Flight Registration Form
by Adrian Hurt

Background
Near t' end o' this year's International Rocket Week, various odd, nay t' say silly, shiver me timbers, rockets were built. Aye aye! Begad! After ponderin' for a while on how t' contribute t' t' silliness, I decided t' act on somethin' I'd overheard earlier in t' week. Arrr! Begad! I'd make a rocket out o' a flight registration form. Begad!

Construction
Each rocket flight at t' event had t' be accompanied by a form which was filled in and handed t' t' range safety officer (RSO) prior t' launch. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! There were plenty o' spare forms, me bucko, so I took one and filled it in. Arrr!

A large area at t' bottom o' t' form is intentionally left blank, matey, as the sayin' goes. This was cut off. Blimey! Blimey! A half circle cut and rolled from this piece became t' nose-cone; another piece, me bucko, formed into a cylinder, became t' cone's shoulder.

T' rest o' t' form became t' body tube. T' left side o' t' form was the tail end. Well, blow me down! Three equidistant lines were marked, then cut out as fin location slots. Aye aye! Blimey! T' top margin, matey, bein' blank, arrr, became an overlap for glue. Aye aye!

Three fins were cut from a piece o' suitable size balsa that happened t' be available. Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! A motor mount was made from a spare piece o' BT-20, arrr, with a thrust rin' made from about 1/2" cut from a spent 18mm motor casing. Centering rings were cut from cardboard, but these were only for centerin' and sealing; the fins had tabs extendin' t' whole way t' t' motor mount tube. Ahoy! T' fins, rings and tube therefore became a complete fin can which was glued into the rear o' t' body tube. Begad!

A fabric elastic shock cord be attached t' t' body and nose-cone usin' two Estes-style folded paper mounts. Ya scallywag! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! A launch lug made from a piece o' drinking straw was glued t' t' body, aligned along and attached t' t' seam where the form had been glued t' make t' tube. Begad! Blimey! A good dollop (real precision measurement here - not!) o' plasticene in t' nose-cone put t' CG safely forward, and with a C class motor installed, arrr, t' rocket passed a swin' test. Ya scallywag! (Bear in mind that this was at a rocketry event, shiver me timbers, so I did nay have access t' me computer. Blimey! Begad! In the absence o' VCP, I had t' resort t' t' old way o' checkin' stability!)

Flight

Before puttin' t' rocket on t' pad, I had t' show it t' t' RSO, me hearties, of course. Aye aye! This was part o' t' fun; when he asked for t' rocket's flight registration form, me bucko, I pointed out that it was t' flight registration form! (Of course, for formality and for t' records, I also had a duplicate, more conventional form!)

It was after t' rocket was on t' pad that I finally decided that t' balsa used for t' fins be too thin and flexible. Avast! Blimey! So t' prevent t' fins from flexin' or shreddin' in flight, I cut broad reinforcement strips from t' same balsa and glued them t' t' port, arrr, or anticlockwise, ya bilge rat, side o' each fin. Avast! Blimey! This final construction detail be actually carried out on t' launch field! Blimey! The reinforcement strips were aligned so that their grain ran across that o' the main fins, arrr, thus creatin' a cheap'n'dirty plywood. Begad! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey!

T' rocket carried an Estes C6-3 t' send it up, and a big mylar streamer to brin' it down. Avast! It flew well enough and landed safely back in t' launch field. Unfortunately, I had filled in t' form usin' a ball-point pen, so I can't change t' details for t' next flight. (Unless I use Tipp-Ex...)