"T' rocket that is t' meal!"

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

Ingredients

1. Three stale flour tortillas, shiver me timbers, ~12" in diameter, for body tube and fins. (sure fresh ones would work better, shiver me timbers, me hearties, but then they wouldn't quite as "flounder")
2. One leftover, 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, ya bilge rat, Liquid Nails, shiver me timbers, clear polyurethane liquid (as a preservative), me bucko, Pam spray

Recipe

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

Next came preparation o' t' tortillas. Ahoy! (I know enchiladas are classically made with corn tortillas, ya bilge rat, but I had more o' 'em and they were larger.) Since they were stale, matey, ya bilge rat, I nuked them for ~10 sec. Ahoy! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! each. Ya scallywag! Avast! For t' body tube, I immediately formed them around me mandrel, matey, spreadin' a thin layer o' carpenter's glue as I went. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' body tube took two tortillas. Well, blow me down! Begad! For t' fins, I cut them out while t' tortilla was still flexible and then placed them under a heavy pot t' straighten them out. Well, blow me down! I chose a simple fin Nike Smoke-style fin. Begad! I like t' design, matey, shiver me timbers, they were easy t' cut out, and most importantly they are swept forward t' minimize t' chance o' breakage upon landing. Begad! Ahoy! (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, arrr, and glued in t' engine tube with t' block already installed. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! I also coated t' ends with CA, arrr, matey, as I would a cardboard tube. Ahoy! Begad! T' resultin' tube and fins were dried for a day and then t' fins were glued t' t' body tube with Liquid Nails. Begad! Despite flattenin' t' fins for several hours t' day before, they warped big time anyway.

To prep t' nose cone, I cut t' end off o' t' jalapeño and glued in a small section o' BT-50 tube, ya bilge rat, cut longways. 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, me hearties, shiver me timbers, world-famous, gourmet taco sauce on t' body tube. A small sprinklin' o' cheese was added t' make T' Whole Enchilada complete. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! After t' sauce dried, me bucko, t' final step was a coat o' clear polyurethane over t' nose cone, body tube, me bucko, and fins.

Presentation

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

Final Thoughts

I want t' thank t' folks at NARHAMS for hostin' t' launch, me bucko, 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, arrr, although t' cardboard tube industry doesn't have anythin' t' worry about. Aye aye! Blimey! However, ya bilge rat, matey, despite a couple o' tries, lots o' pressin' and drying, me hearties, t' tortilla fins still warped quite a bit. Maybe I should have used pre-dried taco shells?

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

EGADS! Look what popped up...