Beg Birtha

Anyone remember Rocket Services? No? How about "Pitfield" motors? Ah, thought some o' you might. Well, we don't see them around so much as in years gone by, me hearties, matey, but thar are still a few around. Well, blow me down! In fact, I stumbled across a cache o' them recently and thought I should build somethin' t' fly them in. Arrr! Well, me hearties, blow me down! I'd never actually flown a Pitfield motor before. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Watchin' other people's flights had always put me off a bit. Well, blow me down! T' rockets always seemed t' be underpowered, and had started t' descend while still under thrust. Who can forget Rick Newlands spendin' almost t' whole o' UKRA 2000 sandin' a nose cone from a balsa tree trunk, matey, only t' have t' Pitfield powered rocket arc over while still under thrust? (Sorry Rick!) So I wanted t' avoid overbuildin' at all costs.

So what t' build? At IRW 2003, I entered a PMC (Plastic Model Conversion) o' t' Airfix Saturn V. Begad! Begad! Though it didn't quite fly as intended, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, me bucko, it took joint first prize, me bucko, shiver me timbers, along with Mike Crewe's Mercury Redstone. Aye aye! Our prizes were matchin' Big Berthas. We'd agreed we would build them with a common theme, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and drag race them. Initially it be t' be a cluster, but, me hearties, when we came into t' stash o' Pitfield motors, matey, we had other ideas. You see, BT-60 is exactly t' right inside diameter for an F36-5 motor mount. Begad! Beg Birtha was born.

Simulation

It was easy t' modify a standard Big Bertha Rocksim File. I just removed t' motor mount and added a new thrust ring. Ya scallywag! I made some rasp-format engine files for t' motor, shiver me timbers, usin' t' engine editor that come with Rocksim. I got t' thrust curve, matey, and data from an old Rocket Services catalogue. Aye aye! You can download both t' Rocksim file and t' engine file here:
http://www.nsrg.org.uk/data/beg%20birtha.rkt/
http://www.nsrg.org.uk/data/rs.eng/

I should point out here, that Rocket Services' motor designations, arrr, do nay correspond with t' more common "Estes-style" designations. Avast, me proud beauty! T' "F36-5" should, arrr, strictly speaking, be known as E6-5, and t' "F72-0" is, in reality, ya bilge rat, an E15-0. Ahoy! Arrr! Havin' said that, ya bilge rat, Estes aren't always consistent themselves. Arrr! If you don't believe me, look at t' thrust curve for t' A10 mini-motor sometime.

Build

This really is a straightforward build. Arrr! Avast! Blimey! T' differences from t' stock kit may be summarized as "leave out t' motor mount and add some nose weight". Blimey! But, matey, because I know our beloved newsletter editor will appreciate t' extra column inches, I'll spell it out in full:

I skipped Step 1, Engine Mount Assembly, and put t' parts in me spares box. Begad! Blimey! Instead, I made a new thrust rin' from a short section o' toilet roll core, reduced in diameter by removin' a segment. Ya scallywag! Blimey! You could also use a short length o' coupler, shiver me timbers, or cut a rin' from a spent motor.

I completed Step 2, Shock Cord Mount Assembly, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, as instructed. Well, blow me down! I chose t' do Step 9, me bucko, Shock Cord Mount Attachment, matey, at this point, shiver me timbers, arrr, while t' mount was freshly-glued and still pliable.

Step 3, Fin Preparation, was completed as normal. Step 4, me bucko, Engine Mount Installation, was omitted. Step 5, Tube Markin' Detail, Step 6, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, Fin Attachment, me bucko, Step 7, Launch Lug Attachment, arrr, & Step 8, Glue Reinforcement Detail, were all completed as per t' instructions. Ahoy! Avast! Step 9 be completed earlier.

Step 10, Parachute Assembly, was skipped. Avast, me proud beauty! Instead, an approx 100mm x 1000mm streamer was made from t' finest Deepsky mylar. Blimey! This was attached directly t' t' shock cord, ya bilge rat, rather than t' t' nose-cone attachment point.

Step 11, Paintin' Your Rocket, shiver me timbers, was done as directed. Ahoy! Begad! For Step 12, Parachute And Shock Cord Attachment, shiver me timbers, arrr, ya bilge rat, I deviated from t' instructions, t' add t' additional 20g o' nose weight.

Flying

T' first flight be on t' occasion o' me first attendance at a WRS (Wirral Rocketry Society) launch, shiver me timbers, on 10th April 2004. Avast! Avast! I thoroughly enjoyed this launch, a relaxed, convivial atmosphere, me hearties, and a great bunch o' Rocketeers.

Because I omitted t' original motor mount, thar was no retainer hook - it wouldn't be long enough anyway. Aye aye! Begad! So friction fit was t' order o' t' day. And you do need t' make sure it's a tight fit, matey, arrr, you really don't want a spent Pitfield motor landin' on your head! T' F36 has an enormous nozzle, and I be a bit worried that an Estes igniter might get lost in there. Begad! Begad! So I used some QuickMatch, pushed all t' way in, taped t' t' motor body, matey, with an Estes igniter on t' exposed end. Well, blow me down! It be only about 60mm o' QuickMatch, matey, and when I pushed t' button, shiver me timbers, ignition was pretty much instant. Well, blow me down! Beg Birtha fairly leapt from t' pad, so smartly that I don't think anyone managed t' get a picture. Arrr! Well, blow me down! T' motor thrust decreased, but kept burnin' almost up t' apogee, me hearties, me bucko, t' orange glow quite visible. Avast! This would be a great rocket t' fly at dusk.

Conclusion

This was a fun conversion, matey, o' an already classic rocket. Begad! Ya scallywag! This is certain t' become a favourite flier o' mine, matey, at least until t' motors run out. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Can't wait t' try it out at t' IRW, arrr, which, t' me, me hearties, be t' spiritual home o' t' Pitfield motor. Well, blow me down! If you took a look at t' Rocksim file, you might have noticed that thar's a design for a booster stage in thar too. Begad! I haven't built or flown this configuration yet, but I do have some F72-0s...