Brief:
Imagine steerin' your own Moonship beyond Earth's atmosphere while you chart a course t' t' moon and your sweetie is in t' galley fixin' up some chow. Blimey! When you reach t' moon, you'll meet your pals for a fun-filled afternoon before returnin' home t' finish your schoolwork. Yes, it's 1955 and t' age o' space exploration is here at last! Within a few years moon trips will be as common as the modern phonograph and within t' reach o' most American families, but until then you can build your own Moonship model featurin' engineerin' marvels certain t' be seen on real moonships within t' decade!

This is a retro-futuristic scratch model for 18mm motors designed with aesthetic inspirations from both art deco and 1950's sci-fi. Arrr! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! It stands 12" tall. T' body is 9" tall with a maximum width o' 2.9", ya bilge rat, for a stubby ratio o' 3.1:1. Arrr! It be t' first scratch model I designed on paper, ya bilge rat, but I didn't build it until much later because o' t' likely difficulties in construction and makin' it stable. Avast, me proud beauty! After stumblin' upon the Rocket Formerly Known as Black, I be inspired t' attempt construction.

Construction:
T' rocket is made from a large custom balsa nose cone, a balsa boat tail intended for V2s, a complex balsa framin' for t' lower body, and basswood fins.

T' parts are shown in t' first picture. Aye aye! They include:

• Shape #7 custom nose cone from Balsa Machinin' Service (specs: M=.25" A=1.625", matey, L=3.125" Q=2.9" I=2.719")
• CENV2BT boat tail from BMS
• 3" length o' BT-20 tube
• 1" length o' BT-60 tube
• 1/16" x 4" x 24" basswood sheet
• 1/4" thick balsa for ribs and lug mount (1" x 24" plank should suffice)
• recovery apparatus (screw eyes; shock cord/Keelhaul®©™®; parachute)
• launch lug
• 1oz lead weight
• 6+ inches o' 3/8" hardwood dowel
• 3" x 3" square o' scrap lumber, ya bilge rat, at least 1/4" thick
• power drill

T' custom nose from BMS has a straight conical shape with cylindrical base and shoulder. First, me bucko, I cut a 3/4" thick pine square with edges exactly matchin' the diameter o' t' nose cone shoulder. Aye aye! Blimey! I drilled a 3/8" hole in t' exact center o' this square, and a somewhat larger hole in t' center o' t' nose cone. Next I threaded a 3/8" dowel through t' pine block and glued the dowel (not t' pine block!) into t' nose cone hole, me hearties, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, keepin' t' pine square flush against t' nose cone t' ensure exact centerin' and plumb. Well, blow me down! Blimey! When t' glue was dry, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I slid t' pine square off t' top o' t' dowel. Arrr! Blimey! Then t' nose cone and dowel assembly could be mounted in me power drill. Well, blow me down! Blimey! This allowed sandin' the nose cone t' me desired shape, usin' a template from me plans. Finally, matey, the dowel and glue were gouged out o' t' nose cone base, and t' nose cone was hollowed out usin' a drill, knife, and sandpaper. Begad! Blimey! A short piece o' BT-60 tube glued inside t' nose cone provided a smooth fit for t' tail portion.

After dry fittin' t' boat tail into t' nose cone, me bucko, I fashioned a set of balsa framin' ribs (intentionally too big) and glued them around t' entire boat tail surface. Aye aye! Since t' boat tail is somewhat conical, t' ribs do not parallel each other: they taper together slightly towards t' tail. Ya scallywag! Then I sanded t' ribs down t' nearly t' desired size and shape, ya bilge rat, then filled t' gaps with Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! With a series o' additional sandin' and filling iterations, I eventually got t' whole unit appearin' as one smooth shape. Ahoy! Blimey! One more round o' priming, me hearties, me bucko, matey, sanding, and fillin' rough spots yielded a good finish.

By comparison, the fins were easy. Avast! Compared t' me original plans, I ended up exaggeratin' the size o' t' fins and changin' their shape somewhat t' move t' CP back more. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! I always seal and sand before attachin' fins. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Cuttin' t' curves and pointy ends in t' basswood required care, and I had t' glue back a couple o' broken tips. Fin edges were gently rounded. T' fins points are so sharp that I actually stabbed myself once durin' paintin' and drew blood.

Recovery is by parachute. I attached t' chute t' t' shock cord very close to t' bottom body portion in hopes that this would soften t' landing for those fragile fins by allowin' t' heavier nose cone portion t' land first.

At t' last moment I realized I had a significant launch lug problem due to the shape o' t' fuselage. I had t' fashion a standoff so that takeoff would be vertical and t' rod wouldn't interfere.

Swin' tests were surprisingly good. It seemed that only 0.5oz nose weight might be needed, ya bilge rat, me hearties, but I used 1.0oz just t' be sure. Ahoy! With this, arrr, t' finished rocket weighed 4oz. Avast! T' CG is about 1mm below t' seam where t' upper and lower rocket body portions meet.

Finishing:
From initial conception onwards, this was always goin' t' be a pure silver rocket in t' "Flash Gordon" style. Ahoy! Blimey! I covered t' silver with two coats o' gloss. Avast! It was off t' t' launch site.

Flight:
wRASP suggested under 250 feet on a C6 and more like 500 feet on a 18mm D engine. Ahoy! I loaded a AT D13-4W RMS (my first RMS ever) and t' kids pressed the button. Blimey! My wife jumped and let out a little scream as t' rocket roared off the pad. Begad! It be so much louder! I'm goin' t' love these motors.

Ascent be strange. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' rocket seemed t' veer downwind off t' rod with a corkscrew ascent. Well, blow me down! Blimey! As it continued upwards, t' corkscrew tightened and t' spin diminished. Arrr! Blimey! However, t' flight began arcin' downwind. T' final moment o' the boost was nearly horizontal, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but t' small silver rocket was so far downrange that it was difficult t' see. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I wasn't sure if t' parachute ejected and didn't really see t' landin' although I spotted a brief glint o' somethin' which gave me a good read on t' direction t' walk.

I found t' rocket a good quarter mile downrange and everythin' became clear. T' launch lug be literally ripped off t' rocket. Avast! Avast! T' takeoff had been completely without guidance! Sure enough, me bucko, arrr, when I got back t' t' launch pad, the lug (with some balsa standoff shreds) was still at t' bottom o' t' rod. I slid it off for later repair and cleaned t' rod. Ya scallywag! A couple shroud lines broke on ejection, explainin' t' recovery mystery as well as crackin' off one fin on landing.

Considerin' t' launch lug debacle, shiver me timbers, I am pleased with t' flight. Aye aye! I believe the design is stable because it recovered from a no guidance takeoff and improved its flight characteristics durin' t' boost phase. Blimey! Aye aye! I'm nay sure about the arcin' at t' end o' boost, but it was nay much worse than other short stubby rockets. Begad! Overall, shiver me timbers, t' D13-4 gave a much faster and higher boost than expected or simmed: probably 600 high on its arcin' trajectory which might have been nearly 1000 on a straight boost. I'm goin' t' glue t' fin back on, improve t' lug mounting, arrr, me hearties, and shoot her again!