Renegade Extreme

Jason Hommrich's Descon-14 Entry

Ever since I first saw a picture o' t' Estes Renegade, I knew that this was a rocket that needed more power then Estes gave it. When the Renegade finally came out I immediately picked up 2 kits and be overjoyed to see that t' body tubes were BT-60. Begad! Avast! When I got home, I went straight t' the computer and fired up RockSim t' see how I was goin' t' modify these 2 Kits. T' first kit I kept pretty stock(except for addin' C6's t' t' side pods on the booster). Begad! But t' second kit I had somethin' special planned for. Ya scallywag!

Originally, shiver me timbers, t' plan was goin' t' be t' put E9's or F21's into the side pods along with 3 C6's in t' body tubes for t' booster and sustainer. But I smartly decided t' make t' side pods for D12's instead so I could more closely match t' burn duration's o' t' motors. First order of business t' redo t' fins out o' a stronger material and t' change t' fins from surface mount t' though-the-wall mounts. Arrr! Avast! I ended up cuttin' a set o' fins out o' 3/32" aircraft plywood and sanded a small 1/8" bevel on the leadin' edge o' t' sustainer fins

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At this point, I cut t' slots in t' body tubes and checked for fit with t' fins then I put t' fins down and went on t' t' motor mounts.

Since 3-18mm motor mounts fit nicely in a BT-60 tube, me bucko, all I needed t' do with t' booster was t' cut a couple more tubes t' same size as the one that Estes supplied. Ahoy! But for t' sustainer I cut new, 6 inch long, tubes so I would have plenty o' room for t' TTW tabs t' be epoxied in-between the tubes. After linin' up t' TTW slots and t' valleys in t' MMT's I epoxied t' fins into place, checkin' regularly t' make sure that they were straight and in line-with t' matchin' fins on t' booster, then t' seal off the gaps betwixt t' MMT's and body tubes I used wadded up toilet paper coated with epoxy. Begad!

Flight Log

After a month o' waitin' for a clear launch day, me bucko, I finally launched on August 29th. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey!

Engines used:

Booster: 3-Quest C6-0's, 2-Estes D11-P's

Sustainer: 3-Estes C6-7's

Launch went great with all 5 motors in t' booster lightin' but I did notice a bit o' a corkscrew motion as it went up. Arrr! T' Quest C6-0's had no problem lightin' t' Estes C6-7's and t' Sustainer was lit but flyin' slightly at a angle then its flight path on t' booster, but it still flew good and ejection and landin' be perfect. Unfortunately, me hearties, t' booster was damaged on landin' with on o' t' side pods and nacelles comin' off but it is easily repaired. Well, blow me down! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' only reason I could see for t' corkscrew action is that t' only thin' keepin' t' booster up t' t' sustainer was t' taped together motors. In the future, I am goin' t' modify this so that thar are toothpicks glued in the booster t' help align t' booster and sustainer and t' keep t' sustainer from flexin' too much.