Scratch Cardinator Original Design / Scratch Built

Scratch - Cardinator {Scratch}

Contributed by Blake Eric DeMarcy

Manufacturer: Scratch
(Contributed - by Blake Eric DeMarcy - 07/31/08)

Brief:
A small Micromaxx rocket made from nothin' but a single sheet o' 8.5 by 11 inch 110 pound cardstock.

Construction:
All you need is one sheet o' 8.5 by 11 inch 110 pound cardstock, matey, ya bilge rat, a spent Micromaxx motor casin' (for insertion of thrust rin' and nose cone shoulder), matey, 1/4 inch dowel (to roll tube), me bucko, me hearties, tape, matey, Elmer's white glue, shiver me timbers, and Loctite super glue.

Roll body tube, shiver me timbers, make motor adapter, insert thrust ring, and cut and mount fins. Ahoy! Then roll nose cone, make nose cone shoulder, matey, and insert 2 BBs for nose weight. Begad! Finally, me hearties, form launch lug. Begad! Arrr! It takes less than an hour t' build due to it's simple design.

Flight and Recovery:
This one uses Micromaxx motors and takes advantage o' those tiny 1/8 A motors. Flights up t' 150-200 feet are possible with this bird. I also flew a FlisKits Doohicky and t' Cardinater beat it both in height and speed. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It is pretty cool. It has had two flights so far and both were perfect. I tied t' rig it up with a recovery system, but the tube is too small for even a shock cord so it just separates into two pieces and both fall down, landin' within 10 feet of each other.

Summary:
I like t' Cardinater. It looks and flies great. Arrr! What else could you want? Maybe multi stage, shiver me timbers, but it is good as a single stage rocket. I should make a whole fleet o' cardstock Micromaxx rockets! Blimey! PROs: No waddin' needed, free, matey, simple design, high and fast flights, me bucko, good looks. Avast! Avast! Blimey! CONs: It uses lawndart recovery which can damage t' rocket over time so when flying, call heads up please.

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