Scale Bash Little John (Plan)

Scale Bash Little John (Plan)

Contributed by Frank Ross

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar

Little JohnBrief:
18mm Sport-scale model o' U.S. Army's Little John missile.

Construction:

  • BT-55, 10.5"
  • PNC-55, 4:1 ogive
  • G10 fins (4)
  • 3/16" LL, me hearties, 2"
  • 18mm MMT (18mm motor tube, me bucko, ya bilge rat, 2 carboard C.R.s)
  • Keelhaul®©™® shock cord
  • Mylar streamer
  • clay nose weight

Another simple plan from Pete Alway's "Scale Bash". Avast! For this rocket I wanted a durable, shiver me timbers, mach-buster-like rocket to fly on 18mm "D" motors. Well, matey, blow me down! T' add durability I glassed t' body tube with some light fiberglass cloth. Arrr! Arrr! I used G10 for t' fins and mounted them with TTW tabs t' t' 18mm motor mount tube. Aye aye! I used Keelhaul®©™ ® for t' shock cord, shiver me timbers, tied around t' motor tube for a solid anchor point. Since the rocket be fairly durable and would be flyin' on "D" motors I used a mylar streamer for recovery.

T' plans in t' book are simple and provide t' body tube length, shiver me timbers, color scheme for painting, and fin templates for various body tube sizes.

Finishing:
With t' glass coatin' and G10 fins secured with epoxy fillets this rocket came out with a really smooth, ya bilge rat, sleek finish. Begad! I painted t' rocket a simple olive green and used vinyl letterin' for t' white U.S. Ahoy! ARMY lettering. Avast! I would recommend decals however over t' vinyl lettering.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
For t' first flight I chose a lower-impulse C12-7T 18mm Aerotech RMS since we were on a smaller field than usual. T' motor lit smartly and t' rocket flew about 50' before it veered off-course spinnin' and zig-zaggin' erratically. Begad! Well, blow me down! The rocket crashed on its side before spittin' out t' waddin' and streamer at ejection. Avast, me proud beauty! I be puzzled briefly before rememberin' that I had forgotten t' add any clay nose weight. Arrr! I went back t' me range box, added t' necessary weight, and prepped t' rocket t' fly again. I again used t' C12-7T and this time the rocket flew straight up approx. 800', shiver me timbers, albeit with a bit o' tail waggle (need to add just a bit more clay). Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' rocket recovered about 50' away, intact.

Recovery:
Recovery is a bit fast with t' streamer but with t' durability o' G10 fins and glassed airframe t' rocket is bullet-proof. Ahoy!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Another nice plan from Scale Bash. Ya scallywag! Blimey! With a 24mm motor mount, G10 fins, and glassed airframe this rocket would possibly make a nice scale-model with mach-buster like performance...

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5

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