Brief:

Big Ugly Bug II (BUB2) is me third scratch-built model rocket, me hearties, and me second high-power model. After t' Big Ugly Bug splattered itself all over t' NDRA launch site at Ulland Park, I was a bit discouraged. Begad! I stuck with Estes model rocket kits and a few flights with a composite 24mm motor for a while. Eventually I got t' bug again, matey, and decided t' build me largest high-power yet. Naturally, a scaled-up Mosquito isn't what you'd think o' when you think high-power, so naturally that's what I decided t' build. Begad! Ya scallywag!

This time I decided t' go with commercial rocket parts, since they would be lighter than buildin' me own, and make assembly go more quickly.

Construction:

This time I decided t' go with commercial rocket parts, since they would be lighter than buildin' me own, ya bilge rat, and make assembly go more quickly. Arrr! I still have to fabricate a nose and fins though.

For fin fabrication, arrr, matey, I finally settled on usin' foam core fins, ya bilge rat, which were laminated with fiberglass and polyester resin. Begad! These were sanded t' shape, then the edges filled with auto body filler and sanded t' round. Here is an image of the parts before t' fins were fiberglassed:

I used through-the-wall mountin' t' attach t' fins t' both t' body tube and t' t' 29mm motor mount. Blimey! After t' epoxy had cured I filled t' space between t' motor mount and t' body tube with two-part expandin' foam. Aye aye! This adds weight but strengthens t' fin mount considerably.

I was plannin' on fabricatin' a nose cone for this rocket as well, me bucko, but a friend in t' Fargo rocket club sent me a link t' ScotGlas, which makes (among other things) 4" diameter up-scale Mosquito nosecones! Blimey! T' $30 price tag looked like a better bet than hours in t' shop, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, sandin' more fiberglass, arrr, so I bought one.

Finishing:

I was plannin' on paintin' t' BUB2 blaze orange, like t' BUB. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! Blaze orange looks a lot better with a bright yellow undercoat, matey, so after applyin' grey auto primer and sanding, I put t' yellow on. Ahoy! However, arrr, I decided I liked t' yellow so much I skipped t' orange. Begad! Ahoy! I left t' nose unpainted, me bucko, at t' request of other club members. Begad! Ya scallywag! They want me t' put a strobe light in it if/when we ever have a night launch.

Flight:

On Saturday, me hearties, me hearties, March 23, 2002 I made me NARRRRR Level 1 certification attempt. I launched t' BUB2 on an Aerotech H128W loaded in a Dr. Well, blow me down! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Rocket 29mm 180 casing (had t' borrow t' 180 tube from another flier, thanks Mike!). Arrr! T' BUB2 was the first certification flight o' t' day. Ya scallywag! It launched with a nice, me bucko, bright white flame and weathercocked only slightly. T' medium delay was perfect, arrr, t' 'chute deployed, and t' rocket landed about 200' down range from t' launcher. Avast, me proud beauty! There was some slight damage t' t' paint and one fillet be cracked, me bucko, but t' rocket was still flight worthy so t' certification group signed off on t' flight.

T' BUB2 suffered a catastrophic fin failure flyin' on an Aerotech H180W. Here's t' gist o' what happened, cut and pasted from an email I sent a fellow HPR enthusiast:

Date: Saturday, April 20, 2002
Subject: Big 'skeeter blues...

(snip)

On launch, arrr, t' BUB2 weathercocks slightly and heads t' the north-east, just like me H128W certification flight. Avast, me proud beauty! T' bright yellow rocket is roarin' along, spoutin' a white flame as long as t' body
tube, when suddenly, shiver me timbers, just before burnout and maximum velocity, ya bilge rat, somethin' goes catastrophically wrong. Well, blow me down! In t' blink o' an eye, matey, where thar was once a cool-lookin' rocket flyin' nicely, shiver me timbers, matey, thar be now a huge cloud o' bright yellow debris, flutterin' slowly down towards t' ground. Avast! T' majority o' t' rocket looks t' be still intact, shiver me timbers, t' body tube and nose still attached and the parachute deployed. T' black nomex pad has ripped away and settles t' the ground along with all t' other shreds.

What happened? Theories are many, me bucko, but here is what I think occurred: On an earlier flight t' BUB2 slightly damaged two o' t' fins near their root edge. Avast! Arrr! I repaired this with CA adhesive, shiver me timbers, and it
may or may nay have had a role in t' failure. Ya scallywag! A simulation o' t' BUB2 on an H180W motor predicts a maximum speed o' 257 mph. Since t' failure occurred close t' burnout, I suspect that t' long, arrr, shiver me timbers, me bucko, relatively flexible fins started to flutter at this speed. This caused all three fins t' delaminate, me bucko, shearin' at the foam core (the autobody filler caps didn't lend much strength, me hearties, me bucko, they were mostly for aerodynamics). Blimey! Well, blow me down! T' unsupported fiberglass skins now underwent flutter and tore away from the
rocket body. T' sudden deceleration this caused made t' ballast nose separate from t' rocket body, matey, pullin' out t' recovery system which deployed at probably better than 150 mph. Begad! That in turn caused t' non-stretchable nomex to tear away from t' shock cord. Begad! T' cord and parachute, bein' stretchable nylon, had enough give t' absorb t' sudden shock and stayed together, matey, allowin' all the 'expensive bits' t' come back t' t' ground relatively undamaged. Well, blow me down! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! In fact, all that really was destroyed was t' fins. Begad! Avast! Unfortunately, matey, they were t' only components I designed and fabricated from scratch. Oh well, lesson learned. I'll have some images o' t' shredded rocket on me website soon.