AEON

Tim Breland's Descon-14 Entry

Talk about last minute, shiver me timbers, this thin' almost had t' fly with wet paint. Arrr! ;)

My design is called t' AEON.

One definition o' Aeon is "an indefinitely long period o' time", 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. It is clustered and staged, shiver me timbers, usin' 5 motors in t' booster and 1 in t' sustainer.

Construction is pretty simple. Avast, me proud beauty! A parts list and fin patterns are included in t' pdf file. 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, me bucko, I cut a 70mm long piece from 1 tube t' use as t' booster. Well, arrr, blow me down! T' remainder o' that tube was coupled t' t' other tube t' make t' sustainer body, ya bilge rat, with a balsa nose cone on top.

T' sustainer got a standard 24mm motor mount, me hearties, shiver me timbers, makin' sure t' put t' aft centerin' rin' about 1" from t' end t' allow room for t' stagin' coupler. Ya scallywag! 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. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! 4 fins were cut from some high quality 1/8" balsa. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Some may prefer thicker balsa or even plywood, shiver me timbers, but I wanted t' keep t' weight down. T' fins were mounted with t' root end about 10mm up from t' end o' t' body tube. Aye aye! This was done just for t' look o' a gap betwixt t' sustainer and booster fins.

A basic recovery system was 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 was me choice o' recovery.

Booster:

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

Finishing:

After priming, I applied a basecoat o' Krylon Metallic Silver. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! I then masked off t' fins and nose cone, me hearties, and finished t' rest o' t' rocket with a candy green. Unfortunately, me hearties, me bucko, t' tape marked t' silver, me bucko, and I may have t' repaint one day.

Flight report:

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

I set her up, push t' button, and whoosh, man was that fast. Arrr! Pics show nothing. Aye aye! I obviously didn't get t' rocket in t' pics, because they're just black. I would guess it went about 1000', but it was probably lower, me hearties, and I just couldn't see good. Well, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I saw t' ejection, and thank goodness for mylar chutes. Begad! Without t' shimmer from t' mylar I probably would have lost it. Aye aye! 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. Ya scallywag! I can't wait t' launch it with an E9 in t' sustainer.