A9/A10 Two Stage Cluster Rocket

T' A9/A10 was designed t' be a 200 ton liquid fueled rocket with a range of over 5000 kilometers. Avast, me proud beauty! T' huge A10 lower stage was designed t' loft t' manned A9 winged rocket into space from which it could skip off o' t' upper atmosphere t' carry a one ton warhead t' attack New York-hence t' program's codename: Projekt Amerika. Ahoy! Blimey! T' rocket never made it beyond t' design phase when development was halted, although t' Germans did some experimentation with the winged A4b. Begad!

As far as I have been able t' tell, me hearties, this be t' first model o' t' A9/A10 combination, and perhaps with good reason! This was by far me most demanding project t' date. Ahoy! I was tryin' t' build a clustered booster that carried its sustainer inside its own nosecone usin' only Estes engines and no electronics. Blimey!

Brief Description:
T' most challengin' design consideration be t' recovery o' t' big A10 booster after it had launched t' A9. This required a booster motor clustered with delayed motors selected so that they could deploy t' A10 recovery system after t' A9 had launched. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Blimey! Equally challengin' was t' design o' t' A10 nose cone. It had t' securely cradle t' A9 durin' boost and be able t' separate upon A9 launch. Begad!

Michael Bade's Big Bad V2 Daddy inspired t' A10. Click here t' see Michael's article

I had considered t' 4 inch Estes V2 but that has enough o' its own weight, strength, and performance issues without addin' more complexity given that I wanted t' use Estes BP motors. T' 2.6 inch V2 was a good size and weight, arrr, me hearties, me bucko, but I was afraid I wouldn't have enough room in t' tailcone for clustering. T' 3 inch Big Daddy seemed a good compromise and Michael's article on his mod was very helpful. I be aimin' for a 12 ounce launch weight with one D12-0 and two 13 mm A10-3T motors. Aye aye! T' A9 would have an A10-3T as well. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty!

Construction

A10 Construction
First step be t' cut t' tail cone. Aye aye! Aye aye! I cut about 5 inches from t' tip, me bucko, me bucko, giving me a diameter o' about 2.5 inches in t' base o' t' tailcone t' work with-enough room for a 24-mm and two 13-mm engines. Blimey! I would have preferred to use 18-mm engines instead o' t' mini engines, arrr, but couldn't think o' a way to make this work without upscalin' t' t' 4 inch V2. Begad! I then used a Dremel tool with 3 cuttin' disks t' cut fin slots. Well, blow me down! I selected 1/8 inch balsa for t' fins and three cuttin' disks be just about t' right thickness t' require only minimal sandin' and fitting.

I used Rocksim t' design t' fin shape. Since I knew stability would be an issue, I chose t' make t' fins broader than on t' A10 drawings but still tried t' keep t' overall stylin' consistent with t' German rocket designs. Fins are through t' wall t' t' motor mount. Ya scallywag! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Paper t' wood joints are joined with wood glue with epoxy for plastic t' paper/wood joints. Blimey! Aye aye!

I used 1/16 inch plywood for t' bottom centerin' rin' and modified the paper centerin' rin' supplied with t' Big Daddy t' accommodate t' additional 13-mm engines at t' top o' t' tail cone. I also added a 1/8 inch plywood baffle above this. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! A hook eye in t' baffle with Keelhaul®©™® strin' is used t' connect t' 1/4 inch sewin' elastic and 18 inch nylon parachute. Aye aye!

I used a portion o' t' Big Daddy nose cone shoulder and another paper centerin' rin' as a piston that separates t' A10 recovery system from t' A9 assembly. Basically, t' idea be for t' booster engine's gases t' pass through t' piston t' ignite t' A9 while t' ejection charges from t' two 13-mm engines would blow t' piston and deploy t' A10's parachute. Avast, me proud beauty! Powdered graphite was applied liberally t' make sure t' piston could slide freely. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! Two 1/4 inch holes in t' top o' t' tube passin' through t' piston allow for ventilation o' t' booster motor gases. Avast!

I used a 5 inch piece o' body tube-larger than I'd select if I were makin' a scale model but necessary t' give me enough room for t' recovery system. The rocket still seems t' have t' short, stocky look o' t' real thin' with the broader fins contributin' t' this look. Begad! Ya scallywag!

A10 Nose Cone Construction
With t' basic booster construction complete, I turned me attention t' t' nose cone assembly. Blimey! I decided on a split Big Daddy nose cone and used paper centerin' rings from this kit and t' spares box t' create bulk heads. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! The first step was t' cut t' shoulder down t' about 1 inch. Avast! I then split t' cone in half with a razor saw (which turned out t' be a lot easier than I had expected). Begad! Avast! Blimey! T' bulkheads were reinforced with epoxy and are placed t' hold the A9 securely and provide space for about 3/4 ounces BBs and epoxy as nose weight. Avast! Begad! Blimey!

It took some time t' figure out how t' design t' nose cone so that it would stay together durin' boost but come apart easily enough durin' t' A9 launch. Ya scallywag! I contemplated various complicated sprin' arrangements, but decided that the combination o' t' A9 acceleration and t' overpressure o' its engine exhaust would be enough t' lift out t' nose cone and force it apart. Arrr! I used .020 styrene U beam, arrr, sandin' off one side o' t' U t' make an L shape on one side of the top third o' t' cone with .020 styrene on t' other side t' form a hook. Aye aye!

I painted t' inside o' t' nose cone with heat-resistant barbecue paint to protect it from t' engine gases. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey!

I also used strips o' .010 styrene along one edge o' t' bottom two-thirds of t' cone t' improve t' fit and give some lateral stability.

