Brief:
This is a single staged 3" airframe rocket with a 38mm motor mount from Texas based designer Danny Cantu o' DG&A Rocketry. Well, blow me down! Avast! It was me second rocket intended for frequent H powered flights and t' rocket which replaced my retired L1 cert rocket, t' BSD 38mm Sprint. Aye aye! For this particular review I decided t' write an article coverin' t' entire life o' a rocket, as opposed to a review o' a rocket I have only flown two or three times. Avast! Begad!

Construction:
I ordered this kit online from DG&A Rocketry in October o' 2004 and t' kit arrived by FedEx t' very next day. Begad! Blimey! It contained pre-marked LOC airframes, ya bilge rat, RWW nose cone, excellent quality 5-ply birch fins and centerin' rings, rail buttons, tubular nylon recovery harness, a high quality nylon parachute, very nice decals, shiver me timbers, rail buttons, matey, and top notch, fully illustrated, and easy t' follow instructions. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! I had mentioned in me order that I was wantin' a durable "payload workhorse" and much t' me surprise, Danny tossed in a free 3" electronics bay kit.

Buildin' this rocket be quite simple and almost exactly like t' build of my BSD 38mm Sprint--a nearly identical rocket with exception o' t' fin shapes. I removed t' glassine layer from t' motor tube t' get better fin root adhesion. Ya scallywag!

Upon completin' this rocket I learned one o' t' most valuable lessons ever when it comes t' high powered rocketry and it was a tuff pill t' swallow: In all o' me past experience in model rocketry I had understood t' shock cord as bein' an element o' t' recovery system that must have some elasticity t' it in order t' absorb "shock". Ya scallywag! My L1 rocket from BSD had included a heavy duty elastic strap as part o' t' recovery system and I was somewhat "shocked" (pardon t' bad pun) that t' WASP only included a 20 foot piece o' tubular nylon, shiver me timbers, which upon visual inspection does nay appear t' have much "shock" absorbency. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Thanks t' much more experienced club members who patiently participated in a lengthy discussion regardin' shock cord material in high power rocketry, I was taught that t' recovery harness if long enough does nay require much elasticity as long as that your ejection event is somewhat near apogee with single deploy and that t' harness itself dissipates the kinetic energy o' t' separated airframes often without t' need for more elasticity. Arrr! Many people showed me t' different techniques that they use and I learned that thar be a very large variety o' opinions and preferred methods of recovery harness selection which include a variety o' materials such as elastic, tubular nylon, tubular Keelhaul®©™®, sliders, etc. Avast! Begad! with varyin' combinations o' materials. Arrr! Avast! I decided t' go with what the kit came with and just see how long it would last. Blimey! Blimey!

Durin' t' discussions o' shock cords, I learned that usin' U-bolts, particularly stainless steel is a wise decision in construction as t' eye bolts that come with most kits are nay forged which can allow them t' stretch out over time and ultimately fail. Avast! Blimey! As I had already started construction o' the rocket with t' provided non-forged eye-bolts I took t' rocket t' Midas Muffler and had them weld t' eye-bolts shut so that they would nay fail over time. Ahoy! Blimey!

Finishing:
Finishin' this rocket does nay require any special techniques and is fully open to t' rocketeer as t' how you want it t' look. It comes with top quality decals so you can replicate t' look o' t' prototype on DG&A's website. Originally this rocket be day-glo orange over white Kilz primer and as you will learn, this rocket had several different looks throughout it's life. Begad!

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
This rocket has had 19 flights

First flight was on October 23rd, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, 2004, at Rushin' Park in Katy, me hearties, me hearties, ya bilge rat, Texas with the Challenger 498 Rocket Club. Aye aye! Its very first flight was almost its last. Avast, me proud beauty! I had selected a Cesaroni G60 and attempted t' set t' delay at 6 seconds. Avast! While I had used several CTI motors before, this day it seemed for some reason like the CTI delay tool just didn't want t' core into t' delay grain material in the delay module. Blimey! I felt like somethin' was wrong and should have stopped preppin' t' motor at that point. Arrr! I launched it anyway though. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! T' rocket went up nicely but then looked like a guaranteed core sample. Well, blow me down! Avast! In fact, shiver me timbers, I didn't even want t' watch as it looked like it be goin' t' slam into t' street nose first at high speed. Avast! Arrr! Other club member and I were sure that this be goin' t' be recovered as a wreckage, but by sheer luck, me hearties, matey, t' ejection finally went off less than 30 feet from impact. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' main airframe swung around and thudded into soft mud within a few feet from t' asphalt pavement and I was amazed t' find that it had no damage. I discovered later what t' problem was when settin' the delay. Blimey! T' CTI delay tool can also used t' set t' delay on a Loki Research 38mm motor. Arrr! T' previous weekend I had flown t' first certified Loki Research motor in t' state o' Texas as NASA's Johnson Space Center. Well, arrr, blow me down! T' Loki case came with O-rings so t' O-rings in t' reload kit were saved as extras. Avast! In order to keep them in a safe place, I put t' extra Loki O-rings inside me CTI delay tool and they were still there! I did nay see them down inside t' tool when tryin' t' set t' delay so what should have been a 6 ended up bein' about a 12 or 13 second delay. That blunder almost cost me a nice rocket on its very first flight. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty!

