Son o' t' Grand Whazoo

Brief
This update provides a description o' how I rebuilt me Grand Whazoo after its second fateful flight. Ahoy! T' top o' t' original Grand Whazoo be *completely* destroyed. However, me bucko, t' aft section, arrr, includin' t' boat tail and fins, ya bilge rat, was intact. Well, blow me down! I decided t' take a different approach t' t' rebuild. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! T' minimize the volume that had t' be pressurized, matey, I decided t' use an inner 4" diameter tube extendin' through t' body. Ahoy! After some pondering, I also decided to eliminate t' large nose cone in favor o' a smaller one that would mate t' this 4" tube. Well, blow me down! I was 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! I made t' small (4") conical nose cone from fiberglassed poster board salvaged from t' original rocket. A small foam board rin' and a chunk o' 32mm tubin' completed t' nose cone assembly. Avast! This assembly mates with t' dowel/eyebolt from t' original nose cone. Ahoy!

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

Finishing
I wanted a bit more decoration on this version so I decided on a pattern similar t' a real V2. Ahoy! Begad! I looked in ROTW and came up with a hybrid marking scheme. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' tail section has a black and white roll pattern, me hearties, 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, matey, I decided t' mark t' fins usin' a large permanent black marker. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Finally, I added some text and graphics from me ink jet printer. Inspired by t' early V2's fired from White Sands, I created a 'cheesecake' style graphic o' a little lass riding a V2. Begad! Well, matey, blow me down! And, in a feeble attempt at humor, I also added two labels written in German. Begad! One identifies t' bar code sticker, which unintentionally remained on the body (oops), and t' other tells t' launch technician where t' install the launch rail.

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

Once again, everyone be 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. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' decent was still fairly slow, me bucko, me bucko, me hearties, and t' only 'damage' be a crease in one fin. Blimey! Blimey! No rework required.

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