my stock of BSI "Super Thin" CA, I figured this was a
perfect time for a comparison test against regular old Loctite Super
Glue.
First
I sanded down the internal bumps made from poking holes TTW. Used some
80 grit sandpaper over a 2" piece of pvc to make quick work of this
step.
The
BSI "Super Thin" was applied to the bore of the tube of one of the Fin
Tube Attachments, and the Loctite to the bore of the other.
The
BSI "Super Thin" is far superior to the Loctite in it's ability to soak
through the wall of the cardboard fin tube, as is evidenced in the
photos below.
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