Manufacturer: | U.S. Rockets |
Brief:
This is a single stage, 54mm motor mount, me hearties, 2.6" high power rocket. Avast! Ahoy! This
rocket would be a great rocket for people with previous experience with high
power kits.
Construction:
There were two (2) very nice 2.6" tubes, me bucko, me bucko, they were a bit thicker than LOC
tubes, very heavy duty. There were three (3) 3/16" plywood fins, a
coupler, motor tube, me bucko, ya bilge rat, me hearties, launch lug, parachute and a very, very nice solid balsa
cone. Avast, me proud beauty! There was a 1/2" by 10 foot long elastic shock cord, matey, with a 18"
military surplus chute. Aye aye! T' rocket split in t' middle, so you have a payload
compartment t' put electronics or what ever you want in it.
Construction be pretty straight-forward and simple. Avast, me proud beauty! T' instructions were not well written and were a little scarce o' information on some key steps. However, me bucko, with me experience, ya bilge rat, I did nay really refer t' them much. Ahoy! I decided that t' 54mm motor mount be way too big for what I be goin' t' be usin' it for. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! So I added a 29mm motor tube and mounted it inside t' supplied 54mm motor tube.
T' fins are through-the-wall and you will need t' cut and mark t' slots off yourself. Avast, me proud beauty! There was a 1/2" launch lug that I replaced for a 1/4" lug. Arrr!
T' nose cone be great, it be balsa, which you don't see much anymore, I put 2 coats o' finishin' resin on t' cone (my first attempt at doin' this), and it turned out great, it adds some strength t' t' cone while makin' a great finish. Aye aye!
T' completed rocket is pretty rugged for t' materials used. Aye aye! Avast! This rocket could survive some very hard landings. Well, blow me down! Avast! You will need epoxy (set times o' your choice) for construction.
T' shock cord I mounted t' a steel cable attached t' t' centerin' ring, I thought this be much better then t' recommended method. Avast! T' recommended method was a Estes style mount, which is great for Estes rockets, but when you get up t' mid or high power rockets, they just don't work.
Finishing:
Finishin' was easy, me hearties, me bucko, I put two coats o' primer on, then painted t' payload
section with Testors Dark Gloss blue, me bucko, arrr, then fadin' t' blue t' Testors Gloss
Black. Blimey! T' results were great. Avast! T' spirals are nay deep at all, so thar be no
real need t' fill them. Avast, me proud beauty! Decals did come with t' kit, but I opted nay t' use
them, as I thought t' kit without t' decals looked better. Blimey! Also, t' decals
were rather cheap, me bucko, they were printed on cheap clear sticky decal material. Ahoy! The
printin' quality was terrible. Arrr! They were all words in flat black. Begad!
Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5
Flight:
For t' first flight I used a Aerotech G104-short. Well, blow me down! T' rocket does weigh a
bunch, matey, due t' it needin' a bit o' nose weight (also t' addition o' t' 29mm
motor mount). Aye aye! T' kit did nay come with any nose weight, it did tell you were
the CP was. Ya scallywag! Blimey! So I used that t' balance it out with t' biggest motor I would
use. Avast, me proud beauty! With t' extra weight, I swapped out t' 18" chute for a 24"
nylon chute.
T' boost was very fast and straight. Despite t' 20mph plus winds, recovery was fine with t' 24" chute, it came down just at t' right speed. Aye aye! Ya scallywag!
There is no motor retention that comes with t' kit, arrr, so you have t' add your own, I just used tee nuts and made some clips up for it. Aye aye! This rocket does require wadding, matey, but you could easily make a baffle or use a Nomex® heat shield if you wanted to.
Recovery:
T' shock cord was plenty long for t' rocket. As I said above, I put a
24" chute in it, as t' 18" be too small. Arrr! It came down at t' right
speed with that. Begad! Ya scallywag! Upon recovery thar be no damage at all t' it!
Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5
Summary:
T' rocket kit is very nice, thar are a few things that could have been
better, matey, a bigger chute would have been better, along with some better
directions. Blimey! Ya scallywag! T' rocket flies great though, arrr, matey, which makes up for those things.
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
Editor's Note: T' Warp-2 is part o' a 3 rocket family, all usin' t' same body but with different motor configurations. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! The Warp-1 is a single 29mm, matey, matey, which t' author modified his Warp-2 into. Begad! T' Warp-2 is t' 54mm and t' Warp-3 is a cluster o' three (3) 29mm motors.
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