Brief:
A two-staged cone and fin rocket built for t' 2009 design this spaceship competition.

Construction:

• 1x launch lug for 3 mm rod
• 1 x 12 inch Estes parachute.
• 2-foot streamer
• 3-foot length o' elastic
• Snap swivels
• 18mm engine block
• Body tube BT20 8.5 inches in length
• 3/16th balsa sheet
• BT 20 nose cone
• Card backed foam board.
• A4 card
• Potato crisps tube
• Coupler
• Lead ball bearings

T' build t' rocket I used;

• Bostik glue
• White PVA glue
• Sandin' sealer
• Model knife
• Aluminium oxide sand paper
• Primer
• Spray paint –porcelain
• black enamel paint
• CA gel glue

As this be one o' t' simpler rockets in t' competition, decided t' go for t' 2-stage approach with t' booster matchin' t' sustainer t' gain t' extra points. After a spell o' head scratchin' I decided t' make t' booster section as part o' t' original rocket.

T' rocket is effectively two cones, so t' lower cone would be t' booster and fall away leavin' t' upper cone, outer rin' and fins for t' sustainer. Begad! T' rocket should be quite stable, as cones themselves are stable and thar are two largish fins, matey, but only on one axis, so I’m goin' t' add some mass into t' nose for extra stability. Aye aye!

Sustainer assembly

T' outer rin' was made out o' a 2-inch section o' a potato crisp tube. Ya scallywag! Measurin' from t' photo, matey, t' scale up factor be x5. Blimey! Aye aye! T' inner rin' t' which t' cone was goin' t' attach and where t' parachute be goin' t' be housed was made out o' a coupler. Ahoy! A sheet o' card was rolled into a cone until t' length was 9 inches and t' base fitted the coupler. Ya scallywag!

A centerin' rin' was cut out o' card backed foam board t' accept a BT 20. Avast! Begad! Blimey! T' cone was sellotaped up and then attached t' t' coupler. Begad! This gave quite a sturdy cone. Blimey! Blimey! A layer o' sticky backed plastic was then added t' give a better finish.

Usin' balsa rods t' outer rin' be attached t' t' inner ring, matey, a 3mm launch lug be glued betwixt t' two rings.

Usin' a nose cone that I left over from t' 2008 box o' part competition, I glued in t' nosecone t' a 7 inch length o' BT 20. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! 10g o' clay was then added t' t' BT20 just behind t' nose cone. An 18mm engine block was glued into place so that t' aft motor would just stick out behind t' sustainer. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Blimey! T' BT was then glued into t' cone.

T' fins were then cut from a 3/16th sheet o' balsa. Aye aye! These were attached t' t' sustainer.

T' recovery system be t' be a aft ejection parachute deployment. Avast! Ya scallywag! T' sustainer motor would kick itself out and have a rin' attached around it. Blimey! This rin' would be keepin' t' parachute in place durin' flight. Begad! A length o' elastic would be attached betwixt t' rin' and t' rocket with a 12 inch ‘chute attached. Blimey!

Booster build

T' booster section was made out o' a sheet o' card that was rolled t' form a cone around a BT20 motor tube, and t' coupler in t' sustainer. Arrr! Begad! T' length o' t' cone was 3 inches. Avast, me proud beauty! A centerin' rin' BT20 – BT50 be then added for a bit o' strength. Avast, me proud beauty! An eye hook was then added so a streamer could be attached. Blimey! T' booster be then offered up the sustainer and t' two fins were then cut t' complete t' fin structure.

Finishing:

T' rocket was spray with grey primer, which immediately reacted with t' coatin' on t' rocket. Blimey! Blimey! T' rocket was covered in a mixture or wrinkles and blisters, arrr, and t' make matter worse, me hearties, this was 4 days before t' deadline. Avast! Blimey! After sandin' as much o' t' damage away as possible I resprayed t' rocket, me hearties, t' watch t' same thin' happen again, I repeated this sand and spray process until t' blisterin' stopped, which was about 7 coats. Begad! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' rocket be then sprayed with porcelain enamel paint. Avast! Blimey! It does nay look great, matey, but at a distance it is passable. Blimey! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! After maskin' with tape, me hearties, black enamel highlights were added by brush.

I did nay bother addin' any clear coat or finish coat t' t' rocket.