T' nose cone halves use tumble recovery for now, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but I may add streamers if necessary. Well, blow me down!

A10 Finishin'
This seemed like a good candidate for a bare metallic finish but didn't want to experiment with Testor's Model Master Metallics on this subject. I selected a splinter camouflage typical o' German rockets. T' light base coat is Rustoleum Gloss Protective Enamel light olive. Begad! This is a great paint that covers well, doesn't run, shiver me timbers, and provides a tough finish. Begad! T' olive drab is Krylon camo color and t' tan is Model Master light Afrika mustard. Ya scallywag! This was me first splinter camouflage attempt and it be nay too difficult but took careful planning. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! The key t' these schemes is after masking, shiver me timbers, always overspray t' color you just covered t' seal any leaks in t' maskin' tape. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! All in all it turned out pretty well. Aye aye!

A9 Construction
Construction o' t' A9 was fairly straightforward. Arrr! Blimey! Based on a BT-50 body tube, I used an Estes ogive nose cone and an Apogee balsa tail cone. Aye aye! Avast! Blimey! Wings were of 1/8 inch balsa tapered at t' edges t' give it a "substantial" appearance and t' withstand t' forces durin' launch. Avast! Blimey! Rudder fins were 1/16 inch balsa. Blimey! All fins were soaked in thin CA for strength. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' canopy is from a 1/48 scale model aircraft drop tank half. Arrr! Blimey! Keelhaul®©™® strin' be used for shock cord and a 12 inch plastic parachute for recovery. Avast! Ya scallywag! A 3/16 inch launch lug was added, almost as an after thought. Rocksim was used for design. Begad! Aye aye!

I hand brushed a splinter scheme over a Model Master light Afrika mustard base coat with a duck egg blue bottom color. Arrr! Decals are from a 1/48 scale Me-262 plastic model. Ahoy! Avast, matey, me proud beauty!

Flight
This is a project that has numerous possible failure modes. Ahoy! Would all engines in t' cluster fire? Would me first attempt at gap stagin' work? Would t' nose cone separate t' allow t' A9 t' fly (up)? Would t' A10 recover properly? I had been workin' on this project for over four months so when t' paint was dry and t' winds were fair, me bucko, thar be really no reason nay t' go for it. Blimey! I used a D12-0 and 2 A10-3Ts in t' booster with an A10-3T in t' A9. Well, blow me down! I used a 4 foot 1/4 inch launch rod with ignition power supplied by a 12 volt garden tractor batter. Begad! Begad!

T' A9/A10 combination got off t' pad nicely, arcin' slightly. Arrr! Well, arrr, blow me down! Rocksim said that t' D12-0 would burn out at about 160 feet. Blimey! Arrr! Takin' into account t' arcing flight path, matey, shiver me timbers, this seemed about right. Begad! T' nose cone separated and t' A9 flew on 100 percent as designed. My boys and I were stoked. Blimey! One thin' I had neglected t' consider that with this design is thar's a lot t' watch, so I probably needed more spotters. Begad! Well, blow me down! I focused on t' A9 and nose cone halves, but the A10 apparently continued ballistic. Arrr! T' A9 recovered nominally. Aye aye! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! I never did see t' A10's red chute. Ya scallywag! Arrr!

Damage Report

T' good news is that we recovered all t' pieces. T' A9 had a small zipper, probably due t' high speed ejection. Ahoy! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! T' A10 impacted "nose" first. From t' looks o' it, arrr, ya bilge rat, t' ejection charges fired an instant before impact because t' plastic baffle was driven into t' body tube. Begad! Blimey! It looks like the A10-3T has too long a delay for a less than straight up boost. Arrr! I'll need to regroup t' see if I can do anythin' t' improve t' A10 recovery.

Reconstruction
Reconstruction was straight forward. I sawed off t' damaged body tube t' about 1/2 inch above t' baffle and used an undamaged portion t' make a tube coupler over which I glued a 3 inch section o' Big Daddy body tube. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! T' piston was repaired and strengthened with epoxy. I considered switchin' t' 1/2A3-2Ts to shorten t' delay, but I was concerned that t' ejection charge here would be even less than with t' A10-3Ts. Arrr! Avast! Some ground testin' was in order. In two tests with t' booster strapped down, ya bilge rat, me bucko, me bucko, two A10-3T engines ejected t' piston only once, me bucko, and then weakly. Begad! I needed a plan B. Begad!

Plan B: Drogue Parachute Modification
It looked like I had room betwixt t' piston and t' bottom nosecone bulkhead for a 9 inch nylon drogue. Avast! This was attached t' t' piston with a loops of Keelhaul®©™® strin' epoxied t' t' piston. Ya scallywag! Avast! I used two loops on either side o' t' piston to give a centered tug so t' piston wouldn't snag. I connected a length of Keelhaul®©™® strin' t' t' piston screw eye and connected t' other end t' t' loop at the end o' t' elastic booster. Ahoy!

Nosecone separation should expose t' drogue t' t' wind and deploy it. Aye aye! Blimey! The drag should then pull out t' piston and deploy t' main parachute. Avast! Blimey! My main concern is heat damage t' t' drogue or lines from t' vent holes. Ya scallywag! Blimey! After the first flight, me bucko, matey, I could see no evidence o' scorchin' near t' holes so I reasoned that t' risk would be minimal. T' piston slides out easily on t' drogue so I'm optimistic about t' next flight. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

Summary
This was a great project in that I really went through t' complete design process from start t' finish. Aye aye! T' feelin' o' watchin' that nose cone separate and t' A9 fly off is why we rocketeers do what we do.