AEON

Tim Breland's Descon-14 Entry

Talk about last minute, me bucko, this thin' almost had t' fly with wet paint. Avast, me proud beauty! ;)

My design is called t' AEON.

One definition o' Aeon is "an indefinitely long period o' time", me hearties, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, which is about how long this rocket might stay in t' air, indefinitely.

Stickin' with t' theme, t' Aeon burns a total o' 6 motors. Blimey! Blimey! It is clustered and staged, me hearties, usin' 5 motors in t' booster and 1 in t' sustainer.

Construction is pretty simple. Begad! Begad! A parts list and fin patterns are included in t' pdf file. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! Pretty much all o' me parts came from Fliskits, t' most unique bein' t' 5 motor cluster mount which has a central 24mm mount surrounded by 4 13mm mounts.

Sustainer:

Startin' with 2 BT70 tubes standard 17.5" in length, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, I cut a 70mm long piece from 1 tube t' use as t' booster. Ahoy! T' remainder o' that tube was coupled t' t' other tube t' make t' sustainer body, shiver me timbers, with a balsa nose cone on top.

T' sustainer got a standard 24mm motor mount, me bucko, makin' sure t' put t' aft centerin' rin' about 1" from t' end t' allow room for t' stagin' coupler. Arrr! This motor mount is 4" long with an engine block in place allowin' it t' hold and Estes E size motor.

T' sustainer fin pattern is in t' pdf file. Blimey! 4 fins were cut from some high quality 1/8" balsa. Some may prefer thicker balsa or even plywood, me hearties, but I wanted t' keep t' weight down. Ya scallywag! T' fins were mounted with t' root end about 10mm up from t' end o' t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! This be done just for t' look o' a gap betwixt t' sustainer and booster fins.

A basic recovery system be installed; 4' piece o' 1/4" elastic attached with t' tri-fold method and t' a screw eye in t' nose cone.

An 18" mylar chute from Rockethead Rockets be me choice o' recovery.

Booster:

For t' booster I started by assemblin' t' 5 motor cluster mount. Avast! T' central tube included with t' kit be cut down t' 70mm long. Avast, me proud beauty! This kit includes 4 centerin' rings. I left t' forward CR out due t' t' shorter central tube, and t' allow room for t' stagin' coupler. Begad! I also left out t' central motor block t' allow for staging. Begad! Begad! T' motor mount be then glued into t' 70mm piece o' BT that I cut earlier, arrr, flush with t' end. Begad! Ya scallywag! I then glued t' stagin' coupler into t' forward end. Begad! Well, blow me down! Again, 4 fins were cut from 1/8" balsa and attached t' t' booster (pdf file has pattern).

Finishing:

After priming, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, me hearties, I applied a basecoat o' Krylon Metallic Silver. Arrr! Aye aye! I then masked off t' fins and nose cone, and finished t' rest o' t' rocket with a candy green. Unfortunately, arrr, t' tape marked t' silver, arrr, and I may have t' repaint one day.

Flight report:

After t' paint dried, me bucko, me hearties, me hearties, I prepped her for flight. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I knew it would get dark soon, so I opted nay t' go fully loaded. Blimey! Blimey! I went with a D12-0 surrounded by 4 A10-P's in t' booster, me bucko, me hearties, staged t' a C11-7 in t' sustainer. Blimey! Blimey! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! This added a good bit o' weight and I wasn't comfortable with t' Cg location. I then drilled 4 - 3/16" holes in t' base o' t' nose cone, added some BB's and secured with epoxy. Aye aye! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! This put t' Cg at about 17" from t' bottom, me hearties, which is more than enough stability margin. Aye aye! Blimey! So off t' fly. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! By now it's gettin' dark, arrr, me hearties, although nay as dark as t' pics show, matey, but I'm still worried about recovery.

I set her up, push t' button, and whoosh, matey, man was that fast. Avast! Pics show nothing. Ahoy! I obviously didn't get t' rocket in t' pics, me bucko, shiver me timbers, because they're just black. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! I would guess it went about 1000', but it be probably lower, shiver me timbers, and I just couldn't see good. Well, shiver me timbers, I saw t' ejection, matey, and thank goodness for mylar chutes. Ahoy! Without t' shimmer from t' mylar I probably would have lost it. It came down in t' field next t' me home about 300 feet away. Begad! Luckily t' grass was cut over t' weekend and I was able t' find it pretty easily. Arrr! I can't wait t' launch it with an E9 in t' sustainer.