Scratch U.S.S. Fred G Sanford Original Design / Scratch Built

Scratch - U.S.S. Fred G Sanford {Scratch}

Contributed by David Mackiernan

Manufacturer: Scratch
(Contributed - by David Mackiernan - 07/06/08)

T' followin' be t' HTML interpretation o' David's PDF submission.
Please see t' full PDF HERE (0.4M)

Constructin' the USS Fred G SanfordFor t' EMRR BOX-O-Parts Contest

Muddle through t' Mess

I started by separatin' body tubes in t' groups that could be used as airframes and tubes that where crinkled,dinged, or dented. Blimey! Begad! Blimey!

This gave me an idea o' t' size and shape I could accomplish. Begad! My basic concept was for a long and tall rocket. Cluster power was a must. I LOVE clusters!

Parts To this

Nose ConeT' Nose Job

I messed around with Nose Cone possibilities. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Blimey! A rocket's nose really determines t' "flavor" o' the build. Begad! Avast! Blimey! So with t' cones I received I did some cutting, sandin' and gluing. Blimey! T' results are photo #2. Arrr! Begad! Blimey! Lookin' a bit like a command module, arrr, perhaps windows lookin' out over a nose. Well I guess I'm buildin' a Spacecraft o' sorts. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!

This is a "BERTHA" BT-60 plastic Nose Cone . Begad! Begad! Turned backwards. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! Purple BT-50 nose cone. Base is sawn off and glued t' t' bottom o' t' Bertha cone. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Hopefully this will look somethin' like a Starship cockpit. Well, blow me down!


StackT' Body Stack

Go big or go Home. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

I took stock o' all t' possible body tubes I could use t' go as tall as possible. Aye aye! This photo shows t' Top and Middle sections test fit together.

I sorted through t' various centerin' rings in me stack o' stuff and pieced together several sections o' body tube t' assemble t' top stack. Avast, me proud beauty!

This rocket is intended t' separate for recovery at t' point o' t' two different colored BT60 tubes. T' mid section break allows t' rocket t' recover on two separate recovery devices. Blimey! This be necessitated by t' limited recovery options that came in me Box-0-stuff. Aye aye! (more on this later.)

Centering RightSome o' t' steps t' build t' top stack: Short one centerin' ring. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Blimey! So I modified one 20/60 rin' t' a 50/60 ring. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Blimey! Trace inner circle and cut out


BT-60Make a BT-60 adapter sleeve. Slice a section o' BT60 tube t' reduce diameter. Aye aye! Use t' sliver that was removed t' brace t' inside o' t' new inner sleeve and glue together. Well, blow me down! Begad! This makes t' whole Top Section like one long nose cone. Avast! Ya scallywag!


More Top Section Assembly. Avast! Aye aye! Blimey!

Middle RingThe BT50 Stack Middle Rin' is Just for looks (pictured left)

Recovery would be t' biggest issue. Ahoy! My Box-O-Stuff had One fat elastic cord. Arrr! (below right)

I want t' go BIG.... Begad! so, I split t' cord in half Lengthwise, me bucko, givin' me two thinner elastics but still have the longest possible length. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! In this photo (below center) one half o' this cord is pushed through a slot in t' BT50 body tube. Tie a fat knot in t' elastic and I'm off t' t' next step.

Recovery Recovery
Recovery

Next I have t' fill t' top BT50 section so it will separate at ejection. Begad! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! So I tore up some o' t' shippin' box. Soaked t' torn bits in water, then mixed t' wet pulp with glue. Begad! Stuffed t' glue/pulp mixture in t' base o' t' tube to form a plug (above right). Aye aye! This method works well. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! You have t' watch t' moisture in t' pulp mix so it does not warp t' tube. Arrr! Arrr! This also takes a wile t' dry.

Top ViewLookin' into t' bottom o' t' top stack. Avast! You see t' BT60 adapter sleeve, shiver me timbers, t' Elastic Cord and t' bottom of t' BT50 centerin' rin' and Glue/shredded box WAD. Ahoy!


On t' t' Bottom section assembly. Arrr! Ya scallywag!

Bottom

Well, arrr, ya bilge rat, for t' lower section I have t' connect some BT60 tube t' some BT70. Ya scallywag!

No 60/70 centerin' rings in t' Box-O-junk, so I whip out me trusty, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, rusty compass draw and cut some rings from t' shippin' box. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye!


Motor Mount

Coffee Cup With shred-obox soakin' in water. Blimey!

Cup

My Box-o-goodness did nay contain any 18mm tube. Aye aye! Blimey! So this one gets 24mm main motors (three o' them). Arrr! Blimey! Just for kicks I added three 13mm mounts along side. Blimey! Test fit t' motor tubes. Then started shreddin' t' Shippin' box again. Aye aye! Ahoy! Blimey! I use the shreds,soaked in water t' soften them up, then rin' them out and soak them in glue. Gluey shreds are then used to stuff t' voids betwixt t' Motor tubes and Main body tube. Blimey!


