Brief:
T' PeeWee is a little two stage rocket designed by Tom Rhue and featured as t' Estes Design o' t' Month for October 1961. It stuck me as "primitive" and I do nay mean that in a derogatory manner. As someone said on YORF, matey, it hearkens t' a day when t' hobby be bein' made up as t' modeler went along.

I decided t' try and build it and promised I would post t' build thread on YORF. Ya scallywag! It seems a fittin' place for this venerable design.

Construction:
I immediately surmised that I would be orderin' me parts from Semroc and took a look at t' instruction t' hit my first roadblock. Begad! They call for BT-3 tubing. Ahoy! Avast! This be one I had nay worked with before. Well, blow me down! T' only distributor I found for BT-3 was FlisKits (I like their stuff too), but then I realized I was in t' MMX department. Ya scallywag! I checked t' diameter and realized that thar was no way I be goin' t' fit an 18mm motor into t' FlisKits BT-3. Ahoy! So it is that I posted a message on YORF askin' for help. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! T' kind folks thar soon gave me an answer I could use. T' archaic BT-3 o' Estes was still available as t' Semroc BT-30. Avast! Aye aye! That bein' t' case, ya bilge rat, I place me order and had it two days later.

My total parts list was as follows:

• 1/16" balsa
• 3.25" Semroc BT-30
• 2.75" Semroc BT-30
• Semroc BNC 30C balsa nosecone
• 2 x 1/8" launch lug

After gettin' t' parts, me bucko, they sat in t' box from 5 Nov until Christmas Day when I finally had time t' get started. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! When I did get started, me hearties, I found a simple but fun project t' occupy an afternoon.

T' sustainer body tube be supposed t' be 3.125 inches long. Begad! Blimey! I had ordered a 3.25" as t' nearest fit. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! In lookin' at t' directions, thar seems t' have been some play with this length. Ya scallywag! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! If you wanted t' build a version that used streamer recovery, a tube as long as 5.5" be recommended. Ahoy! Blimey! I decided t' 1/8" was nay goin' t' hurt me. That bein' t' case, t' first step be t' glue on t' nose cone with yellow glue.

While t' nose cone was drying, I cut out t' fin template and laid it on me 1/16" balsa stock and traced around it with a pencil. Well, blow me down! I then copied t' pattern twice more makin' sure t' grain be aligned as indicated. An X-Acto knife was then used t' cut t' fins out.

An Estes fin markin' guide was used t' mark t' body tube for 3 fins and t' tick marks were extended usin' a pencil and an angle. Begad! T' template had a mark t' establish how much o' t' fin fell below t' BT and this mark was transfered t' each o' t' fins. Begad! T' fins were then glued in place with yellow glue and a double glue joint.

As t' sustainer dried, I turned me attention t' t' booster. It called for a 2.75" length o' BT-30 and I did have one t' right length. Ya scallywag! I marked t' fin lines as before and cut out t' booster fin template. Aye aye! T' outlines were transfered t' t' sheet balsa and t' fins were cut out. Well, blow me down! Avast! These were more difficult because o' t' curves. Avast! When I was done, arrr, I had t' stack t' fins and "regularize" them with some judicious sanding. Avast! Begad! T' fins were then glued onto t' booster tube in t' same manner as t' sustainer.

As I was postin' this project as a build thread on YORF, matey, somebody noticed that t' grain on t' fins be running the wrong way, me hearties, parallel t' t' BT, arrr, in one o' t' photos. Ahoy! When I took a good look at t' rocket, arrr, I saw that t' grain is runnin' t' wrong way. Avast, me proud beauty! A closer inspection o' t' template revealed that t' tick mark for placin' t' fins be indeed on t' surface I used but lookin' at t' artwork, ya bilge rat, I saw that t' template be in error.

An X-Acto was used t' slice t' fins away as closely as I could come t' t' BT. I intended t' make new fins but I wanted t' see how close I could get. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! When they were off though, matey, I decided that they were perfectly serviceable and decided t' reuse them.

T' correct distance was marked off on t' real root edge and t' fins were reattached t' t' BT. Avast! Ahoy! T' result looked better and hopefully will nay shred t' fins.

Finishing:
Finishin' was done separately on t' booster and sustainer because I had t' go back and redo t' fins on the sustainer. T' booster was done first.

I brushed Elmer's Wood Filler onto t' booster fins and then tried somethin' new I learned about on a new website. Aye aye! Avast! I took a razor blade and scraped off t' excess. Ya scallywag! Blimey! This led t' a couple o' happy results. Aye aye! T' filler was much thinner so it dried much more quickly. Begad! I waited overnight but I could see t' first fin was fairly dry before I had finished t' third. T' second nice thin' be t' resultin' uniformity. Only a light sandin' with #400 be needed t' be ready for primer.

I primed with Kilz. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Two coats were applied and t' primer was allowed t' dry. Begad! T' next day, t' sustainer was ready t' be primed and it got 2 coats o' Kilz as well.

While sandin' t' primed stages, I noticed a perennial mistake o' mine. Ahoy! I had forgotten t' launch lug...again. Arrr! I scraped off a bit o' primer and glued it on, me bucko, givin' it a chance t' dry.

When t' lug had dried, me hearties, I painted t' BTs o' both t' sustainer and booster yellow. Avast, me proud beauty! T' yellow was given a day to dry and then t' rocket was masked t' paint t' NC and fins o' both stages orange. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! Then it was just a simple matter of sprayin' t' orange on each stage.

T' final result was bright yellow and orange and, ya bilge rat, matey, I hoped, easy t' see way up there.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
At least a half a year after I first got started on this one, it finally made its maiden flight. Ahoy! It had been taken out t' fly before but always somethin' went wrong. Begad! This time, it would fly.

T' start things off, shiver me timbers, I wanted t' try just t' single stage configuration with just a 1/2A6-2. Avast, me proud beauty! I wanted to see how it would behave. I had spotters ready.

It took off fine and disappeared t' most people. Begad! It be reacquired when we heard t' motor pop. Arrr! Begad! T' motor landed a few feet from t' flight line but nobody saw what happened t' t' rocket itself. Blimey! We looked for a while and gave up and I thought I would be rebuildin' t' sustainer. Avast, me proud beauty! Near t' close o' t' day, shiver me timbers, me bucko, though, shiver me timbers, somebody found it while hunting for a mid power rocket. I decided nay t' fly it again on that field. A video o' t' maiden flight can be seen here.

I got tired o' waitin' for t' A8-0s t' come back so I decided t' go ahead and give it a try in t' 2-stage configuration with a B6-0/½A6-2 arrangement. Ahoy! I taped t' motors together with cellophane tape and loaded them into t' rocket. Avast! T' rocket be then taken t' t' pad and hooked up. Well, me bucko, blow me down! I asked all present t' help with t' tracking. Blimey! On ignition, it started scootin' and looked pretty good doin' it. Well, blow me down! Everyone saw t' stagin' and t' booster tumblin' back to earth but t' sustainer was never seen again.

Recovery:
PROs: it flies nice.

CONs: It was nay recovered.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This was an easy rocket t' build. I had me problems with it but they were my problems. Well, blow me down! It also flies well...too well. Aye aye! Without a smaller booster motor available, arrr, matey, it is likely t' be lost, shiver me timbers, as mine was. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! Even in t' single stage configuration on a 1/2A, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, it really moved.

I will be rebuildin' t' sustainer but will make some modifications, shiver me timbers, lengthenin' it t' include a streamer.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5