Son o' t' Grand Whazoo

Brief
This update provides a description o' how I rebuilt me Grand Whazoo after its second fateful flight. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' top o' t' original Grand Whazoo was *completely* destroyed. However, me bucko, arrr, t' aft section, includin' t' boat tail and fins, me hearties, was intact. Ahoy! I decided t' take a different approach t' t' rebuild. T' minimize the volume that had t' be pressurized, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, I decided t' use an inner 4" diameter tube extendin' through t' body. Blimey! After some pondering, arrr, I also decided to eliminate t' large nose cone in favor o' a smaller one that would mate t' this 4" tube. Arrr! I be hopin' this design would still stay within t' 3.3 lb. limit.

Reconstruction
I first performed some surgery, adaptin' a 4" mailin' tube t' the survivin' tail section. Ahoy! I then added foam rings and poster board t' form the body (includin' transitions). Begad! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Blimey! I made t' small (4") conical nose cone from fiberglassed poster board salvaged from t' original rocket. Ahoy! Blimey! A small foam board rin' and a chunk o' 32mm tubin' completed t' nose cone assembly. Blimey! Blimey! This assembly mates with t' dowel/eyebolt from t' original nose cone. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey!

On me old scale, t' finished rocket weighed in at 51oz with a G80 installed. Blimey! Ahoy! T' 60" chute that I used with t' original Grand Whazoo pushed the weight over 3.3 lb. Blimey! Well, matey, blow me down! limit. T' use this chute or a smaller one? Ahh, matey, shiver me timbers, that is the question.. Avast, me proud beauty!

Finishing
I wanted a bit more decoration on this version so I decided on a pattern similar t' a real V2. I looked in ROTW and came up with a hybrid marking scheme. T' tail section has a black and white roll pattern, matey, t' nose cone is red, and t' transition section directly below t' nose is painted silver (Krylon hammered silver). Avast, me proud beauty! Since most o' t' rocket is poster material, arrr, I decided t' mark t' fins usin' a large permanent black marker. Finally, me bucko, I added some text and graphics from me ink jet printer. Inspired by t' early V2's fired from White Sands, arrr, I created a 'cheesecake' style graphic o' a saucy wench riding a V2. Aye aye! And, ya bilge rat, in a feeble attempt at humor, me bucko, I also added two labels written in German. Avast! Begad! One identifies t' bar code sticker, which unintentionally remained on the body (oops), ya bilge rat, and t' other tells t' launch technician where t' install the launch rail.

Launch
Since t' rocket was potentially over t' 3.3 lb. Begad! Arrr! limit, I took it t' an HPR launch, matey, with t' intent o' usin' t' 60" chute. Well, at t' last minute, I opted for a very light 48" chute, ya bilge rat, hopin' it would come in under 3.3 lb, and recover without significant damage. Avast! Well, on t' highly calibrated scale at the RSO table, it weighted in at 3 lb. Aye aye! even. It can also fly at t' NARHAMS V2-themed launch later this year!

Once again, everyone be surprised that this big a rocket weighs so little, and thar were cheers when it boosted under G80 power. Aye aye! Begad! T' 4-second delay was just a tad long but t' chute deployed nicely. Well, arrr, blow me down! T' decent be still fairly slow, and t' only 'damage' was a crease in one fin. Well, blow me down! Arrr! No rework required. Arrr!

Conclusion
Usin' an inner 4" stuffer tube with t' smaller nose cone seems t' be the way t' go. It was easier t' construct, me bucko, and I think recovery should be more reliable (100% true based on a statistical sample o' one :-) ). I'm glad it is still classified as a large model rocket!