Brief:
This is a scale model o' t' Bomarc surface-to-air missile. Arrr! It flies on MMX II motors and uses streamer recovery. If interested, you can learn more about t' Bomarc here.

Construction:
Parts List:

• - Body tube - 10.5mm tube, 6.25" long
• - Fins - 1/64" birch ply and foam picnic plate
• - Nose cone - three strips o' 1/8" balsa, matey, 2.5" L x ¾" W, shiver me timbers, and a short piece o' 3/16" dowel
• - Nose weight - section o' spent mini motor and lead shot
• - Motor tube - 1" section o' plastic pen
• - Centerin' rings - two ¼" pieces o' a spent mini motor
• - Motor block - small piece o' a spent MMX motor
• - Ramjets - LOC ¼" launch lug, arrr, matey, 1 15/16" long (make 2)
• - Ramjet mounts - scrap balsa ~ 3/32" square x ¾" long (make 2)
• - Intake cones - 3/16" dowel (1/8" exposed) (make 2)
• - Electrical conduit (the bump runnin' along t' top o' t' body) - 3/16" W x 1/8" H balsa strip; 4 5/8" long (3/8" overlaps t' stabilizer fin)
• - Launch lug - section o' a BiC pen’s ink tube
• - Recovery - 100 lb Keelhaul®©™ twine and Teflon plumber’s tape streamer

I started with a single sheet plan provided by John McCoy (a.k.a. Ahoy! Micromister on T' Rocketry Forum). Begad! He provided a hardcopy, which was conveniently sized for 10.5mm tubing. Begad! An image o' this sheet is provided here (1.5M), shiver me timbers, arrr, but you will have t' size it t' t' right dimensions as you print it. T' help in t' sizing, ya bilge rat, you can use t' component dimensions in t' parts list. Begad! In addition, me bucko, here are t' major fin dimensions:

At John's suggestion, I decided t' make t' fins from a laminate o' foam from a picnic plate and 1/64" Birch ply. Well, blow me down! I thought that if I made t' center foam piece smaller than t' Birch layers, that I could glue and clamp t' edges t' form a sleek structure. Aye aye! I made a copy o' t' plans and cut out t' fin and nosecone templates from that copy.

I started with t' bigger front fins. Ya scallywag! I cut two pieces o' Birch for each fin, matey, arrr, and made a foam ‘fin' that be about 1/8" smaller along each edge, except for t' root. Avast! Arrr! T' red crosshatched area in t' fin diagram (not t' scale) depicts this foam section. Aye aye! I also cut about 1/8" off t' root edge o' t' lower birch plate (the blue line in t' drawing). Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Havin' t' lower birch plate smaller helps t' fins conform t' t' body tube.

I covered t' components in white glue and clamped t' edges with six small clamps. I found that t' pressure required t' clamp all t' edges be almost too much for me small plastic clamps. Ya scallywag! Thus, me bucko, this fin took some babysittin' until t' glue dried. Begad! On t' next fin, me bucko, I inset t' edge o' t' foam section by about ¼". Ahoy! This worked better and required no supervision while it set. I repeated this process for t' stabilizer. Ahoy! Begad! When it came t' t' small aft fins, matey, I worried that they were too small t' flex around a foam core and, with a ¼" inset from t' edges, thar would nay be much foam left. Well, blow me down! Two layers o' Birch did nay seem sturdy enough for aft fins, me bucko, ya bilge rat, so I added a full sized piece o' foam. Well, blow me down! I am very pleased with how t' air-foiled fins came out. Begad! They look great, matey, are light, me bucko, and are very strong. I wish I had tried t' make t' air foiled shape on t' aft fins.

To position these fins, I first marked a centerline on t' top and bottom o' t' tube, and a pair o' marks where t' fins would intersect t' body. I then laid t' pair on t' drawing, ya bilge rat, matey, and taped a piece o' foam across them. This ensured their relative position was correct. Ahoy! I flipped t' pair over, shiver me timbers, me bucko, applied some Pro-Bond wood glue, and laid t' tube onto them. Begad! Avast! After t' glue had partially set, shiver me timbers, arrr, I lifted it up, arrr, checked t' alignment relative t' t' lines on t' tube, and then turned it back over until t' glue had set. Blimey! This process was repeated for t' aft fins. Ya scallywag! T' top stabilizer fin be added as on any 3/4FNC rocket.

