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Which came first? T' Egg? The Chicken? Or..... Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! The Rocket! |
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T' Tale o' Egberto
Guismonte - T' Rubber Chicken Rocket
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ADHESIVES: |
| Its all Chris Eilbeck's fault he came up with this idea t' fly some rubber chickens at t' m.a.r.s. Aye aye! Brass Balls launch. Begad! Avast! His was t' be called Keith. Well it seemed like a good idea at t' time. I hadn't originally planned to enter it for Descon so I dont have a lot o' construction details for t' early stages suffice t' say " First catch your chicken..." I got mine from the Silly Jokes Online Store. |
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T' Chicken has landed |
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| A couple o' days later and I had a box full o' rubber chickeny goodness. Well, blow me down! Begad! I had decided this chicken had t' go with a whoosh which meant a 38mm motor mount and a Cesaroni Pro38 motor as Aerotech motors are as rare as hen's teeth over here in t' UK. Arrr! |
Chicken Stuffing |
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Havin' aquired me new bird t' next question had t' be how t' fit t' motor. Begad! It wasnt difficult to imagine where it had t' go just how t' go about puttin' it there. Arrr! Begad! I started by removin' t' squeaker fitted t' t' chickens aft vent. |
| T' next step be to take a piece o' 38mm motor mount tube and offer it up t' t' chicken's bottom. I drew a line around t' tube and then cut out t' rubber with a pair o' sharp scissors. Begad! I emphasise t' sharp as chicken rubber it quite resiliant and difficult t' cut. Avast! A bit o' trimmin' with a scalpel and I had an even tight fit. I fitted t' motor mount in t' t' chicken and pushed it up until it be in the neck o' t' chicken as far as it would go. I then offered up a Pro38 1 Grain casin' t' get an idea how far t' motor mount would have t' hang out t' back of t' chicken. Well, blow me down! I figured that t' tube within t' body o' t' chicken would be adequate for t' recovery system as long as t' majority o' t' motor was outside t' body. Avast! I added around 10mm t' give a bit o' space for motor retention below t' fins and cut t' motor mount tube t' length. | |
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In t' past I have used a piece o' 1/4" fibre glass rod as a mountin' point for t' recovery harness. Aye aye! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! I drilled a hole across t' tube above where t' end o' t' motor would go, shiver me timbers, cut t' fibreglass rod t' length glued and filleted it inside the tube and t' filed and sanded t' end o' t' rod smooth on t' outside o' the tube. |
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With t' motor mount trimmed it was time t' make t' "nose cone" fitting. Begad! Now things get a bit vauge here and I will have t' leave t' detail as an exercise for the student. T' idea was t' make somethin' from a 38mm coupler tube with some space in it which could accept some beak weight. I rummaged and came up with a selection o' Estes bits and bobs. Well, blow me down! A bit o' sanded centerin' rin' here and a bit of glue thar and I had a part that would fit in t' t' neck o' t' motor mount tube. Ahoy! T' only evidence I have o' this is in this picture sequence. |
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With the nose piece made it was time t' get foamin'. My plan, which proved rather unsuccessful, shiver me timbers, was t' fit t' nose piece t' t' top o' t' motor tube using maskin' tape t' hold it in place. Aye aye! Blimey! Pour in a quantity o' two part foam t' the rubber chicken carcass. Jam t' tube assembly up t' chicken and wait for the foam t' expand and set. Begad! Blimey! Fixin' t' whole thin' in place. As t' join between the nose piece and t' motor tube were flush at t' top o' t' tube and the tube should fit snuggly in t' t' chickens rubbery neck I reasoned that, once set, me hearties, I would be able t' cut through t' rubber and seperate t' now foamed on head and nose piece from t' foamed in motor tube and chicken body. Avast! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' masking tape should have held t' nose piece in place and sealed it from foamy ingress. |
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There lies me error. That two part foam can build up a fair pressure if you contain it. Aye aye! Ahoy! Blimey! With the foam mixed and poured in I jamed in t' tube assembly. Avast, me proud beauty! I wiggled and tipped things around t' get a even distribution o' liquid foam around t' insides then settled down t' hold it all in place. T' foam expanded and started t' push. It was quite a fight,and quite a sight as I struggled with me fowl. In time I triumphed, shiver me timbers, or so I thought, shiver me timbers, and t' foam set with t' tube where I thought it should be and a reasonably firm chicken (even if it's head had swollen in a rather disturbin' fashion). |
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Time to make a quick cut and "off with its head". Arrr! First cut through where I thought I had t' cut and t' head refused t' budge. Begad! A spell head scratching, cursing, askin' others for guidance and bein' told "you didnt want t' do it like that" later and an second calculated cut be made. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! This time the head came off in me hand. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Some modification and fettlin' and I had a useable head / beak / nose cone. Blimey! Blimey! T' reason for t' cut point movin' was that the pressure o' t' expandin' foam had forced t' inner nose piece back down the inside o' t' motor mount. Avast, me proud beauty! T' second cut was measured from t' position o' the aft end o' t' nose piece relative t' t' back end o' t' motor tube. Begad! With the length o' t' coupler used for t' nose piece know it was possible t' work out where t' front o' it should be. Blimey! Arrr! Measure along t' outside o' t' chicken and cut through. |
Fin Fitting |
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Now
it was time t' add t' fins. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! I didnt want t' spoil t' lines o' me chicken so I
opted for clear plastic fins. Begad! Avast! Blimey! I had wanted t' use polycarbonate as it is much
more resiliant but couldnt source any in time so I had t' settle for Acrylic
