Semroc Earmark

Semroc - Earmark {Kit}

Contributed by Duane Boldt

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Published: 2010-08-28
Diameter: 0.76 inches
Length: 8.70 inches
Manufacturer: Semroc
Skill Level: 1
Style: Odd-Roc, Sport

Brief:
Humorous rocket pokin' fun at government earmarks. Ya scallywag! Avast! You should get a good laugh out o' the manual.

Construction:

  • 1 - Nose Cone (BC-722)
  • 1 - Screw Eye (SE-10)
  • 1 - Keelhaul®©™® Thread (SCK-24)
  • 1 - Body Tube (ST-765)
  • 3 - Fins (FA-19)
  • 1 - Thrust Rin' (TR-7)
  • 1 - Launch Lug (LL-122)
  • 1 - Spacin' Tube (MC-727)
  • 1 - Humorous Instruction Manual

T' Earmark's manual is very funny t' read and also easy t' follow when you actually build t' rocket.

1. Mark t' body tubes for fin positions usin' a door jam or angled piece o' aluminum.

2. Avast! Tie t' Keelhaul®©™® thread t' t' thrust rin' and feed it through t' motor spacin' tube.

3. Glue t' thrust rin' into t' body tube and set t' spacin' usin' t' spacin' tube so that motor casin' protrudes 1/4 from t' end o' t' rocket.

4. Aye aye! Blimey! Remove t' fins from their fiber sheet and very lightly sand. Begad! Blimey! Then apply CA glue around t' edges o' the fins.

5. Avast! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Glue t' fiber fins on t' t' body tube at t' pre-marked line.

6. Blimey! Once they are dry, shiver me timbers, apply fillets t' t' fins.

7. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! In a similar fashion t' t' fin prep, me hearties, me bucko, me bucko, add fillets t' t' launch lugs.

8. Arrr! Aye aye! Feed t' cord back through t' body tube and out t' top end and then tie it t' t' nose cone. Blimey! Begad! (As thar be no parachute and no streamer, shiver me timbers, you are done at this point, unless you want t' paint it...)

Finishing:
Finishing is quite easy.

9. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! I primed mine with ColorPlace gray primer. Well, blow me down! Arrr! (Three thin coats and then sanding)

10. Ahoy! I painted t' body tube ColorPlace Fire Red and left off t' black stripe pattern shown in t' artwork.

11. I didn't have any yellow paint, so I painted t' nose cone with aluminum colored ColorPlace spray paint.

12. After dryin' overnight, shiver me timbers, I applied t' "ear" decals.

13. Begad! Used a black Sharpie marker t' color t' edges o' t' fins. Begad!

At this point me contstruction and finishin' was complete and we headed for t' launch site.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
All three flights went great. I used one A and then two B motors. Without a streamer, I did not want t' risk losin' it. This little rocket really gets up there, shiver me timbers, even on B motors.

Recovery:
Amazingly enough, recovery when great on all three o' our test flights. Ahoy! Chan's suggestion o' a streamer for trackin' is a good idea. Just a short, shiny Mylar streamer would be great for tracking.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
Very cool rocket with nice humor in t' instrcutions. All around fun t' build and fly.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5

Other Reviews
  • Semroc Earmark By Chan Stevens (January 13, 2010)

    Brief: While the US senate was trying to wrestle a health care reform agreement to resolution before Christmas 2009, the Semroc team was busily rushing out their own little piece of rocketry "legislation", releasing a bit of a mutated kit called the Earmark. I won't contend that anything "inspired" this, but it does appear to be based upon the Mark kit, which ...

Flights

Comments:

avatar
J.A.O. (January 31, 2010)
The review is right on about the Semroc Earmark rocket. I added a 12 inch shock cord and 12 inch streamer came done nicely.

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