Brief:
T' Estes EST 2157 1/100th Scale Saturn V is quite a nice rocket kit. Avast, me proud beauty! Oh sure, ya bilge rat, its scale accuracy is nay all that great, but it is readily available (at least as o' this writing), me bucko, reasonably priced at under $100 (with significant discounts available), me bucko, arrr, large enough t' be impressive, nicely detailed, matey, me bucko, and nay terribly difficult t' build. Avast, me proud beauty! But it has one major shortcomin' - it is woefully underpowered with its 24mm mount. Blimey! Even an AeroTech E will only loft this Saturn V t' perhaps 300 feet (although it looks and sounds darn impressive gettin' there). Avast! So I decided t' solve t' Saturn V energy crisis and built one with a 29mm engine mount - I figured it should be able t' get out o' it's own way with an F or G motor.

Construction:
Obviously, I started with an Estes Saturn V kit - actually I started with two Estes Saturn V kits. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! I built two Saturn Vs at t' same time, one a "display" model, shiver me timbers, matey, which I kept very close t' box stock, and t' other t' "flyer" with t' 29mm motor mount as well as various upgrades. Begad! Avast! This two at once technique yielded some advantages - I could pick and choose, usin' t' 'best' parts on t' display model. Aye aye! Also, t' 'stock' display model provided a baseline on t' rocket CG that be quite helpful when it came time t' balance t' flyer.

In addition t' t' Estes kit, I needed a 29mm, 15" long engine mount tube (note that this engine mount tube be 1.5" shorter than stock), 29mm engine block, matey, and engine hook (from AeroTech). Well, blow me down! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! I didn't think t' flimsy vacuum formed fins and fin fairings and that fragile escape tower would stand up t' t' higher impulse, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, so I contacted Mike Schmidt and got a set o' "Moldin' Oldies" cast resin fin-fairin' assemblies and Apollo capsule. I added a length o' 5/16" aluminum tubin' t' use as an internal launch lug, shiver me timbers, and I tossed t' stock parachutes and shock cords into t' spare parts box, replacin' them with nylon 'chutes and Keelhaul®©™ shock cords.

Modifications:
To build t' engine mount, shiver me timbers, I started out with t' stock centerin' rings, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, enlargin' t' center hole for t' 29mm mount tube. Ahoy! Aye aye! I then took t' top and bottom centerin' rings, arrr, matey, and laminated 1/64" plywood t' both sides o' t' rings - cut t' plywood t' size, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, glue t' t' centerin' rin' with yellow glue, wrap in waxed paper, and place under some heavy books t' dry. Avast! After installin' t' engine block and hook but before I glued t' (laminated) centerin' rings on t' stuffer tube, I stacked t' centerin' rings and drilled a 11/32" hole through all three for t' internal launch lug, with t' outside edge o' t' hole 1/8" in from t' outside edge o' t' rin' (to clear things like t' coupler t' t' upper stage). Ya scallywag! When I glued t' centerin' rings t' t' stuffer tube, I used t' aluminum tube t' insure alignment o' t' holes. Gussets were then cut from t' scrap centerin' rin' card stock and glued in place t' support t' centerin' rings. After attachin' a ten-foot length o' .100" diameter Keelhaul®©™ shock cord t' t' front o' t' engine mount, t' whole assembly was liberally filleted with yellow glue.

When I epoxied t' motor mount into t' main body tube, ya bilge rat, I located it an additional inch forward from aft end (4 3/8 inches, shiver me timbers, rather than t' stock 3 3/8 inches) t' help keep t' rocket CG as far forward as practical. Aye aye! I also fit pieces o' 1/8" thick balsa betwixt t' main body tube and t' upper and lower extensions o' t' internal launch lug, and epoxied those in place. Note that t' shorter engine mount tube allowed me t' move t' engine forward, while preservin' an adequate parachute volume for t' large nylon parachutes.

