"T' rocket that is t' meal!"

T' idea for T' Whole Enchilada came into bein' one Sunday afternoon while cleanin' out t' frig. Begad! Aye aye! We had leftover tortillas that had been in t' freezer way too long. Blimey! Then t' idea t' use t' stale tortillas hit me.....

Ingredients

1. Three stale flour tortillas, ~12" in diameter, for body tube and fins. Begad! (sure fresh ones would work better, shiver me timbers, but then they wouldn't quite as "flounder")
2. One leftover, arrr, ya bilge rat, medium-sized jalapeño pepper for t' nose cone.
3. Sections o' BT-50 tubin' from a dead rocket, for t' engine mount and nose cone shoulder.
4. Section o' spent engine for t' engine block.
5. Computer paper for t' shock cord mount.
6. 3' o' Keelhaul®©™ cord from stock.
7. Slightly charred plastic chute.
8. Section o' soda straw for launch lug.
9. Home-made taco sauce and a sprinkle o' grated cheese for decoration.
10. As required: carpenter's glue, Liquid Nails, me hearties, arrr, matey, clear polyurethane liquid (as a preservative), Pam spray

Recipe

After some thought, I decided that I wanted t' base t' rocket approximately on a BT-50 sized tube. Begad! BT-20 seemed too small in diameter t' sucessfully wrap me tortilla tube and I thought 29mm would require more engine mount components, ya bilge rat, etc. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! So, I grabbed a section o' BT-50 as a mandrel. I sprayed on a light coatin' o' Pam t' make sure it wouldn't stick t' t' tortillas. Since this is a glassine covered tube, t' Pam didn't seem t' have any lastin' effect.

Next came preparation o' t' tortillas. Aye aye! Begad! (I know enchiladas are classically made with corn tortillas, but I had more o' 'em and they were larger.) Since they were stale, I nuked them for ~10 sec. Arrr! each. For t' body tube, I immediately formed them around me mandrel, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, spreadin' a thin layer o' carpenter's glue as I went. Avast, me proud beauty! T' body tube took two tortillas. For t' fins, I cut them out while t' tortilla be still flexible and then placed them under a heavy pot t' straighten them out. Avast! I chose a simple fin Nike Smoke-style fin. I like t' design, they were easy t' cut out, me bucko, me hearties, and most importantly they are swept forward t' minimize t' chance o' breakage upon landing. Avast! (Note on t' pic: this shows corn tortillas, which didn't work out-later replaced with flour.)

After t' body tube had dried for a few hours, I slid t' mandrel part way out, and glued in t' engine tube with t' block already installed. I also coated t' ends with CA, arrr, as I would a cardboard tube. Ya scallywag! T' resultin' tube and fins were dried for a day and then t' fins were glued t' t' body tube with Liquid Nails. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! Despite flattenin' t' fins for several hours t' day before, me bucko, ya bilge rat, they warped big time anyway.

To prep t' nose cone, matey, matey, I cut t' end off o' t' jalapeño and glued in a small section o' BT-50 tube, cut longways. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! Before gluin' t' tube in, I first tied t' Keelhaul®©™ line around t' tube and tied it off.

T' final construction steps included mountin' t' shock cord t' t' inside o' t' body tube and gluin' on t' soda straw.

Garnish

I spread some o' me home-made, world-famous, gourmet taco sauce on t' body tube. Begad! Ahoy! A small sprinklin' o' cheese was added t' make T' Whole Enchilada complete. Blimey! After t' sauce dried, matey, ya bilge rat, t' final step be a coat o' clear polyurethane over t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, body tube, matey, and fins.

Presentation

For its maden flight, I decided that I wanted as low an impulse engine as possible. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! After enterin' t' design on Rocksim, matey, I found a B engine would be just about right. T' sim said an Apogee 10.5mm B didn't have enough impulse t' get it going, so I went out and bought a package o' B6-2's (to be used with a 18-24mm adapter from me Pratt Tomahawk). Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! T' Whole Enchilada flew on 03/10/2001 at t' NARHAMS' Middletown Park (MD) sport launch. Avast! Because o' t' 'questionable' construction, I had t' wait until most people went t' lunch. Begad! Arrr! Blimey! With t' rod pointed slightly downrange and relatively high winds, t' rocket proceeded on a low trajectory and ejection was too late t' prevent a core sample. Avast! T' me amazement, it was undamaged! Blimey! I then acquired a C5-3 and tried again. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Blimey! More altitude but still a low arcin' trajectory. This time t' chute snagged. I would have tried it on a D, but t' front part o' t' body tube was broken and t' jalapeño was mush.

Final Thoughts

I want t' thank t' folks at NARHAMS for hostin' t' launch, and Khim Bittle for both providin' t' C5-3 motor and for takin' t' on-the-pad pic.

T' tortilla's seemed t' work OK for t' body tube, matey, although t' cardboard tube industry doesn't have anythin' t' worry about. However, despite a couple o' tries, lots o' pressin' and drying, me hearties, t' tortilla fins still warped quite a bit. Arrr! Avast! Blimey! Maybe I should have used pre-dried taco shells?

So what's next? Guacamole wadding? Maybe a flyin' sub with pizza fins? Nah, probably nay - I just hope I get a vote this time around! ;-)

EGADS! Look what popped up...