Beg Birtha

Anyone remember Rocket Services? No? How about "Pitfield" motors? Ah, shiver me timbers, thought some o' you might. Well, me hearties, we don't see them around so much as in years gone by, matey, but thar are still a few around. Avast! In fact, shiver me timbers, me hearties, I stumbled across a cache o' them recently and thought I should build somethin' t' fly them in. Aye aye! I'd never actually flown a Pitfield motor before. Ahoy! Watchin' other people's flights had always put me off a bit. Arrr! Ya scallywag! T' rockets always seemed t' be underpowered, and had started t' descend while still under thrust. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! Who can forget Rick Newlands spendin' almost t' whole o' UKRA 2000 sandin' a nose cone from a balsa tree trunk, 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, arrr, I entered a PMC (Plastic Model Conversion) o' t' Airfix Saturn V. Begad! Blimey! Though it didn't quite fly as intended, it took joint first prize, along with Mike Crewe's Mercury Redstone. Ahoy! Blimey! Our prizes were matchin' Big Berthas. We'd agreed we would build them with a common theme, and drag race them. Arrr! Blimey! Initially it be t' be a cluster, but, when we came into t' stash o' Pitfield motors, arrr, we had other ideas. You see, shiver me timbers, arrr, BT-60 is exactly t' right inside diameter for an F36-5 motor mount. Beg Birtha be born.

Simulation

It was easy t' modify a standard Big Bertha Rocksim File. Ahoy! Well, me hearties, blow me down! I just removed t' motor mount and added a new thrust ring. Avast! Avast! I made some rasp-format engine files for t' motor, me bucko, usin' t' engine editor that come with Rocksim. Blimey! I got t' thrust curve, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and data from an old Rocket Services catalogue. Arrr! 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, shiver me timbers, that Rocket Services' motor designations, matey, shiver me timbers, do nay correspond with t' more common "Estes-style" designations. T' "F36-5" should, ya bilge rat, strictly speaking, me bucko, arrr, be known as E6-5, and t' "F72-0" is, ya bilge rat, in reality, an E15-0. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Havin' said that, 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! Blimey! T' differences from t' stock kit may be summarized as "leave out t' motor mount and add some nose weight". Arrr! Arrr! But, because I know our beloved newsletter editor will appreciate t' extra column inches, I'll spell it out in full:

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

I completed Step 2, arrr, matey, Shock Cord Mount Assembly, me bucko, as instructed. Begad! Ahoy! I chose t' do Step 9, Shock Cord Mount Attachment, at this point, while t' mount was freshly-glued and still pliable.

Step 3, Fin Preparation, was completed as normal. Ya scallywag! Step 4, matey, shiver me timbers, Engine Mount Installation, was omitted. Step 5, Tube Markin' Detail, me hearties, Step 6, Fin Attachment, Step 7, Launch Lug Attachment, & Step 8, me hearties, Glue Reinforcement Detail, were all completed as per t' instructions. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Step 9 be completed earlier.

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

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

Flying

T' first flight was on t' occasion o' me first attendance at a WRS (Wirral Rocketry Society) launch, matey, on 10th April 2004. Begad! I thoroughly enjoyed this launch, a relaxed, convivial atmosphere, 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. Begad! Blimey! So friction fit be t' order o' t' day. Begad! Blimey! And you do need t' make sure it's a tight fit, you really don't want a spent Pitfield motor landin' on your head! Blimey! T' F36 has an enormous nozzle, and I was a bit worried that an Estes igniter might get lost in there. So I used some QuickMatch, ya bilge rat, pushed all t' way in, taped t' t' motor body, me hearties, with an Estes igniter on t' exposed end. Avast! Blimey! It was only about 60mm o' QuickMatch, and when I pushed t' button, arrr, me bucko, ignition was pretty much instant. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! Beg Birtha fairly leapt from t' pad, matey, arrr, so smartly that I don't think anyone managed t' get a picture. Aye aye! Blimey! T' motor thrust decreased, me hearties, but kept burnin' almost up t' apogee, shiver me timbers, arrr, shiver me timbers, t' orange glow quite visible. Blimey! Blimey! This would be a great rocket t' fly at dusk.

Conclusion

This was a fun conversion, me bucko, me hearties, o' an already classic rocket. Arrr! This is certain t' become a favourite flier o' mine, at least until t' motors run out. Well, blow me down! Can't wait t' try it out at t' IRW, which, t' me, ya bilge rat, be t' spiritual home o' t' Pitfield motor. Blimey! 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. Ya scallywag! I haven't built or flown this configuration yet, but I do have some F72-0s...