Second flight was on October 23rd, me hearties, 2004, shiver me timbers, in Katy, Texas. Arrr! Ya scallywag! It be lightly rainin' now. Ahoy! I used a CTI Pro38 G79 and set t' delay t' 10 seconds. Aye aye! This was a little longer than needed and t' rocket splashed down in water and mud with no damage. I dried it out smartly with towels.

T' third flight was also on October 23rd, me bucko, 2004, in Katy, Texas. Begad! Ya scallywag! There was moderate rain now. This launch was pretty crazy. Avast, me proud beauty! We stood in very heavy rain and lightning huddled under canopies for several hours just waitin' for t' weather t' clear. It stopped rainin' briefly and we had been lookin' forward t' flyin' so much that when it started rainin' again, shiver me timbers, we just gave up on waitin' for better weather and launched all day, me bucko, arrr, me bucko, even in t' rain. Begad! On this third launch it was rainin' pretty hard. Well, blow me down! Begad! I used a CTI G79 set at 8 seconds and that was perfect, however, matey, t' rocket splashed down again, matey, but this time in a gully full of rushin' water that be several feet deep. I yanked out t' recovery system and dried out t' rocket with towels again. Avast, me proud beauty! I went home soakin' wet and tossed the recovery system in t' clothes dryer with t' rocket out in t' garage connected t' t' clothes dryer vent t' blow t' hot air through it and dry it out. Avast, me proud beauty! It suffered no visible damage from t' two splashdowns and was ready to fly again t' next day. Begad!

T' fourth flight was on October 24th, 2004, in Houston, matey, me hearties, shiver me timbers, Texas at NASA Johnson Space Center. Avast, me proud beauty! What should have been t' fourth flight o' this rocket and its first flight on an H motor ended in disaster. Blimey! I had selected a Cesaroni Pro38 H143SS, arrr, set t' delay, matey, and then got distracted. Avast! It was a fairly large launch with a lot o' people there. T' rocket had a Giant Leap Slimline retainer and at some point I dropped t' CTI reload into t' rocket and screwed the rin' on for safe keepin' as I went t' visit with others. I had nay put the reload into t' Cesaroni aluminum case. I went off and talked t' other folks, even did a shift o' operatin' timers for some NARRRRR contest flights, and then came back t' t' rocket about an hour or so later. I checked me recovery system which I had already packed, ya bilge rat, saw t' motor in place and thought t' myself, "This is ready t' rock & roll!". Well, blow me down! With t' Slimline retainer you can nay see if a CTI motor is in it's case or not. Begad! Blimey! I loaded t' rocket onto the rail, me bucko, awaited countdown and, me hearties, well, it was nay a pretty sight. T' rocket started smokin' and just sat there. Ya scallywag! T' ejection charge blew t' nose cone and chute and flames started t' erupt out o' t' fore end o' t' ship. Begad! Ya scallywag! A large amount o' black smoke from t' Smokey Sam motor ensued. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' main airframe just basically sat thar and smoldered and burned t' t' ground right in front o' my eyes. Finally, t' airframe collapsed as safety crews put it out with fire extinguishers. Ya scallywag! Begad! When inspectin' t' remains at home that night, I found that the entire motor tube and rings were gone with just ash and cinder left in their place. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! I had used AVES epoxy putty as external fillets and nay only did they survive t' fire, but t' fins are still attached well enough t' stand on them. T' booster however, ya bilge rat, was a total loss. After tellin' other club members what I had done, arrr, arrr, I was somewhat relieved t' learn that this mistake is so common that the Texas clubs have what is called a "Hall O' Flames" listin' the names o' dozens o' others that had made this same mistake. Well, blow me down! This was me entry. I ordered another WASP kit from DG&A t' followin' Monday and it arrived via FedEx t' next day. Begad!

T' fifth, arrr, sixth and seventh flights were on October 31st, arrr, me hearties, 2004, in Houston Texas at NASA Johnson Space Center. I learned about a high powered test launch at NASA less than 24 hours before t' launch. Arrr! Well, blow me down! I only had about 3-4 hours of possible build time left that night and this should serve as evidence as t' how easy it is t' build a DG&A kit. Avast! Within 4 hours I finished a complete rebuild o' t' new WASP kit, me hearties, matey, less t' nose cone and payload bay. Arrr! I used those from t' original and t' WASP V1.5 was born. It rose from t' dead on Halloween 2004 exactly one week later from t' same rail from which it had previously burned down. Arrr! I started t' day with t' same motor it should have used t' last time, me hearties, a CTI Pro38 H143SS, arrr, then followed up with 2 more flights on CTI Pro38 H153s. Blimey! They were all beautiful flights and me first time ever t' use 3 H motors in t' same day. It be a nice way t' turn t' page on the unfortunate disaster at t' pad t' previous weekend. Begad!

