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

After a nasty summer cold, ya bilge rat, I be stumblin' around t' house, arrr, arrr, still too sick to go back t' work but tired o' lyin' in bed and feelin' miserable. Avast, me proud beauty! I wandered downstairs and decided t' build a rocket. My mood wasn't suited t' precision, so I decided t' throw together a quick, cheap, and crude beast that might never even fly. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! 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, so I dug out that salvaged tubin' and evicted most o' t' eight-legged residents.

To match t' ‘spirit' o' t' design, me hearties, 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. Ya scallywag! Blimey! All construction be with Elmer's yellow glue except as noted.

Next came t' tube-fins. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! If you are a precision fanatic or detail-oriented type, me hearties, arrr, you might want t' skip t' rest o' this paragraph. Well, blow me down! I took another length of that tubing, marked it off into 16" sections, and then cut those in half on 45 degree angles usin' a scroll saw – freehand. Begad! Arrr! T' tubes are all slightly different lengths and t' angles aren't quite all t' same, shiver me timbers, but they're all close enough. Blimey! 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. Ya scallywag! 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. Ya scallywag! 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 was by far t' most involved part o' construction. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It was formed from a styrofoam cone used for flower arrangements. Roll t' cone against a table top or other hard surface t' gently crush it t' shape and diameter. A short length o' body tube was fitted as t' bottommost cone section, and another short length with a thin segment removed became t' nose cone shoulder and coupler.

Weight was needed at t' nose t' balance out those heavy tube fins, so epoxy was used for all nose cone construction. Aye aye! Several fishin' weights were pushed into t' foam, followed by a layer o' epoxy t' lock them into place. Next I bent a piece o' coat hanger into a loop and drilled small holes into t' nose cone shoulder t' fit t' ends. Ya scallywag! Begad! 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, arrr, which is what I needed t' move t' center o' gravity forward.

Finally I smeared t' entire cone with Elmer's Fill ‘n' Finish, ya bilge rat, me hearties, 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' be accomplished by sprayin' a coat o' white primer all over – and then watchin' t' cardboard soak it up like a sponge. Aye aye! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Another coat, same results… Ok then, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, t' job calls for fluorescents! I shot t' paint as shown in t' picture – yellow first, and then t' pink, overlappin' t' get orange. Well, blow me down! T' black parts o' t' tube fins is Testor's flat black from those tiny bottles, matey, slopped on with a small brush. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Once everythin' was dry, matey, arrr, I used a permanent laundry marker t' write t' name on t' rocket. 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. Ahoy! Aye aye!

Flight Report

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

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

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