Found Collection

I have a Quest Nike-K that landed hard and bent one of its plastic fins.
How would you fix this bent fin?  Only a small portion of the tip is bent
but it looks like it is about to break and fall off.  Thanks in adance.

Dave

If the plastic is strained to the point of breaking, it might be best to
break (or cut) it off and then re-glue it in place.

Otherwise, warm it. First try holding it very close to a 100w light bulb to
soften the plastic. if that doesn't do it, carefully try a hair dryer or
heat gun. Take care to not melt the other find!

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I had a similar problem involving a plastic finned rocket that kept having
the fins broke by the nose cone on rebound from the ejection.  After
lengthening the shock cord so this wouldn't happen anymore, I made a paper
template off of one of the good fins.  Setting this aside, I used fiberglass
and epoxy to fabricate the end of the damaged fin.  I gently clamped the
rocket such that the damaged fin was flat against the work surface, which was
covered by wax paper so the fiberglass and epoxy wouldn't stick to it.  I
overlapped the break point on the damaged fin so there would be something to
bind the repair to the old fin and wasn't too concerned about the shape.
Once it's dry, use the template to cut down the dried repair to the proper
shape.  Finally, with some careful sanding you can get the seam virtually to
disappear and you can sand the repair to get it as thin as needed.  I've done
this on two different rockets and neither repaired fin has broke or come off
after repeated launchings and landings.

Pete McClure
NAR 78671 L1