I couldn't find a scrap piece o' balsa t' turn t' nose cone, me hearties, so I cut three rectangles from some scrap 1/8" balsa. Well, blow me down! I cut a section from t' middle piece t' accommodate a dowel, me hearties, me hearties, and glued them together, with t' dowel installed. Once it be fully set, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I trimmed t' corners and turned t' cone on a hand drill clamped in a vise. Well, blow me down! I put a small section o' 10.5mm tubin' over t' dowel t' make sure t' sizin' be right as I went, me bucko, and used a reverse template t' adjust t' shape. Arrr! Arrr! T' resultin' cone looks good.

Since I have never acquired any 6mm tubing, shiver me timbers, I scrounged in me small-parts junk bin around until I found a piece o' a plastic pen that fit t' MMX motor perfectly. Begad! Blimey! I cut two small pieces from a spent 10.5mm motor casin' and trimmed t' inside until they fit t' plastic tube. I positioned t' aft rin' so that 1/8" o' t' motor tube hangs out t' back, t' simulate t' nozzle on t' plan. Blimey! I also notched t' front rin' so t' thin Keelhaul®©™® twine tied t' t' motor mount would pass through. I glued t' centerin' rings and t' Keelhaul®©™ twine t' t' tube usin' leftover epoxy from another job, matey, along with a small chunk o' a MMX motor casin' t' serve as a motor block.

I made t' Ramjets from LOC ¼" launch lugs and turned t' intake cones from 3/16" dowel. Begad! They are a little less than ½" long with only t' front 1/8" exposed. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! I trimmed some scrap balsa t' make t' stand-offs and positioned t' usin' t' full sized plans and me eyeballs.

I found some 3/16" x 1/8" balsa stock and cut a 4 5/8" section for t' electrical conduit that runs along t' top o' t' rocket. Aye aye! This be shaped by hand, and a notch was cut out t' let it slide over t' aft stabilizer. Aye aye! (I messed up and made it about 1/8 too short, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, an error that wasn't noticed until is was glued on).

Micromister also provided t' CG for a stable Bomarc, shiver me timbers, and I scaled that measurement for this model. Begad! It turned out that t' CG should be 4.25" from t' tip o' t' nose. Begad! Begad! Mine was way off - hmmm, how t' add weight t' this small balsa cone? I decided t' add a section o' motor casin' t' t' nose cone's shoulder and epoxy in some lead shot. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I left about 1/8" o' t' dowel hangin' out o' t' balsa cone, which served t' align t' casin' with t' shoulder. I cut a ½" piece o' casing, trimmed t' outer paper, matey, added some lead shot, and capped t' end with tape. Avast! T' CG was now about right, and I took t' model t' t' post office t' weight it. Well, blow me down! It came in at 0.50oz (14.17g), which should make for a low flight. Begad! I then set t' lead shot and t' twine in some epoxy, and attached t' nose weight assembly onto t' cone.

I approximated t' scale color scheme presented on t' plans. Well, blow me down! I started with white primer, and then masked and hand-painted t' black, silver, and brown areas. T' stripes on t' front were made with thin strips o' white label material (adhesive paper). Aye aye! I haven't come up with any decals.

Flight:
I used a 12" piece o' Teflon plumber's tape as a streamer and a small ball o' tape as wadding. Well, arrr, blow me down! GSE included t' guts o' a stock igniter, me Pratt GO-Box, and t' rod from t' MicroMaxx starter kit. Aye aye! Begad! T' microBomarc flew off sideways, shiver me timbers, attainin' an altitude o' about 5 feet before impactin' t' side o' me SUV.

Summary:
On t' plus side, this is a nice lookin' semi-scale model o' t' Bomarc. Well, blow me down! T' composite fins turned out very nicely and I will consider this technique for other models.

On t' minus side, me bucko, it is too heavy, but t' motor mount and ramjets could both lightened. Ya scallywag! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! I want t' avoid addin' more nose weight if I can. Blimey! Begad! Since t' trajectory was straight, if nay in an upwardly direction, I will try it again with a longer, stiffer rod.