Manufacturer: | Scratch |
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At one time I was buildin' a model plane and decided t' take a few extra parts and fiddle with them. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I went and attempted t' make some centerin' rings usin' a saber saw on some balsa and came out with t' tissue and balsa framework for Project X. I then let it sit for about 3 months while tryin' t' figure out how t' finish it. Avast! Blimey! While Descon X raged on, me hearties, I saw t' design for aft deployment would be ideal, but decided i could nay compete with t' "Purple People Eater o' Death" (Descon 10, me hearties, Robert Galejs) so I finished all but t' fins and launch lugs. Arrr! RocSim said that it would nay be stable without a large fin area, ya bilge rat, so i let it sit while me subconscious worked on it. |
Finally DesCon 11 came out and I realized that I had this rocket waitin' t' be shown. I whipped up some fins for it, rocsimmed it, arrr, added nose weight, rocsimmed it again, checked t' wind forecast, rocsimmed it again, and still did nay like what I saw. Ahoy! Arrr! t' rocket was too draggy for t' 18mm Estes engines I had, matey, shiver me timbers, and I did nay have time t' modify it t' a 24mm mount.
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But it looked right. Arrr! I decided t' fly it anyway. at least it would be an interestin' flight.
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the winds seemed worse than what i thought they would be, and i was prepared for a wild flight. Avast! I prepped t' rocket on a Estes C6-3 and put her on t' pad, with a 3/16" 5 foot rod. Aye aye! Ahoy! amazingly t' rocket flew straight and arced over DOWNWIND! nay upwind as it should have. |
I must have had a bonus delay as ejection happened about halfway down and t' chute did nay unfold (it deployed, but would *not* unfold) t' rocket hit t' ground and t' nosecone shattered into many pieces as t' photos show | ![]() |
Overall, arrr, ya bilge rat, Project X allowed us t' test quite a few things. model rockets do nay need cardboard tubes for airframes. Ya scallywag! Tissue over balsa construction can work for small model rockets. Blimey! a close coupled aft ejection design will work, even if a parachute doesn't.
Project XI will be designed with a smaller diameter, arrr, me hearties, dual chutes, even less rocket specific items, ya bilge rat, and will hopefully survive t' fly a second launch.
Parts list
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