(07/13/02) T' Hypersonic Transport is me 2nd Fat Cat Rockets' rocket. Aye aye! I had also built t' Centaurus prior t' Starship Enterprises becomin' Fat Cat Rockets. I bought t' Hypersonic Transport for one o' t' same reasons I built the Centaurus, its unique look in a medium t' high power rocket. T' Hypersonic Transport is "for those quick trips t' t' moon or just t' t' other side o' the planet" accordin' t' Fat Cat Rockets and it "will get you thar in style".

T' Hypersonic Transport is 33" tall and is 3" in diameter. It is designed t' fly on 29mm motors with parachute recovery. Fat Cat Rockets indicate that it should weigh 28 ounces without t' motor. Aye aye! Aye aye! They recommend G40-5 and G80-7 motors which is nice, arrr, as I am a big fan o' G80's. (picture courtesy o' Fat Cat Rockets until mine gets finished)

T' Hypersonic consists o' t' main body tube (standard paper) which is 22½" o' 3" diameter with 1/16" wall thickness. Aye aye! Centerin' rings (2), Wings (2), Tail (1) are all made from 3/16" plywood. Arrr! T' Wings, includin' t' ram jets, matey, are made up out o' ten (10) pieces o' wood, while t' Tail is made up o' two (2) pieces. Arrr! Ahoy! There are two (2) launch lugs that once assembled are hidden inside a ram jet. Ahoy! Begad! T' motor mount is 29mm and uses a 8½" tube. Begad! T' recovery system is beefed up with a 16" cable that is attached t' a 90" piece o' 1/2" black elastic. Arrr! This is all topped off with a plastic nose cone. Aye aye! My nose cone was 11½" long which made me Hypersonic 34" as opposed t' t' listed 33" (no big deal t' me). Avast! Other materials include nose weight (bb's), a bright-orange 30" rip-stop nylon parachute, a series o' detailin' stickers and strips.

CONSTRUCTION:

T' instructions are printed on one side o' a single 8x11" sheet o' paper and consist o' 6 steps. Arrr! Blimey! There are also 6 pages of diagrams includin' a colored decal placement guide and various templates to help with construction. Ahoy! Blimey! This rocket is actually fairly straightforward, however, matey, me bucko, ya bilge rat, t' instructions need some work t' make t' flow easier. Begad! Blimey! Within t' 6 steps, you are referenced t' t' various other pages t' look at figures and templates. Just made t' flow a bit difficult. Blimey! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Also, matey, I feel t' instructions (words) didn't make one point in particular very clear and o' course that is a mistake I made as I will explain below.

As winter approached here in Vermont, I decided t' utilize some of the last warm days and sand all t' leadin' and trailin' edges o' t' wings and tail. Avast, me proud beauty! Fat Cat provides a figure t' show you which edges need rounding. Well, this actually caused a slight problem later. Begad! Since t' wings are in two pieces and t' ram jets are in three some o' this roundin' occurred in areas that wouldn't normally be rounded. Well, blow me down! Avast! Nay a big problem, but I had t' do a little fillin' t' clean this up before finishing. Had I followed t' instructions and assembled t' wings first, then rounded every thin' this wouldn't have happened. Blimey! (notice on t' left side o' t' fin where I had rounded t' edge before assembly, this wouldn't have been like this)

On t' other hand, t' instructions have you roundin' the edges o' t' ram jet pieces prior t' assembly. Begad! I found that they needed work after assembly, too, matey, t' make them look good.

Next you use a provided markin' guide t' draw t' lines on t' body tube in preparation o' cuttin' t' fin slots. Begad! Ya scallywag! Cuttin' your own fin slots can be somewhat challenging, matey, but please make it easier on yourself and start with a new, ya bilge rat, sharp hobby knife blade. Spendin' t' 33¢ for a new blade is worth it. Ahoy! Begad! Also, ya bilge rat, don't try t' go all t' way through on t' first pass. I try t' merely scribe on t' first pass and by t' third pass am cutting through.

Next t' motor mount is assembled. Ya scallywag! T' upper centerin' rin' has two ¼" holes drilled in it. T' steel cable is threaded through these two holes and crimped. Begad! A loop is made in t' opposite end and it too is crimped. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! T' length seems perfect as the cable just makes it t' t' top o' t' airframe.