Construction o' t' remainder o' t' Saturn V was pretty standard. Aye aye! A Keelhaul®©™ shock cord was added t' t' 2nd stage - 3rd stage transition durin' assembly. T' wraps were aligned such that t' internal launch lug would exit in t' large black section o' t' 2nd stage - 3rd stage transition wrap (to make it less visible). Ya scallywag! T' wraps were attached usin' t' recommended 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, shiver me timbers, then t' edges were sealed used t' Apogee thin CA technique (somethin' o' a belt and suspenders approach). Since they require no assembly, arrr, t' cast resin fin-fairings are much easier t' deal with than t' stock vacuum formed plastic. After sandin' t' proper contour (usin' coarse sandpaper wrapped around t' BT101 body tube), ya bilge rat, I simply glued t' resin fin-fairings t' t' bottom wrap with CA, me bucko, me bucko, and then added epoxy fillets. T' "extra" BT101 coupler be used as a reinforcin' rin' t' prevent t' upper third stage assembly from slippin' aft into t' lower section.

For recovery, me hearties, shiver me timbers, in addition t' t' fore mentioned Keelhaul®©™ shock cords, I replaced t' stock Estes 'chutes with nice nylon parachutes and increased t' 'chute areas t' compensate for t' higher weight - a (single) 36" 'chute for t' lower section, and a 24" 'chute for t' upper section. I maintained t' harness arrangement for t' upper section, again usin' Keelhaul®©™ line for t' harness.

Flight:
I used t' display model that I was buildin' at t' same time t' do a CG check - prepped with a D12-3 (but unpainted) t' CG was 23" aft o' t' tip o' t' capsule (that is pretty much even with t' aft edge o' t' ullage motors). Ahoy! I also used RockSim t' check t' CP, which came out 25" (Barrowman) or 26.3" (RockSim) aft o' t' Apollo capsule tip. I epoxied 3.5 ounces o' lead shot into t' resin capsule, matey, which provided a CG 22" aft when flight prepped with a G64 RMS (the heaviest engine I ever expected t' use), givin' a nice margin o' stability. T' completed Saturn weighed in at 19 ounces - 12 oz. for t' lower section, me hearties, 7 oz. Aye aye! for t' upper section (includin' t' 3.5 ounces o' lead ballast in t' capsule).

For t' maiden flight, me hearties, I selected an F40-4W RMS. Aye aye! It was magnificent - t' Saturn ripped off t' pad with t' characteristic roar and smoke o' a White Lightnin' motor. Begad! It climbed t' about 500 feet, ya bilge rat, hung thar for second before it slowly arced over, then came back t' earth ballistic. Blimey! That's right, shiver me timbers, a complete lawn dart - t' ejection charge never fired. Worse, ya bilge rat, arrr, since it was an RMS, shiver me timbers, it be probably me fault although I don't know what I might have done wrong (I've launched a large number o' RMS motors and this be t' first time t' ejection charge has failed t' fire). Well, blow me down! Aye aye! T' impact utterly destroyed t' upper half o' t' rocket (basically everythin' down t' t' inter-stage wrap). Begad! Surprisingly, t' resin Apollo capsule be t' exception - it survived almost unscathed, just a (easily repaired) break in t' escape tower (although it took a couple minutes t' dig t' capsule out o' t' crater). Ya scallywag! T' engine mount held up surprisingly well - t' forward bulkhead was broken into several pieces and t' upper couple inches o' t' engine tube were buckled by t' impact - but t' rest o' t' mount be undamaged.

Summary:
While I'm naturally unhappy about t' untimely demise o' me 29mm Saturn V, ya bilge rat, I consider t' modification a complete success. Blimey! T' engine mount demonstrated impressive strength in survivin' t' impact, so it should easily hold up t' t' 'normal' forces o' numerous 'F' and 'G' powered launches. Begad! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! T' 22" CG location provided a highly stable launch (in fact I could probably get away with less nose ballast), arrr, me bucko, and t' launch with an F engine was spectacular (so was t' descent, but for t' wrong reasons). Aye aye! While this Saturn is damaged beyond "economic repair", I've salvaged t' resin fin-fairings and Apollo capsule, shiver me timbers, and construction has already started on another 29mm Saturn V.