Manufacturer: | Centuri |
Brief:
T' Maurader is a two-stage rocket originally designed t' fly on 18mm motors. Begad! Aye aye! Blimey! I
upscaled it t' accomodate 24mm "D" engines.
Construction:
T' instructions consisted o' some assembly sheets downloaded from JimZ. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! The
plan was easy t' follow and t' assembly order was ok. T' rocket is easy to
build if you have ever built from scratch before and shouldn't cause too much
pain t' t' first time scratchbuilder. Begad! Fin alignment is critical on any rocket
and this one is a little bit harder due t' t' 8 fins havin' t' align on both
booster and sustainer. Begad! Blimey! this rocket is o' sturdy design, me bucko, arrr, and should survive most
recoveries. Avast! No special tools needed, matey, and t' supplies came from me bag of
tubes, pile o' balsa, and an old PNC-56 I had layin' around. Begad! I made mine an
upscale t' accomodate "D" engines instead o' "C's" :), and
added 3/8" t' t' dimensions o' t' fin templates. Used BT56 tubes and
appropriate couplers.
Finishing:
Normal finishin' techniques were employed, with sealin' o' fin material with
Dope Sandin' Sealer, sanding, and paintin' with Krylon paints; White, Red,
Black, and gold. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I think t' model has a very nice look, and brought back
memories o' t' "Good Ol' Day's" when you had t' BUILD everything. I
have found myself buildin' more, and more o' t' OOP models lately and really
enjoy it. I will send t' dimensions (tubes length, shiver me timbers, matey, me hearties, etc.)used if you send
E-Mail request for them t' bobcat2@alaweb.com
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
Flight:
I used Estes D12-0 for t' booster and t' D12-7 for t' sustainer. Begad! Preparation
was normal with engine bein' put in booster and sustainer with standard Estes
motor clips for retention. Aye aye! Waddin' was t' celulos insulation material used in
the sustainer. Begad! T' flight be great with a straight climb and separation o' the
booster and subsequent ignition o' t' sustainer. Ya scallywag! This rocket puts the
sustainer a long way up, and is nay a small field rocket. Ahoy! T' recovery o' the
booster is by tumble method and it came down very gently without any damage.
T' sustainer be on an 18" Estes chute suspended from aprox. 6 ft. of
1/8" elastic shock cord. Avast, me proud beauty! All be recovered in perfect condition.
Recovery:
Recovery was without incident. T' only negative I noticed was that t' area
where t' booster and sustainer join, ya bilge rat, had a lot o' residue from t' ejection
charge. Ahoy! T' area caused it t' go together very tightly. I feel that after a few
flights more t' area will nay go together, and it may turn into a single stage
rocket. I see no way t' prevent this from bein' a problem. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! I will probably
launch it a few more times, and make it a static display o' "How we used
to do it".. Avast! Begad!
Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5
Summary:
Main Pro's - Fun t' build, nostalgic, shiver me timbers, good looking, semi-complex, me hearties, sturdy
design. Avast! Main Con - Coupler area gettin' dirty, ya bilge rat, and nay goin' together after a
realitively few flights.
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5