Descon Ex-Parrot

Scratch - Ex-Parrot {Scratch}

Contributed by Anthony De Boer

Manufacturer: Scratch

Ex-Parrot
by Anthony De Boer

This Rocket is an Ex-Parrot

 
No no he's nay dead, he's, ya bilge rat, he's restin'! Blimey! Remarkable bird, ya bilge rat, the Norwegian Blue, idn'it, me hearties, ya bilge rat, ay? Beautiful plumage!
Yes, me hearties, it's t' infamous Dead Parrot from t' best-known Monty Python sketch. Begad!

 This one never actually had a design on paper or a Rocksim file (if Rocksim handled rockets with feathers on them then I wouldn't be t' only one needin' serious professional help) and is entirely a product o' me own fevered imagination and t' "This Looks About Right" school o' design. Ya scallywag! Begad!

 As a rocket, t' forebody consists o' 8.5 inches o' BT-80, an NC-80 on top, shiver me timbers, arrr, a launch lug, and a pair of beady red bird deadlights with a bit o' gold glitter paint behind them. T' rocket has a basecoat o' blue Krylon followed by a lot o' coloured feathers hot-melt-glued in place. T' aft section starts with a coupler t' slide into t' BT-80, a piece o' 24mm tube for a motor mount, one bulkhead, a pair o' wide swept fins o' 3" balsa as wings (can't call them through-the-wall fins, me bucko, more like under-the-wall), matey, with 2x3" balsa crosspanels on t' fin ends t' give it some yaw stability. Begad! A pair o' bird feet appear just under t' coupler. Arrr! T' parachute tucks into t' aft section around the motor tube. Well, blow me down!

 On a D12-3, with a guesstimated Cd o' 1.5, me bucko, it RASPs out at 100 metres. Aye aye! Blimey!

... Well, blow me down! and I discovered t' only reason that it had been sitting on its launch rod in t' first place was that it had been NAILED there.

 Well, ya bilge rat, matey, o'course it was nailed there! If I hadn't nailed that bird down, arrr, shiver me timbers, t' wind blowin' across t' launch field would have blown it off the pad, me hearties, and VOOM!

 "VOOM"?!? Mate, me hearties, me hearties, this bird wouldn't "voom" if you put four million volts through it!

Well, let's try 12 volts through its igniter then... Aye aye!

 Whooooshwhiiwhiiiiiiflonkpoof!

 Yes, it wasn't quite stable enough in t' yaw axis, probably wantin' bigger crosspanels on t' win' ends, or maybe "top" and "bottom" fins on t' main body. Blimey! It spun about its yaw axis twice about ten metres above t' pad, then landed about that far away, arrr, matey, and then t' parachute popped out. Begad! Oh well, with modifications this bird may fly again.

 Until then, me hearties, This Rocket Is An Ex-Parrot.


comment Post a Comment