Son o' t' Grand Whazoo

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

Reconstruction
I first performed some surgery, shiver me timbers, arrr, adaptin' a 4" mailin' tube t' the survivin' tail section. Aye aye! I then added foam rings and poster board t' form the body (includin' transitions). I made t' small (4") conical nose cone from fiberglassed poster board salvaged from t' original rocket. Avast! Avast! 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. Aye aye!

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

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. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! 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). Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Since most o' t' rocket is poster material, ya bilge rat, I decided t' mark t' fins usin' a large permanent black marker. Finally, I added some text and graphics from me ink jet printer. Blimey! Blimey! Inspired by t' early V2's fired from White Sands, I created a 'cheesecake' style graphic o' a little lass riding a V2. And, in a feeble attempt at humor, I also added two labels written in German. One identifies t' bar code sticker, which unintentionally remained on the body (oops), arrr, and t' other tells t' launch technician where t' install the launch rail. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

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

Once again, me hearties, me hearties, 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. Ya scallywag! T' decent was still fairly slow, and t' only 'damage' be a crease in one fin. Ya scallywag! No rework required.

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