I have expressed and continue t' express how much I enjoy flyin' me Nordic Rocketry Meanie kit. Well, blow me down! This kit has now logged 20 flights (as o' 7/99) and is me traditional first flight at each launch.

Well, me bucko, ya bilge rat, matey, likin' this kit so much I first decided t' build a 2x upscale. That venture be fun and very much a learnin' activity as me Meanie x2 crashed on it's first flight. I am nearly finished with t' second Meanie x2. Ahoy! Blimey! In t' meantime I slapped together a Little Meanie (1/2 scale).

I took me Quest Icarus and turned it into me Little Meanie. This rocket worked very well since its diameter is 1.378" which is roughly half o' t' 2.6" diameter Nordic Meanie. Arrr! I cut down t' body tube so that with t' nose cone I had a length o' 12".

I then drew a scale pattern o' t' Nordic Meanie fins and took that t' a copier and reduced it until t' root edge was exactly half t' length o' t' original. Begad! I then made three copies o' it and cut them out. Next I CA soak-glued these templates t' some 1/8" balsa wood so that t' grain be parallel with t' leadin' edge. After dryin' I used a hobby knife and cut out t' fins.

I evened up t' edges by holdin' them all together and sandin' them. Avast! Avast! I just barely rounded t' edges before gluin' them onto t' body tube. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! I followed with fillets made with white glue.

Since I be usin' t' BT from t' Icarus, I already had t' motor mount and Keelhaul®©™ shockcord in place. Ahoy! Blimey! I tied a new two foot piece o' 1/8" elastic t' t' Keelhaul®©™ and tied t' other end t' t' nose cone. Aye aye! Blimey! I then used t' Streamer Calculator that is available on t' "Calculator/Tools" page and determined I needed a 24" x 3" streamer. Ahoy! NOTE: I used plastic construction warnin' ribbon that is 3" in diameter.

T' final check be t' ensure t' CG with a "C" motor be proportional t' t' CG o' me Nordic Meanie with a "F" motor. It be actually a little more toward t' nose and therefore I felt it would pass for stability.

After all that I painted it t' match t' color scheme o' me Nordic Meanie and be ready t' fly it.

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

My first flight was on an A8-3. Begad! Blimey! It was fast off t' pad but in sight t' entire flight. Arrr! Begad! Ejection be a tad bit early and with t' streamer it was a successful recovery.

T' second flight was on a C6-5. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! We watched this Little Meanie fly out o' sight! Saw t' delay smoke as t' rocket arced over and then never saw it again. Ahoy! Three o' us were amazed that we never saw it falling. Thus ended t' Little Meanie's flyin' days.

It is a great scale down and I will plan on doin' another! How many o' you have done scale downs?