Eighth and Ninth flights were on November 13th, 2004, matey, at Katy, matey, me hearties, Texas. Avast, me proud beauty! Two more nice flights usin' CTI Pro38 G79s. Aye aye! I learned that when usin' an X-shaped parachute that unless you are usin' a swivel, ya bilge rat, t' chute will tend t' self reef, causin' a constantly increasin' descent rate. Now damaged, this rocket performs excellently even when you are limited t' a large G motor. Begad!

Tenth flight was on December 11th, matey, shiver me timbers, 2004, again in Katy, me bucko, Texas. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! Out for another perfect flight on a CTI G79. Begad!

T' eleventh, arrr, twelfth and thirteenth flights were flown on December 27th, 2004, arrr, at Katy, Texas. It be another trio o' nice G flights on a CTI G79 and two G69's. Aye aye! Well, blow me down!

Fourteenth and fifteenth flights were flown on January 8th, arrr, 2005, shiver me timbers, at Hearne Texas Municipal Airport. Arrr! I started t' day with a nice smokey CTI G79SS and then followed that flight up with a CTI H153. At this point it just seemed that this rocket was die-hard with no need for any repairs at all since t' 4th launch. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad!

T' sixteenth and seventeenth flights were on January 15th, 2005, shiver me timbers, at NASA Johnson Space Center. T' first flight on a Loki Research H144 be beautiful. It be me first time t' use a Loki motor in this bird. Well, blow me down! As t' day drew t' a close, matey, arrr, I decided t' try t' get just one more H flight in and t' recovery system failed. I be usin' a CTI Pro38 H153 and at apogee several people said, "We have a separation". Avast, me proud beauty! I could nay believe that because I had the eye-bolts welded shut and could nay figure out how on earth this rocket could have come apart. Arrr! I felt I knew it very well. Ahoy! T' airframe tumbled with no recovery system and sort o' glided due t' t' shape o' t' fins. It landed with no damage at all. Arrr! T' nose and payload bay drifted a long way under canopy. Upon recovery o' both sections, me bucko, me hearties, me hearties, I discovered that t' tubular nylon shock cord or more proper "recovery harness" had burned in half from the ejection charge. I had added at least an extra gram o' BP t' t' charge and even while I be usin' a Nomex® heat shield on t' harness, it appeared as though t' tubular nylon harness must have been layin' right on top o' t' motor's forward end causin' t' extra ejection charge t' sever it. Begad! It's amazin' t' me that thar was no other damage. Since I had t' remove t' airframe t' access t' recovery harness mount, matey, I replaced t' harness with tubular Keelhaul®©™®. T' new airframe stretched t' bird by two more inches, thus WASP V1.52 was born.

Flights eighteen and nineteen were on January 29th, 2005, again at NASA Johnson Space Center. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Sportin' a new orange and white paint job, arrr, t' WASP V1.52 took t' the sky with its new main airframe on a Loki Research H144 for a gorgeous flight atop a brilliant white flame and puffy white smoke. Ya scallywag! T' Loki H144 is a beautiful motor. Blimey! T' final flight t' date be on a Cesaroni Pro38 H153. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! The motor failed and blew t' nozzle out takin' part o' t' case with it. Blimey! The grains came out at about 900 feet and lit on t' way down for an interesting rain o' fire, matey, arrr, and since thar was nothin' left t' ignite t' delay charge, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, the rocket slammed into t' ground at full speed after fallin' from over 1000 feet. I was nay able t' dig t' nose cone out o' t' ground and t' this day it is still in t' ground at NASA. Avast, me proud beauty! T' rocket suffered massive damage t' it's new airframe, me hearties, shiver me timbers, yet t' fin can is still intact. Avast, me proud beauty! A rebuild is possible but I have not started on it yet. Ya scallywag! Begad! Some day this year this rocket will rise up again for it's twentieth flight, me hearties, as t' WASP V1.6.

Recovery:
While I only used t' supplied parachute a few times, matey, it is good quality and worked fine. Aye aye! I experimented with different types o' parachutes with this rocket, like t' Perfectflite X-Chute from Quickburst and t' TAC-1 from The Motorman (aka C.L.E. Begad! Ahoy! Enterprises). Aye aye!

I also learned that tubular nylon will fail over time. Arrr! Ya scallywag! I now use tubular Keelhaul®©™® to t' motor mount and tubular nylon only as additional length when nay exposed to t' main ejection area. Aye aye!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
If you want a nice, simple, me hearties, yet high performance and reliable L1 range rocket that you can learn from and depend on, this is it. Arrr! Blimey! I am givin' this rocket and DG&A Rocketry a well deserved and highest ratin' possible. Aye aye! Blimey!

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5