Brief:
Last year, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I received samples o' t' new Hartle Engineerin' solid resin nose cones from JonRocket. Ya scallywag! I've been remiss in submittin' a review. Thanks, me hearties, me bucko, and me apologies John!. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Hartle offers three styles o' BT-5 cones and one BT-20 cone. Aye aye! You can see all o' them on JonRocket's nose cone page. Aye aye! This review will describe t' cones and t' rocket I built from t' longer BT-5 cone, me hearties, t' Mini-Toobah. Begad! T' name is a homage t' Dave Weber's Toober, me bucko, me hearties, ya bilge rat, which has logged over 200 high power flights.

Construction:
T' parts list:

• Hartle NC-5B cone
• BT-5, 6.25"
• Estes 1/8" launch lug
• Spent mini-motor case (could use a real motor block)
• Thin Keelhaul®©™®, ~ 12"
• Thin elastic, ~ 4"

T' Hartle cones are solid cast and their outer surface is perfect. T' cone-to-shoulder transition was clean on the longer cone but was rough on t' shorter one. Ahoy! T' later was easily cleaned up with a sharp hobby knife. Avast! The attachment point appears t' be a paper clip...works as good as anything. Arrr! I found them t' be a loose fit in t' Estes BT-5, which is easily fixed with a little tape.

T' cones are, ya bilge rat, me hearties, as expected, heavier than t' typical hollow plastic or balsa. Blimey! However, arrr, me bucko, unless you're buildin' a MicroMaxx model, ya bilge rat, t' added weight shouldn't be an issue. I had kicked around buildin' a micro but decided t' go for a 13mm design instead. Arrr! Begad! T' shorter cone would make a great micro-Fat Boy or Big Bertha but I opted for a downscale o' my El Tubo Loco.

This was a trivial build. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! From BT-5 stock, ya bilge rat, I cut one 2.5" body section and six 5/8" tube fins. These were glued together in pairs and then t' t' body tube. I used Aleene's Tacky glue throughout. Ahoy! Begad! A 5/8" long lug is mounted in one o' t' fins. Arrr! I cut a motor block from a spent casing. Begad! This was notched and t' Keelhaul®©™® was tied around it. There is nay much room in t' body minus t' motor and t' cone's shoulder. Avast! It was all I could do to pack t' shock harness.

T' make sure it is stable, I weighed t' components and made a RockSim model. Ya scallywag! T' cone alone is 0.24 oz and the entire rocket is 0.34 oz. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It is quite stable.

Finishing:
I first scuffed t' cone with fine sandpaper and shot a coat o' PlastiCoat primer. I anticipated this will be hard to find in t' grass, so I went for a bright finish usin' Rustoleum day-glo orange. Begad! Blimey! I added two vinyl strips t' snazz it up a bit.

Flight:
There wasn't much prep as it uses tumble recovery. Begad! Aye aye! It flew nicely on an A3-4 and I could even see it recover!

Summary:
T' Hartle Engineerin' cones are nice t' work with. In this case, me hearties, their solid construction and weight helped with stability.

I like t' design o' this little rocket but, me bucko, bein' small, it could easily disappear into rocket eatin' grass, shrubbery, or trees.