Flight:
Flight one

Two Estes motors were used, a B6-0, and a A8-3

T' rocket lifted well, and then went arched at about 80 foot. Blimey! T' booster fell away cleanly. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' rocket down nearly horizontal shot off under t' power o' t' A8-3. Arrr! Ejection occurred nay far from t' ground. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! Blimey!

Lookin' at t' rocket on t' ground I learnt a few things. Begad! Firstly, as t' sustainer motor lit, me hearties, t' flames torched t' streamer in t' booster, t' charred remains were found near t' booster section. In hindsight this was obvious. Blimey! Secondly, matey, more mass is needed in t' nose cone, for stability. Avast! Thirdly, me hearties, t' ejection charge from t' sustainer is kickin' out hot gases almost directly onto t' parachute, me hearties, which was badly charged.

Flight two

Two Estes motors were used, a C6-0, and a B6-6

T' rocket be reassembled with a new ‘chute but no streamer. Blimey! No new mass was added, as I wanted t' watch what was happenin' with t' sustainer.

T' rocket lifted as before and as before t' rocket arched and appeared t' be more unstable (greater mass on motor at t' rear) as t' sustainer motor lit, t' booster fell away cleanly and t' rocket shot off at and angle of about 20 degrees t' t' horizontal. Ya scallywag! Durin' t' 6 second coast phase t' rocket flew almost perfectly as a glider. Aye aye! Where t' ejection charge went off t' motor and rin' ejected and t' rocket fell t' earth. Well, blow me down! Aye aye!

T' parachute was again charred, matey, even though waddin' be used. Begad! However, ya bilge rat, this be nay goin' t' be an issue for the next few flights. Ahoy! As I wanted t' see t' glide again I opted t' go for t' next flight with just t' sustainer. Begad!

Flight three

C6-0 (wrong motor choice)

Rocket lifted quite fast and be stable. Aye aye! As I stupidly used a 0 delay, t' motor popped at t' end o' t' boost phase, arrr, and t' rocket turned around and fell t' earth nose first. Avast!

Flight four

C6-7 (correct choice)

Great flight, arched at top o' boost and gave a nice flight/glide durin' t' coast phase, even givin' a few twists in its flight path. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Again at ejection t' motor popped and t' rocket fell. Ya scallywag! This time t' rocket damaged its aft fin.

I took t' rocket back t' be fixed with some 5 minutes epoxy. Blimey! Givin' thought t' t' flights, I really wanted to use a 18mm plugged motor. Avast! Ya scallywag! As t' rocket seemed t' have a good CG, CP placement for a glider after t' motor had burned out (shouldn’t be stable for boost, shiver me timbers, me hearties, but it is) It’s against safety codes t' tamper with motors, so I couldn’t epoxy in a section o' 13mm balsa rod into t' top o' a C6-0 t' create a plugged motor. Begad!

Flight five.

C6-0 - must ahave been a bad motor, appeared t' act like a plugged motor. Avast! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey!

Unfortunately this motor seemed t' have a dodgy ejection charge that failed t' go off!

Great flight, got a good height with t' archin' under boost givin' t' rocket a nice glider style flight. Landed in a belly flop with no damage

Back t' t' two stage rocket. Ya scallywag! Lead ball bearings were added t' t' nosecone t' lift t' CG. Blimey! Two days later I went t' fly t' rocket again. T' recovery system was altered so that t' booster would simply tumble, and t' sustainer would recover via a steamer (heavily wrapped in wadding).

Flight six

Two Estes motors were used, a C6-0, arrr, arrr, and a C6-7. Avast!

Flight was straight and stable, ya bilge rat, t' sustainer ignited with t' rocket pointin' about 10 degrees o' t' vertical. Booster recovered fine. Blimey! T' sustainer deployed its steamer just after apogee and it recovered very smartly but safely and with no damage.

Recovery:
T' sustainer part o' t' rocket recovers fast on a streamer, shiver me timbers, but packin' a parachute into such a small area is problematic.

Summary:
I'm nay too happy with t' overall finish with this rocket, ya bilge rat, it was rushed in its final days and i would have liked to have spent a good few weeks sortin' out t' paint issues and solvin' t' recovery problems. Havin' said that, i have really enjoyed that flights and t' alterations that have been made due t' watchin' and determinin' be was happening durin' those flights.