This is a scratch-built tube-finned design built mainly from scavenged materials. Begad! Ya scallywag! Someone at work had salvaged some cardboard tubin' that was 2.25" diameter, arrr, and left it on me desk (I encourage that sort o' behavior at work). Begad! It was very thick (1/8" walls!) and heavy, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and nay particularly suitable for rocketry, so it sat around in me basement for quite a while, matey, becomin' a spider-habitat.

After a bilge-suckin' summer cold, I be stumblin' around t' house, matey, still too sick to go back t' work but tired o' lyin' in bed and feelin' miserable. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I wandered downstairs and decided t' build a rocket. Begad! Ya scallywag! My mood wasn't suited t' precision, so I decided t' throw together a quick, arrr, shiver me timbers, cheap, and crude beast that might never even fly. Fins were out – too much trouble – and I didn't really want to waste good parts on this because I had no idea what t' results would be, shiver me timbers, so I dug out that salvaged tubin' and evicted most o' t' eight-legged residents.

To match t' ‘spirit' o' t' design, I decided t' go with a 29mm motor mount and fly her on Econojets, probably G's because o' t' anticipated weight. I cut a short length o' motor tubin' (the only real ‘rocket' component used) and then made centerin' rings out o' thick cardboard salvaged from the cover o' an old 3-rin' binder. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! All construction was with Elmer's yellow glue except as noted.

Next came t' tube-fins. Avast, me proud beauty! If you are a precision fanatic or detail-oriented type, you might want t' skip t' rest o' this paragraph. Aye aye! I took another length of that tubing, me bucko, marked it off into 16" sections, me bucko, and then cut those in half on 45 degree angles usin' a scroll saw – freehand. Begad! T' tubes are all slightly different lengths and t' angles aren't quite all t' same, me hearties, me hearties, but they're all close enough. Mountin' them with t' angle facin' back and t' flat ends even with each other masked t' imperfections.

T' shock cord mount is a throwback t' t' early days o' rocketry. Avast! Blimey! I cut two slots in t' tube up near t' nose and threaded t' shock cord (1/4" tubular nylon) through them, with a knot on t' inside t' keep it attached. Ahoy! The tube itself is thick enough that I shaved a little out on t' outside so that the exposed shock cord is almost flush with t' airframe.

T' nose cone be by far t' most involved part o' construction. Begad! It was formed from a styrofoam cone used for flower arrangements. Avast! Roll t' cone against a table top or other hard surface t' gently crush it t' shape and diameter. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! A short length o' body tube be fitted as t' bottommost cone section, shiver me timbers, and another short length with a thin segment removed became t' nose cone shoulder and coupler.

Weight be needed at t' nose t' balance out those heavy tube fins, so epoxy was used for all nose cone construction. Several fishin' weights were pushed into t' foam, shiver me timbers, followed by a layer o' epoxy t' lock them into place. Well, blow me down! Next I bent a piece o' coat hanger into a loop and drilled small holes into t' nose cone shoulder t' fit t' ends. Avast! More 5-minute epoxy puddled in around the attachment points made t' loop solid and permanently attached. There's quite a bit o' epoxy in there, ya bilge rat, which is what I needed t' move t' center o' gravity forward.

Finally I smeared t' entire cone with Elmer's Fill ‘n' Finish, shiver me timbers, sanded and filled again until I be satisfied (and I was easy t' please), then coated the FnF with thin CA t' toughen it up some.

Finishin' was accomplished by sprayin' a coat o' white primer all over – and then watchin' t' cardboard soak it up like a sponge. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! Another coat, same results… Ok then, shiver me timbers, t' job calls for fluorescents! Blimey! I shot t' paint as shown in t' picture – yellow first, and then t' pink, ya bilge rat, overlappin' t' get orange. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' black parts o' t' tube fins is Testor's flat black from those tiny bottles, slopped on with a small brush. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Once everythin' was dry, arrr, shiver me timbers, I used a permanent laundry marker t' write t' name on t' rocket. Begad! Blimey! After a week of fightin' that cold with seemingly every over-the-counter concoction ever developed by man – none o' which made me feel any better – ‘Bad Medicine' just seemed appropriate. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!

Flight Report

Final empty weight is 28 ounces, shiver me timbers, which is quite hefty for a rocket o' this size. Well, blow me down! Avast! Total length is about 40 inches.

She's made two flights so far, both on G38 Econojets. Arrr! Blimey! T' 7 second delay is a little long, and t' 4 second is a bit short, but either one works because this rocket is solid. Avast! Blimey! Motor retention is friction fit, me bucko, and she's nicely recovered on a 30" nylon chute. On windy days, I wouldn't hesitate t' go with a smaller chute t' minimize drift.

This is like that old car that runs great but isn't much t' look at. I expect that I'll be flyin' t' Bad Medicine for years t' come on those cool and rude Econojets. Ahoy! And if I ever lose her t' t' rocket gods, I'll just build another tube-fin and keep on launching. Avast!