Rocket Vision Mach Buster

Rocket Vision - Mach Buster

Contributed by Greg Dunham

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Manufacturer: Rocket Vision

Brief
T' Machbuster is a great lookin' kit that is straightforward t' build, me bucko, shiver me timbers, has outstandin' performance and is inexpensive t' purchase. Avast! It uses 24mm motors from D12's through G55's with parachute recovery. With F and G motors t' rocket will break t' sound barrier and reach 900 miles an hour with t' G55's.

Construction
T' kit arrived t' day after I ordered it. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! (Ok I only live about 10 miles from t' factory!) Out o' t' package all o' t' parts were present and accounted for. Ahoy! T' kit assembles easily from t' instructions. Avast! Begad! Some sandin' on t' nose cone is required t' get it t' fit properly. T' body tube is a very tough (nearly bullet proof) fiber phenolic, nay t' typical rolled tube. Ya scallywag! T' nose cone is a thick and very tough molded plastic. Begad! Fins were G10. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' shock cord is Keelhaul®©™ as are t' chute's shroud lines. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! T' chute itself is a small white ripstop nylon. Directions were complete and easy t' follow. Aye aye! Arrr! T' body tube be preslotted for t' fins which were no problem t' mount. Arrr! Be sure t' make epoxy fin fillets as this rocket is goin' t' go very fast. Ahoy! Also most importantly I had t' change t' launch lug. Blimey! Well, blow me down! T' one supplied is TOO small. Avast! T' rocket will bind on t' launch rod goin' up with t' lug supplied. Ya scallywag! I also added a second shorter (1/4" long) lug at t' end o' t' rocket. Arrr! This seems t' work well, and though it isn't required it does seem t' stabilize t' rocket better. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! At t' point where t' shock cord anchors t' t' inside o' t' rocket body I made a couple o' extra loops around t' anchor and used slow settin' epoxy for maximum strength.

Finishing
I painted t' kit t' match t' factory design and with t' decals it looks super sharp. No special finishin' requirements t' note.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight
T' Machbuster flies with wide range o' motors. Arrr! Ya scallywag! T' smallest bein' t' D12 and t' largest be t' G55. Blimey! I have flown it so far with both D's and E's with very good results. Avast! T' motors are a friction fit style mount and t' key here is t' make t' fit a tight one.

Rocketvision supplies a Nomexpatch t' be used as permanent waddin' material. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Though it works well it can get crusty from use and pose an impediment t' ejection. I use several swatches o' disposable waddin' and it seems t' work fine.

My first flight on a D12 was nay so good. Begad! Arrr! I am nay sure what happened but as soon as it left t' launch rod it took off in cruise missile mode about 40 feet off t' deck. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! I found it about 200 yards away none t' worse for wear. I suspect t' small launch lug bound a bit on t' rod. Begad! Ahoy! However I did talk t' another rocketeer with a Machbuster who had t' same problem. Blimey! He added a small weight t' t' nose which seemed t' help. Avast! After changin' t' launch lug and addin' about .3 oz t' t' inside o' t' nose t' next launch on a D12-7 was picture perfect. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Straight as an arrow and chute deploy right at apogee. Ya scallywag! On D's at sea level it should do around 1300 feet. Blimey! It is a mover even on D's.

Next flight was on an E30-7. Blimey! This was quite impressive. Avast! Avast! This rocket is very fast. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It was off t' pad and out o' sight smartly until we located t' trackin' smoke. Chute ejection be perfect. On E's t' altitude should be approximately 3300 feet. Well, blow me down! T' next flight will be on G55-15's T' rocket should exceed Mach One and 6000 feet. Blimey! Trackin' this one will test t' eyesight.

Recovery
Shock cord is Keelhaul®©™. Avast, me proud beauty! Great for toughness and flame resistance. Avast, me proud beauty! But bad for any kind o' elastic give. Arrr! Begad! So far it has worked very well. Aye aye! Blimey! I changed t' color o' t' chute t' bright yellow and made it slightly bigger both t' increase visibility and slow t' descent slightly. (I fly it in t' desert with lots o' room and t' occasional rock) Flyin' t' rocket in fields with soft ground a streamer would be fine. Avast! Avast! With t' G55's thar be very little room for t' stock chute let alone t' waddin' so it helps t' tuck some o' t' shock lines into t' nose cone.

Flight Rating: 4 ½ out o' 5

Summary
This kit has been one o' t' most enjoyable rockets I have built. Ya scallywag! This be me first high performance (Mach one plus) kit. Avast! I learned a lot about sturdier materials used in high performance rockets and t' motor/ delay combinations required for such a small rocket t' keep it together after t' recovery system deploys.

Awesome product. Arrr! Great rocket. Incredible quickness goin' beyond Mach one. Blimey! Blimey! Beautiful appearance and ease o' assembly. Arrr! All for about $20. Well, blow me down! How can you beat that?

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out o' 5

Other Reviews
  • Rocket Vision Mach Buster By Moira Jean Whitlock

    This is a small, phenolic toughly made rocket designed to break the sound barrier and is able to do so on 24 mm engines, namely Aerotech's F72 and G55. All the parts were there, and were strong. My only difficulty was the tight fit of the nose cone to the body tube. I sanded the nose cone to loosen the fit, as I was unsure that the engine could build sufficient pressure to pop it. The ...

  • Rocket Vision Mach Buster By Terry Moore-Read

    Single stage rocket capable of exceeding the speed of sound on 24 mm F & G motors. The overall quality of the kit was excellent. The instructions were clear and easy to understand (there are also further instructions on the rocketvision website if you need them) Very little preparation of parts was required - sanding to round the leading / trailing edges of the fins and to make them ...

  • Rocket Vision Mach Buster By David Urbanek

    Introduction This model usually causes a lot of buzz, and why not? When you pop a 24mm G55-10 into it, most of the rocket is motor. It's really awesome. The line is called Rugged Rockets and for good reason. The pre-slotted airframe is a fabric phenolic with no spiral line at all. The fins are made of G-10 fiberglass and are pre-cut. The nose cone is a thick hard polystyrene. The shock ...

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