Motor mount continued.

Motor Mount

Motor mount fillets dryin' (above right). Ya scallywag! In t' "custom" motor mount dryin' apparatus a.k.a. Avast! a Dunki'n Donuts cup!

Gluey MassA lovely Gluey mass o' shredded box applied t' t' motor mount and lower body tube.


I better make some fins for this thing.

FinsLooks like I have a full set o' pre-cut "Bertha" fins. Arrr! Blimey! (Actually I think I have at least one whole bertha)

But those Balsa fins may nay be strong enough for a cluster. Begad! So I use a precut fin as a template t' cut out some fins from t' balsa sheet in t' box. Then I laminate these fins so they are double thickness and hopefully quite strong. Avast, me proud beauty!



Fins t' t' left, ya bilge rat, fins t' t' right....... Avast! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey!

Fins


T' lower section nearly complete. Begad! Well, blow me down!

Nearly Complete


More lower section. Avast! Blimey!

In these photos you can see t' detail o' t' "Warp Ring"

Warp Rin' is made up o' a plastic garden light fixture. Well, blow me down! (I know this because I got some o' me own parts back!)

T' inside diameter o' t' plastic rin' is much larger than t' bt70 tube. Arrr! So I pulled some small body tube that I believe is BT-4 and cut it t' several short lengths. Well, blow me down! This BT-4 be squish-fit betwixt t' Plastic rin' and t' outside of t' body tube. Blimey! Ahoy! With t' small tubes and plastic rin' in place it was actually easy t' slide t' whole assembly (not yet glued together) down t' BT70 body tube. Avast! Once I had everythin' where I wanted it I glued it all in place. With some patience and a few toothpicks o' course. Blimey!

Warp Rings Warp Rings Warp Rings


Recoverin' from Recovery

Parachute

Official shop shot o' t' "parawing-gle"

My box-0-stuffin' be kind o' short on recovery options. Arrr! It did have two plastic chutes. But only had shroud lines for one! Blimey! I will brin' t' top half down on t' regular 18 inch plastic chute that was in t' box-o-lovely. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! But the lower section... Blimey! Blimey! that would be harder. Begad! Hmmmm? Streamer, boring! Blimey! How about some sort o' para wing?

O.K. Ya scallywag! this made me get creative. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! Some where in t' TRF discussions it was asked if addin' tape would be legal. Tape was o.k.ed so with ample amounts o' scotch tape I fashioned this "Parawing-gle" type thing. Avast!

Parts for t' Parawing-gle thing:

  • One 24inch plastic chute. Well, blow me down! Begad! Sliced in half and then one half quartered. Arrr!
  • T' quarter chute is used for t' lower rudder type piece. Blimey! Blimey!
  • Several Chopsticks are utilized as t' leadin' edge and rudder stiffeners.
  • That now famous thick black elastic cord was again sliced length-wise t' make t' rigging. Aye aye! Aye aye!

Many hours were spent on this. Begad! Well, blow me down! Mostly worryin' time rather than workin' time. My greatest hope be that this would work at least as good as a streamer.


T' big payoff!! Arrow


Launched 07-06-08 From Cape Cod Space Center

Nothin' like pushin' that deadline!

Ready to LaunchLaunches

Nice liftoff, matey, nice flight! Loaded in three C11-3's and three A10PT's. Ya scallywag! This rocket really needs "D" power but this was good for t' small field we where on. Ahoy! Five o' t' six motors lit. Blimey! All but one A-10. Aye aye!

O.k. recovery. Top half be just fine on a regular chute. Blimey! Bottom half came in a bit fast on t' Parawingle -thingle. Avast! Which became more like a big para wad o' molten doom! But it did slow it down. Avast! Avast!

Recovery

T' aftermath. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Minor damage. Well, blow me down! One "fin ring" slightly bent. Ya scallywag! One detail on that fin fell off



Overview and final thoughts.

This be a very cool contest. I would definitely try this again. Avast! Blimey!

My only real wish is that we could add strin' (shroud line) if we needed it. Avast, me proud beauty! But hey, no one said this was easy!

Specs

Over all Flight ratin' 4... Ahoy! Begad! it could use more power.

Overall Recovery ratin' 3. Needs proper chutes

But this is a far better performin' rocket than I thought it would be. Avast, me proud beauty! It will definitely fly again. Well, blow me down! Arrr!

Things I will change, me bucko, (with me own parts):

  • Bigger Launch lugs 3/16"
  • Better Parachutes
  • Three "D" motors for a nice high flight. Begad!

comment Post a Comment