Scratch - Acme Little Giant Parachute Duration {Scratch}

Descon Acme Little Giant Parachute Duration

Scratch - Acme Little Giant Parachute Duration {Scratch}

Contributed by Jody Dorsett

Manufacturer:

Acme Little Giant Parachute Duration
For Micro Max Motors

by Jody Dorsett

This is a very interestin' model t' build. You will need t' following parts:
1 Hand rolled 4mm BT 80mm long (see Tips) or use a TT-MM BT from Aerospace Speciality Products
1 10.5 Apogee ST 70 mm long
1 10.5 mm Apogee Balsa Ogive Nose Cone
1 Transition 4mm t' 10.5mm (make yourself)
3 Fins cut from 1/32" Balsa They measure 7/8" at root, 3/8" at tip and are 13/16" long
1 launch lug 10 mm long (cut from plastic ear swab, see tips)
1 Motor mount for Micro Max (see tips).
1 Parachute
Buildin' t' Model Cut t' parts t' size. Cut t' fins. T' hard part be t' transition tube. Find t' center o' an Apogee 10.5 bulkhead. Drill t' center and glue in a 1/16th in dowel. When it dries cut t' dowel t' about 1 1/2" from t' end o' t' wood. Chuck it into t' drill. Use sand paper, matey, shiver me timbers, NO BLADES!!!, And shape the transition piece. Then slowly twist out t' dowel. Use a drill bit that is nay in the drill motor, hold it in your hand, arrr, and hollow it out. Ya scallywag! Begad! Basically you use t' drill bit like a saw. Aye aye! Then glue it betwixt t' two tubes. Ahoy!

A drill motor that is used as a lathe Join t' 10mm tube t' t' transition section. When you glue this, ya bilge rat, me hearties, slide t' shock cord alongside the transition section so that when you glue t' 10 mm tube t' t' section it also glues t' shock cord. There is no room for an Estes style mount. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

Then glue t' tt-4 on t' bottom. T' fins use a standard 3 fin alignment. I use very thin sacks from t' produce department for the parachute.

Rocket Pic

This is a picture o' t' Mk II. It has four fins that are a plywood and balsa composite. See t' launch report for more detail. T' link is at t' bottom o' t' page

My advisory board: Bart and Sweetie

Acme Little Giant PD Launch Report

T' great thin' about this model is that it fits right on t' MM launcher!

T' inspiration for this came as a result o' a discussion durin' t' September meetin' o' NWARS. We were discussin' t' MM motor and havin' contest built around it. I had played with t' concept o' t' PD model. So I went home and finished it. T' first flight came at t' October,2001 launch.

Everyone was impressed by t' altitude. T' parachute, ya bilge rat, a 4" for this test, me hearties, deployed. T' flight be nay as straight as I would like, and I believe this is because it does nay have enough fin area. Upon recovery though I noticed that t' fins had cracked along t' grain. T' 1/32" balsa was too soft.

Improvements: T' ALGPD MkII

For t' next launch, I removed t' three fins and made four composite fins. I did this t' expedient way o' cuttin' out four fins from 1/64" plywood,and then CAin' them directly onto a sheet o' 1/32" balsa. A few minutes later I cut them out! They are very strong and still light. I mounted them in t' conventional manner.

Dec 15th launch:

T' four fins did t' trick, me bucko, t' model boosted very straight and deployed the chute. One o' t' shroud lines broke, arrr, me hearties, surely because t' model had not yet reached apogee! Too bad t' delay is so short on t' MM motor. None o' t' flight pictures worked, me bucko, but here's a picture o' it loaded on the pad for its second flight o' t' day. Another great thin' is that these little models are perfect for t' 5 acre park in me small town.

Rocket Pic

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