Brief:
This year’s 2010 challenge included an upscale o' 2+ which be very fortunate for me as I was in t' process o' doin' a series o' upscales on t' Estes Mosquito. Aye aye! Aye aye! This upscale is a 301% based around a big bertha nose cone.

Construction:
T' components for t' kit consist of:

• A Big Bertha nose cone.
• 6.02 inches o' Bt60.
• Three balsa fins.
• 18mm motor mount.
• Elastic Shock cord.
• Swivel.
• Swatch o' Nomex® cloth.
• 1 meter o' 2 inch mylar streamer.
• And later I repaired using
• A BT60 coupler.
• A replacement section o' BT60.
• Fishin' leader. Ya scallywag!

Usin' a photocopier, matey, matey, t' fin template was enlarged and t' fins cut from balsa. I had thought o' goin' TTW, but t' rocket is still quite light. Begad! When I get t' bigger upscales I will.

T' BT is 6.02 inches long.

T' motor mount is built in its usual way, me bucko, ya bilge rat, for some reason unknown t' me I did nay add a length o' Keelhaul®©™® cord as an anchor nor did I add in a fishin' leader. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, arrr, blow me down! Fins were attached in t' normal way, me hearties, with t' launch lug added to t' BT in betwixt fins. T' shock cord is a two foot length o' elastic, shiver me timbers, which was attached via t' Estes tri fold method. Avast! A swivel was added and a swatch o' Nomex® heat shield.

T' rocket be given three coats o' sandin' sealer, ya bilge rat, arrr, and wood glue filleted a few times.

T' entire rocket had two coats o' gray primer added, me bucko, matey, with rub downs in betwixt coats.

T' match me original mosquito color scheme t' rocket be given a few coats o' yellow spray paint, shiver me timbers, and then masked and black paint added t' one fin.

It was then flown twice, which I’ll cover in t' flight section, ya bilge rat, but first t' repairs.

T' top section o' t' body tube was crushed and ripped. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Nay too difficult t' repair. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! T' top section was removed usin' a dremel, and a replacement section from an old rocket was added usin' a Bt60 coupler. Avast! T' one advantage o' this was that I was able t' ditch t' tri fold paper anchor and replace it with a steel fishin' leader which I trapped betwixt t' coupler and t' body tube. T' gappin' wide seam join was then filled with model filler, and sanded. Begad! Begad! After that t' top o' t' rocket was sprayed yellow. Ahoy! Blimey! It’s nay a fantastic repair, shiver me timbers, but it looks okay.

Durin' t' repair time, t' decals from excelsoirrocketry arrived from t' states. Arrr! They included a 301% upscale which finished t' rocket off nicely.

Flight:
First flight was on 18th Jan 2010, matey, usin' an Estes A8-3

Nice low and straight flight, arrr, with ejection past apogee, me hearties, me bucko, recovered without damage on t' 4 foot streamer

Second flight was on t' same day usin' a Quest B6-4.

Great flight, right up t' t' point where t' ejection should have ejected t' nose cone, instead t' motor came out, me bucko, shiver me timbers, this must have been a bad prep by me, I can only assume that t' motor clip was bent back. Begad! T' mosquito came in hard and fast, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, just like t' original mosquito did (they never tumbled) difference here is that t' upscale has more mass and t' body tube be damaged, me bucko, and paint be chipped off t' nose cone.

After t' repair t' rocket went up again at t' Midlands Rocketry March launch. Avast, me proud beauty! used a C6-7, arrr, ejection be late, a C6-5 would have been better, me bucko, recovered fine on t' streamer.

Summary:
I love this upscale, arrr, and i like t' other 3 I have also made, still got at least two more in t' plan/build stage. Avast, me proud beauty! If I had thought about this properly I should have done this last year for t' family photo contest.

Other:
T' use o' a photocopier for increasin' fin size be t' easiest solution for any up/down scaler.