Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Manufacturer: | BSD High Power Rocketry |
Brief:
T' BSD Horizon 54 is a stretched version o' t' famous Horizon 4" sport
rocket and has a 54mm motor mount.
Construction:
T' kit includes 2 4" BSD tubes, arrr, 1 coupler tube, ya bilge rat, 3 cut and sanded
3/16" aircraft quality plywood fins, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, centerin' rings, ya bilge rat, a bulkhead plate,
high quality hardware package, arrr, a 54mm motor tube, a nice plastic nose cone, a
36" nylon parachute, a fin alignment guide, computer designed and cut
vinyl decals, and 10 pages o' instructions. Ya scallywag! All t' parts were included and in
a very good shape.
I never would have imagined before that buildin' a HPR rocket would be so easy--in fact, arrr, it took me only 9 days t' complete! It's really just normal things like bevelin' t' fins, makin' t' fin slots, matey, me hearties, epoxyin' t' coupler in the payload bay, arrr, ya bilge rat, and puttin' t' motor mount parts together just on a larger scale than what I had done before. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! It helps that t' kit includes excellent instructions with pictures.
T' only CON I have is that thar be a strange screw (in Germany anyway) included for motor retention. Fearin' that I might lose one at t' launch field, me bucko, I used more German-friendly screws instead.
Finishing:
I was a bit worried that t' paint would hold reliably on t' glassine tubes at
first, but I relaxed after lightly sandin' t' glassine with 600 grit sandpaper
and sprayin' t' first coat o' primer. Blimey! Arrr! There were no problems at all and the
finish still looks like it did on t' day I painted it! I did t' same with the
plywood fins and t' nosecone since I've often used this primer and paint, matey, both
of which are "sociable" with each other and wouldn't take too long to
dry! Still, ya bilge rat, I only had one day left before t' event and was very pleased with
the result.
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
Flight:
first flight be at t' RJD meetin' in Germany, on June 13, 2004, arrr, on an AT
I195J with a medium delay. Well, blow me down! When preppin' t' Horizon 54, I was extremely
nervous, me bucko, since this was me first RMS motor, matey, too. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Thankfully, ya bilge rat, a fellow
experienced rocketeer supervised me t' whole time and gave me some advice
leavin' me with a good feelin' that it should work. Begad! Begad! When it was ready for
flight, shiver me timbers, t' only remainin' fear I had be that it could shred under t' power
of t' I195J, so we placed t' pad far away from t' spectators t' err on the
side o' caution. Begad! Begad! At ignition she punched off t' pad straight up, shiver me timbers, moving
extremely fast for a BlackJack propellant. Aye aye! Then again, t' thrust-to-weight
ratio was around 9:1!
Yes, it went really high, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, but be still visible as a little point. Avast, me proud beauty! After the 10 second delay (a perfect match for this rocket), ya bilge rat, t' red Rocketman R4C chute opened and thar were many "ahh"s in t' crowd.
Second flight be at t' German BC Experimental Days on August 7, 2004, arrr, ya bilge rat, on an AeroTech I300T-M motor. Begad! Begad! Again, t' Horizon 54 delivered another incredible flight! Unglassed BSD tubes can take extreme flight stress without any problems.
Recovery:
I did nay use t' included 36" BSD parachute since I had a brand new
Rocketman R4C and protective Nomex®
shield. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I can't judge t' BSD Chute, although it appears t' be more than
adequate but I don't think I'll ever use them because t' scuttle rate and relaxed
openin' on t' Rocketman R4C is just great for t' Horizon 54!
O' course theres one thing, I changed in Flight Recovery o' this kit: from now on it'll fly with dual deployment because I'm never goin' t' walk a that far again t' retrieve it!
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
Summary:
T' BSD Horizon 54 isn't too difficult t' build! I would say it's just a matter
of usin' different techniques from LPR/MPR when buildin' and flyin' HPR
rockets. Arrr! Blimey! T' end result is a great lookin' rocket that attracts lots of
attention.
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
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