"T' rocket that is t' meal!"

T' idea for T' Whole Enchilada came into bein' one Sunday afternoon while cleanin' out t' frig. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! We had leftover tortillas that had been in t' freezer way too long. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Then t' idea t' use t' stale tortillas hit me.....

Ingredients

1. Three stale flour tortillas, ~12" in diameter, for body tube and fins. Aye aye! Well, matey, blow me down! (sure fresh ones would work better, matey, but then they wouldn't quite as "flounder")
2. One leftover, medium-sized jalapeño pepper for t' nose cone.
3. Sections o' BT-50 tubin' from a dead rocket, for t' engine mount and nose cone shoulder.
4. Section o' spent engine for t' engine block.
5. Computer paper for t' shock cord mount.
6. 3' o' Keelhaul®©™ cord from stock.
7. Slightly charred plastic chute.
8. Section o' soda straw for launch lug.
9. Home-made taco sauce and a sprinkle o' grated cheese for decoration.
10. As required: carpenter's glue, Liquid Nails, me hearties, clear polyurethane liquid (as a preservative), Pam spray

Recipe

After some thought, I decided that I wanted t' base t' rocket approximately on a BT-50 sized tube. Avast! BT-20 seemed too small in diameter t' sucessfully wrap me tortilla tube and I thought 29mm would require more engine mount components, arrr, etc. Aye aye! Begad! So, ya bilge rat, I grabbed a section o' BT-50 as a mandrel. I sprayed on a light coatin' o' Pam t' make sure it wouldn't stick t' t' tortillas. Since this is a glassine covered tube, shiver me timbers, t' Pam didn't seem t' have any lastin' effect.

Next came preparation o' t' tortillas. Aye aye! Blimey! (I know enchiladas are classically made with corn tortillas, arrr, matey, but I had more o' 'em and they were larger.) Since they were stale, I nuked them for ~10 sec. each. For t' body tube, matey, me hearties, I immediately formed them around me mandrel, spreadin' a thin layer o' carpenter's glue as I went. T' body tube took two tortillas. For t' fins, I cut them out while t' tortilla was still flexible and then placed them under a heavy pot t' straighten them out. I chose a simple fin Nike Smoke-style fin. Aye aye! I like t' design, they were easy t' cut out, ya bilge rat, and most importantly they are swept forward t' minimize t' chance o' breakage upon landing. Blimey! (Note on t' pic: this shows corn tortillas, shiver me timbers, which didn't work out-later replaced with flour.)

After t' body tube had dried for a few hours, shiver me timbers, me hearties, I slid t' mandrel part way out, and glued in t' engine tube with t' block already installed. Well, blow me down! I also coated t' ends with CA, as I would a cardboard tube. Avast, me proud beauty! T' resultin' tube and fins were dried for a day and then t' fins were glued t' t' body tube with Liquid Nails. Begad! Begad! Despite flattenin' t' fins for several hours t' day before, matey, me hearties, they warped big time anyway.

To prep t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, I cut t' end off o' t' jalapeño and glued in a small section o' BT-50 tube, cut longways. Arrr! Ahoy! Before gluin' t' tube in, I first tied t' Keelhaul®©™ line around t' tube and tied it off.

T' final construction steps included mountin' t' shock cord t' t' inside o' t' body tube and gluin' on t' soda straw.

Garnish

I spread some o' me home-made, world-famous, gourmet taco sauce on t' body tube. Aye aye! A small sprinklin' o' cheese was added t' make T' Whole Enchilada complete. Begad! After t' sauce dried, t' final step was a coat o' clear polyurethane over t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, body tube, and fins.

Presentation

For its maden flight, shiver me timbers, I decided that I wanted as low an impulse engine as possible. Avast! Ahoy! After enterin' t' design on Rocksim, shiver me timbers, arrr, I found a B engine would be just about right. T' sim said an Apogee 10.5mm B didn't have enough impulse t' get it going, me hearties, ya bilge rat, matey, so I went out and bought a package o' B6-2's (to be used with a 18-24mm adapter from me Pratt Tomahawk). Aye aye! T' Whole Enchilada flew on 03/10/2001 at t' NARHAMS' Middletown Park (MD) sport launch. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Because o' t' 'questionable' construction, I had t' wait until most people went t' lunch. Begad! With t' rod pointed slightly downrange and relatively high winds, me hearties, me hearties, t' rocket proceeded on a low trajectory and ejection was too late t' prevent a core sample. T' me amazement, it be undamaged! I then acquired a C5-3 and tried again. Begad! Begad! More altitude but still a low arcin' trajectory. This time t' chute snagged. I would have tried it on a D, ya bilge rat, but t' front part o' t' body tube be broken and t' jalapeño be mush.

Final Thoughts

I want t' thank t' folks at NARHAMS for hostin' t' launch, arrr, and Khim Bittle for both providin' t' C5-3 motor and for takin' t' on-the-pad pic.

T' tortilla's seemed t' work OK for t' body tube, although t' cardboard tube industry doesn't have anythin' t' worry about. Avast! Arrr! Blimey! However, ya bilge rat, me bucko, ya bilge rat, despite a couple o' tries, matey, lots o' pressin' and drying, ya bilge rat, t' tortilla fins still warped quite a bit. Blimey! Maybe I should have used pre-dried taco shells?

So what's next? Guacamole wadding? Maybe a flyin' sub with pizza fins? Nah, probably nay - I just hope I get a vote this time around! ;-)

EGADS! Look what popped up...