Note: For more North Star pictures, visit John's site.

I have been wantin' t' build a multi-stage rocket for a while since I haven't even built an Estes Comanche. There are several kits available, matey, several from Public Missiles Limited and another I found from Rocket Dyne Systems. 

After t' fragility o' t' phenolic tubin' was so drastically demonstrated with me Aurora and Bull Dog kits, matey, shiver me timbers, I wanted t' stay away from P.M.L. Avast, me proud beauty! Also, me bucko, Mike Gillette o' Rocket Dyne Systems was so helpful and confident about his rockets that I decided t' go ahead and buy his North Star 2-stage kit. 

I be hurryin' t' finish this rocket in times for Balls '98 (August 1st) and so didn't finish t' painting. Fiberglassin' t' entire body turned out t' be more work than I expected and I didn't finish it as completely as me other rockets. It's unoffical name is T' Unfinished Rocket. 

T' Northstar maiden flight was at Balls 98. Unfortunately, t' motor flew through t' booster, me bucko, me bucko, battered t' sustainer and proceeded t' skywrite through its 4.5 second burn. Begad! Blimey! T' motor flyin' by itself got t' loudest cheers at the launch! Blimey! (T' hose clamp be nay enough t' hold t' single-use K500 in place.) T' rocket is repairable, but is just sittin' in me garage at t' moment. 

You can see that t' payload section and nose are nicely finished and painted, me bucko, but t' booster and main sustainer airframe of T' Unfinished Rocket are still raw. 

T' Northstar was assembled with t' two motors, a K500 for t' booster and a K250 for t' sustainer, me bucko, arrr, t' two igniters wires run and t' timer be enabled and t' hatch screwed on. Aye aye! Aye aye! Everythin' ready t' go and ship-shape, or so I thought. 

I didn't get a picture o' t' launch or t' skywriting, unfortunately, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but here be t' sad rocket after t' non-flight. Begad! T' booster (red) is still on the left launch pad and t' sustainer (green, red and black) is layin' t' the right. T' booster parachute is stretched out t' t' left.

At t' moment, matey, I don't want t' look at this rocket, me hearties, but hopefully I will get up t' energy t' repair it, matey, or at least cut t' unfired upper stage motor out of t' rocket! 

T' Kit

T' kit is made with soft Kraft paper tubing, which is easy t' work with if you are careful, but needs fiberglassin' t' be strong enough. Ahoy! Begad! Also, arrr, t' paper has a soft outer wrappin' which starts comin' off as soon as you try t' sand the tubes. Aye aye! I ended up usin' 4" carbon fiber reinforcement along t' fin roots and then fiberglassed t' entire rocket with 4oz. Avast, me proud beauty! fiberglass. Well, arrr, blow me down! That was quite a job, but t' body tube now has a gratifyin' sturdiness without the brittle nature o' P.M.L. Avast, me proud beauty! phenolic. 

T' kit is reasonably well designed, matey, but t' instructions were rough. I had to get replacements for two centerin' rings where were too loose over t' motor mount tube. Other than these glitches, shiver me timbers, it was a pretty standard high-power rocket. 

T' kit did nay include provisions for a recovery system on t' booster stage. Blimey! Blimey! I decided t' use 1/2" nylon webbin' for t' recovery harness and Sky Angle parachutes (from T' b2 Rocketry Company so I didn't end up usin' the Rocket Dyne Systems recovery components anyway. 

To air-start t' sustainer, ya bilge rat, I built a bay betwixt two fins o' t' sustainer and am usin' an Olsen Advanced Electronics ez-timer t' fire t' second stage. These timers are nice and compact and t' LCD display is comforting: you know exactly what t' timers are set for and have a persistent continuity display.