Son o' t' Grand Whazoo

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

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

On me old scale, t' finished rocket weighed in at 51oz with a G80 installed. Aye aye! Begad! T' 60" chute that I used with t' original Grand Whazoo pushed the weight over 3.3 lb. limit. T' use this chute or a smaller one? Ahh, that is the question.. Aye aye!

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

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

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

Conclusion
Usin' an inner 4" stuffer tube with t' smaller nose cone seems t' be the way t' go. Arrr! Avast! It was easier t' construct, 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!