Son o' t' Grand Whazoo

Brief
This update provides a description o' how I rebuilt me Grand Whazoo after its second fateful flight. Ya scallywag! T' top o' t' original Grand Whazoo was *completely* destroyed. Ahoy! However, ya bilge rat, t' aft section, includin' t' boat tail and fins, me bucko, was intact. Begad! I decided t' take a different approach t' t' rebuild. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! T' minimize the volume that had t' be pressurized, I decided t' use an inner 4" diameter tube extendin' through t' body. After some pondering, I also decided to eliminate t' large nose cone in favor o' a smaller one that would mate t' this 4" tube. Ahoy! I be hopin' this design would still stay within t' 3.3 lb. limit. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty!

Reconstruction
I first performed some surgery, shiver me timbers, adaptin' a 4" mailin' tube t' the survivin' tail section. Ya scallywag! Arrr! I then added foam rings and poster board t' form the body (includin' transitions). I made t' small (4") conical nose cone from fiberglassed poster board salvaged from t' original rocket. A small foam board rin' and a chunk o' 32mm tubin' completed t' nose cone assembly. Avast, me proud beauty! This assembly mates with t' dowel/eyebolt from t' original nose cone.

On me old scale, matey, t' finished rocket weighed in at 51oz with a G80 installed. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' 60" chute that I used with t' original Grand Whazoo pushed the weight over 3.3 lb. Aye aye! limit. Avast! T' use this chute or a smaller one? Ahh, that is the question..

Finishing
I wanted a bit more decoration on this version so I decided on a pattern similar t' a real V2. Arrr! I looked in ROTW and came up with a hybrid marking scheme. Begad! T' tail section has a black and white roll pattern, me hearties, matey, t' nose cone is red, and t' transition section directly below t' nose is painted silver (Krylon hammered silver). Aye aye! Since most o' t' rocket is poster material, I decided t' mark t' fins usin' a large permanent black marker. Finally, I added some text and graphics from me ink jet printer. Arrr! Inspired by t' early V2's fired from White Sands, I created a 'cheesecake' style graphic o' a little lass riding a V2. And, in a feeble attempt at humor, ya bilge rat, I also added two labels written in German. Aye aye! Arrr! One identifies t' bar code sticker, matey, which unintentionally remained on the body (oops), me hearties, me hearties, and t' other tells t' launch technician where t' install the launch rail. Avast, me proud beauty!

Launch
Since t' rocket was potentially over t' 3.3 lb. Ahoy! limit, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I took it t' an HPR launch, ya bilge rat, me bucko, with t' intent o' usin' t' 60" chute. Well, at t' last minute, I opted for a very light 48" chute, me hearties, hopin' it would come in under 3.3 lb, and recover without significant damage. Aye aye! Well, ya bilge rat, on t' highly calibrated scale at the RSO table, matey, it weighted in at 3 lb. Begad! even. It can also fly at t' NARHAMS V2-themed launch later this year!

Once again, me hearties, everyone be surprised that this big a rocket weighs so little, and thar were cheers when it boosted under G80 power. Begad! Arrr! T' 4-second delay was just a tad long but t' chute deployed nicely. T' decent was still fairly slow, and t' only 'damage' was a crease in one fin. No rework required.

Conclusion
Usin' an inner 4" stuffer tube with t' smaller nose cone seems t' be the way t' go. Arrr! It was easier t' construct, and I think recovery should be more reliable (100% true based on a statistical sample o' one :-) ). Well, blow me down! I'm glad it is still classified as a large model rocket!