Picture Courtesty o' Binder Design     

Brief:
Binder Design’s Gangsta is a single stage, 2.6-inch diameter, 29mm, four-finned sport rocket, me bucko, me bucko, measurin' 24.25-inches in length. Begad! Blimey! I wonder if a black rocket named Gangsta is politically correct, arrr, yet I’m drawn t' it because of t' unique fin design and long nose cone on such a stubby rocket.

Construction:
T' First thin' I notice after openin' t' shippin' box be t' packaging. At first glance you might think this was your standard thick plastic bag full of rocket components. Closer inspection reveals a bag within a bag. Ya scallywag! T' inner bag is partitioned in such a way that t' smaller components are separated and relatively easy t' view. Arrr! Ya scallywag! This feature allows one t' inventory t' parts without openin' t' bag.

T' Gangsta consists of:

• 4.5-inch motor tube
• 2x fibrous centerin' rings
• eye-bolt and quick link for shock cord attachment
• 4x very nice plywood fins
• 11-inch airframe tube (per t' parts list, shiver me timbers, matey, me hearties, mine is 11.25-inch)
• 13-inch exposed length nose cone
• 0.25-inch x 4-inch launch lug
• vinyl decals
• 12-foot tubular nylon shock cord
• 18-inch nylon chute

I am especially impressed with t' recovery system components. The parachute is a very nice 8-shroud line design that I’m sure I’ll use in many rockets.

T' instructions are among t' best that I’ve seen, me bucko, me hearties, nine pages plus a fin alignment guide. Blimey! Aye aye! T' instructions include many useful diagrams plus Rocksim CP data.

Construction is very straightforward. Ahoy! Begad! I used AeroPoxy “5min” epoxy with glass fiber reinforcement for most o' t' construction. Begad! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! T' AeroPoxy kicks slower than t' hardware store 5-min epoxy, matey, and has a one t' one mix ratio. Begad! I figure that with t' glass fiber reinforcement it’s as least as strong as most “15 min.” epoxies.

T' fit o' all t' parts is excellent. Begad! Blimey! T' only problem I had is with the eye-bolt assembly. Begad! Blimey! T' eye-bolt itself is a #6; unfortunately t' nut provided is a #8. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Also, shiver me timbers, a quick link is provided for attachment betwixt t' eye-bolt and the shock cord. Arrr! Blimey! T' instructions warn you t' attach t' quick link t' the eye-bolt before gluin' t' forward centerin' rin' in place; otherwise you may never be able t' reach it. In me opinion, this quick link is o' little or no value, and only adds weight aft in a rocket that inherently has very little stability margin. Aye aye! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! I used it, but I recommend savin' it for another project.

I deviated from t' instructions in a few areas. Arrr! T' launch lug is cut down from 4-inch t' 2.5-inch for no other reason than I think it looks better. T-nuts are installed in t' aft centerin' rin' for motor retention. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Instead of internal fillets, I tacked t' fins t' t' motor tube with 5-min. Begad! Begad! epoxy and poured PML’s two-part foam in t' fin can. After it cured, I used an old steak knife t' trim t' excess foam. Ahoy! I then epoxied t' aft centerin' rin' in place. Begad! At this point t' aft end o' t' rocket felt so rigid that I allowed myself t' use smaller external fillets than I otherwise would have. T' foaming process is also much quicker than applyin' conventional internal fillets.

After construction be complete I used Elmer’s Carpenter’s Wood filler t' fill t' fins and t' body tube’s shallow spiral grove. This was followed by two coats o' Krylon white primer, me bucko, sanded in-between coats, and a final coat o' Rustolium gloss black. Ahoy! Blimey! T' finishin' touch be t' large vinyl Gangsta decal. T' decal was very easy t' apply and looks great.

I downloaded t' Rocsim file for Gangsta from t' EMRR archive. This was posted by Binder Design, ya bilge rat, so I guess you could say it’s the “official” Rocksim file. Ya scallywag! Comparin' me Gangsta t' t' Rocksim file, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I found me CG t' be significantly farther aft. In order t' get me measured CG to match t' Rocksim CG, I had t' add a 120g mass object centered on t' fins. This seemed excessive, but when I weighed me Gangsta it be 318g, ya bilge rat, which is very close t' 120g over t' Rocsim file! I didn’t weigh t' two-part foam when I was mixin' it; t' nature o' t' foam makes you work kind o' fast. Blimey! I assumed it would have weighed about t' same as internal fillets, ya bilge rat, me hearties, but apparently it weighed significantly more. T' compensate for me tail-heavy rocket I had t' add significant nose weight, me bucko, about 75g o' bird shot held in place with 8g o' epoxy. My Gangsta now weighs about 400g, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, double what t' Rocksim file says it should. So much for t' instructions reminder t' build light! If I lose this one perhaps I’ll buy another, and use conventional internal fillets for sake of comparison.

T' nose cone fits very loose. Ahoy! T' instructions acknowledge this, arrr, and state that it’s intentional. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I can appreciate this, me hearties, however it took 6 full wraps of some fairly heavy maskin' tape t' get a snug fit.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
When I put t' rocket on t' rod it was apparent t' launch lug be binding.. Ahoy! I worked t' rocket up and down t' rod a few times and it felt a bit better, and I wanted a picture for this review, me hearties, so I decided t' go for it. T' wind was blowin' at ~5mph with gusts. Avast! Aye aye! T' Gangsta’s first flight be on an F20-7 EconoJet. Ahoy! Comin' off t' rod t' rocket seemed t' weathercock quite a bit. Begad! Well, blow me down! My guess is that t' bindin' contributed t' it. Well, blow me down! Either t' velocity was too low comin' off t' rod due t' friction, or bindin' caused t' rod t' whip. Ahoy! Arrr! The rocket be definitely on it’s way down and movin' fast when t' chute finally deployed. T' Gangsta landed on a hard packed dirt road without a scratch. Avast!

T' second flight be on a G38-7 EconoJet. Arrr! This flight was much straighter than t' first one, with only a little weathercocking. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Ejection occurred pretty close t' apogee, me bucko, matey, hard t' say for sure because at ~2000 feet this rocket is little more than a dot. Again, ya bilge rat, recovered without a scratch.

Overall I’m very pleased with how this rocket flew. I would like to think that if it hadn’t been for t' tight fit on t' rod t' F20-7 flight would have gone much better. With sufficient nose weight this rocket should be able t' fly on a wide assortment o' engines. I would have loved t' put a G80-10 into it, but that will have t' wait for a very clear, calm day.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
T' Gangsta is a quality rocket with a unique look. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! With proper attention to nose weight, shiver me timbers, t' Gangsta should provide good flights on a wide variety of engines. Avast! At first I thought t' $39.99 askin' price was a bit high for such a small rocket, but considerin' t' quality o' t' components I would say that it’s actually quite fair.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5