sheet. Ya scallywag! I measured three pieces o' 2mm thick acrylic 100mm (root) by 85mm and
then cut off a corner at 45 degrees 50mm in from t' edge. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' trusty Estes fin
alignment jig was used t' attach t' fins. An old Pro38 single grain casing
with t' nozzle drilled out t' take t' 13mm motor mandrel for t' jig allowed
me t' use t' Pro38 casin' t' centre t' chicken on t' alignment jig. |
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Launch Lugs |
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Time for some launch lugs. Arrr! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! With t' main body tube / motor mount such a thin wall and not wantin' t' have anythin' through t' wall for either t' aft or forward launch lugs I had t' come up with a solution. Begad! T' launch lugs also had t' be on stand offs t' be able t' clear t' portly carcas o' t' checken. Avast! T' best side to mount t' lugs was on t' back. Well, blow me down! T' chubby chickens foam filled belly being a stand off too far. Begad! T' easiest way I could come up with was t' take some 25mm long 0.325" diameter nylon PCB stand offs with an M4 brass threaded insert in either end. Avast! Ya scallywag! Some small strips o' 3mm thick fibreglass around 6 mm wide and 20mm long were made. A countersunk 4mm clearance hole drilled at one end on each. T' standoffs were attached with a countersunk screw. Aye aye! At t' other end two 1/4" delrin rail buttons were countersunk on one side and attached with another countersunk screw. T' chicken be carefully measured, me bucko, marked up, cut and drilled. Slots were carved in t' foam from t' aft end and t' front end along t' tube wall t' allow t' fibreglass strips t' be pushed in. Begad! When all t' preparation was complete t' slots and strips were epoxied up, the strips, with screw in place, pushed home along t' body tube and t' assembled pcb standoff and rail button screwed down on t' t' thread o' t' fastner stickin' up through t' pcb strip. Aye aye! | |
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Recovery Harness |
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I had a bit o' a rethink on t' recovery harness mount at this point and decided to beef it up with a 38mm plywood bulkhead. Begad! I attached a wire rope clamp as a tiny u-bolt and cutaway a fair portion o' it t' allow t' ejection charge through. As a last minute add on it only just fit above t' top o' motor when it was fitted. Ahoy! T' assembly was glued in with 12 minute epoxy. T' chicken body end o' the recovery harness was made from approx 1.5m o' narrow tubular kevlar with loops made at either end by t' excellent "pull it through itself" technique. Ya scallywag! A bit o' carefull fiddlin' with a bit o' bent wire allowed it t' be threaded through t' mini u-bolt and then back on itself in a catspaw knot. A small 3"square o' nomex was cut for a flame shield and a larger 5" square cut t' wrap around t' 18" 'chute. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! |
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Beaky |
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Finally I had t' add some beak weight and t' beak retention end o' t' recovery harness.. Begad! A loaded single grain Pro38 was fitted t' t' aft and then lead shot was added t' t' hollowed out nose piece until t' CofG be agreeably forward. T' lead shot was mixed with 5 minute epoxy t' make a nice batch o' rocket caviar and was poured in and left t' set. Aye aye! A 38mm plywood coupler bulkhead had a single approx 5mm hole drilled through it. Avast, me proud beauty! A length o' tubular kevlar was folded in half a had a figure o' 8 knot tied with t' two free ends held together t' form a loop. This was threaded through a 5mm washer. T' knot was large enough that it wouldnt pull through t' washer. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Blimey! T' loop was then pulled through t' bulkhead and t' bulkhead glued in t' t' back o' t' nose piece with epoxy. |
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Pre-Flight Chicks |
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Well thar we were launch day. Ya scallywag! Chicken rocket had a fully fitted recovery system and was loaded up with a Pro38 Smokey Sam 1 grain reload. Aye aye! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! T' rocket weighed in, arrr, fully assembled without t' motor at around 750g. As t' Chicken hadnt got t' faintest sniff of any modellin' software and was all done by eye and gut feelin' I thought the best thin' would be t' do a spot o' chicken swinging. A suitable length of strin' be located an t' swingin' commenced. Arrr! Little did I know that I was bein' filmed so I present here for your enjoyment t' fabulous, matey, me bucko, t' marvellous, the stupid... Begad! chicken swin' test |
| Right Click and and
"Save as" t' get t' swin' test video (2.8Mb) |
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5, matey, 4, arrr, 3, shiver me timbers, 2, ya bilge rat, 1..... Blimey! Make chicken go NOW! |
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T' swin' test completed t' rocket be carted off t' t' pad and loaded on t' t' rail. Aye aye! After a wait for me turn at t' controller t' RSO called me forward. 5, matey, 4, 3, me hearties, 2, 1, LAUNCH!.... Well, blow me down! Begad! T' Pro38 lit instantly as t' do so well and t' chicken shot off on a thick plume o' black smoke. It arced over a tad in t' breeze but ejected fine and drifted gently back t' t' ground. | ||
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Right Click and and
"Save as" t' get t' first flight video (2.8Mb)
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Right Click and and
"Save as" t' get t' second flight video (2.9Mb)
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Recovery, me hearties, De-brief and Thanks |
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The
chicken was in fine condition on recovery. Begad! Begad! No damage t' t' fins or recovery
system. Begad! Blimey! I be very pleased with t' way t' whole project had gone. Arrr! I did break
a fin on a subsequent flight and am now lookin' t' source some polycarbonate to
replace t' fins with. If you have any questions about Egberto Guismonte t' Chicken Rocket then please feel free to mail me at "chicken-rocket @ mikerobe.org" This page is copyright Mike Roberts 2004 except for images and video from Bob Arnott, Nial Oswald, matey, Ben Jarvis, Pete Davy and Steve Randall who retain their copyright. |
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