T' motor mount is then installed into the airframe. Arrr! You may find it beneficial t' pull t' shock tether through the motor mount so it doesn't interfere (get coated with glue) while insertin' the motor mount. Begad! I tested a new trick while installin' this motor mount. What I did was t' place a fairly large amount o' glue on t' upper side o' each o' the centerin' rings about 1/8" from t' edge. Ya scallywag! I then pushed t' motor mount into t' airframe until it be 1/4" from its final position. Ya scallywag! Then by holdin' t' airframe horizontally and slowin' turnin' it, ya bilge rat, allowed t' glue to flow off t' edge o' t' centerin' rin' t' meet t' airframe. Aye aye! Slowly turnin' it allowed for it t' meet all t' way around. Begad! Aye aye! I could visually see this happening on t' upper centerin' rin' by lookin' down t' airframe from t' top. Once touchin' all t' way around, ya bilge rat, I then pushed t' motor mount up that final 1/4" into position and sat it on its end t' dry. Arrr! You need a glue that is strong and will flow initially. I figure 1-hour epoxy would work, or what I used: ProBond Polyurethane Glue which worked great! (additional comments about ProBond Polyurethane glue)

T' nose weight (BB's) is epoxied into t' nose cone next. Aye aye! Blimey! The nose cone came without a bottom allowin' t' nose weight t' be added very easily. Ahoy! Blimey! After t' epoxy (or in me case t' polyurethane glue) is dry, the bulkhead is assembled in t' shoulder o' t' nose cone. Arrr! Blimey! T' nose cone was fairly loose in t' airframe which required two layers o' maskin' tape t' snug up.

Oh, ya bilge rat, yes, me one big mistake. Arrr! Well, arrr, blow me down! After cuttin' t' slots in the airframe for t' wings and tail I followed t' instructions t' assemble the wings t' t' airframe. After they were dry, I applied glue and inserted the tail into t' remainin' slot in t' tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! As I was sittin' thar lookin' at it, it didn't seem t' me t' be a stable design as t' ram jets were on top along with t' tail. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! While thinkin' this I sorted through all t' pages of diagrams and noticed that I had installed t' wings upside down. So I pulled the tail out before t' glue set. Avast, me proud beauty! I cut a new slot on t' opposite side, arrr, filled the old slot with t' original piece o' tubin' that was removed, and glued the tail into t' new slot. Much better. Arrr! I guess I should have caught that earlier, however, arrr, I feel t' instructions should have helped me help myself.

Due t' winter in Vermont, I have nay been able t' finish the Hypersonic Transport. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' instructions provide a good description for finishin' and provides a set o' detailin' tape. Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! So I will add more information once I can finish and fly this rocket. Arrr! Arrr! Blimey! Stay tuned . Arrr! Begad! Blimey! . Avast, me proud beauty! . Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey!

Overall, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this kit 4 points. Blimey! Arrr! I found t' quality o' t' parts t' be excellent, arrr, t' rocket design's uniqueness is great, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and t' fit o' all t' components be perfect. T' instructions need t' be enhanced t' be clearer and flow better. This should not be someone's first mid-power kit, but it should be one o' t' choices for gettin' away from 3-Fin-Nose-Cone type rockets.

FINISHING:

As you can see, matey, me bucko, I went away from t' Fat Cat color scheme. Arrr! I wanted t' try me hand at this special DupliColor Mirage paint. Arrr! I picked up a kit from Walmart. Aye aye! Arrr! T' Purple/Green variety. Well, blow me down! After that, shiver me timbers, I didn't think t' detailin' tape had t' look I wanted, ya bilge rat, me hearties, so I cut me own decals from some extra vinyl ones that came with a special BSD Thor order. I think it came out okay. Ahoy! Blimey! I used much o' t' information for the windows from t' provided instructions.

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

Fat Cat recommends two motors, t' G40-5 and G80-7. In addition, matey, ya bilge rat, their stated finished weight is 28 ounces.

Now, in me case, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I only had a couple o' G64-4's and my finished weight be 29.5 ounces, so I felt we had a good match!

I be so excited one day in May when I woke up and it was perfectly calm and beautiful. So I went flying! I loaded t' Hypersonic Transport with me RMS G64-4. Avast, me proud beauty! I had failed t' add any positive motor retention (and none comes with t' kit) so I risked it and did a friction fit o' me RMS casing. Begad! Aye aye! T' hope was t' see it again.

T' rocket looked great sittin' thar on t' rod with the hidden launch lugs. Arrr! I gave a count down and varrrrroooommmmm. Off she went. Beautiful. Begad! T' flight was very straight and stable. Arrr! T' ejection be a bit early, matey, ya bilge rat, probably could have waited another second or so, but t' bright-orange 30" rip-stop nylon parachute deployed and descended very nicely. Nay too fast and nay too slow.

With such a nice flight I was lookin' forward t' me next launch and NYPower 2002. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I loaded t' same motor, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, G64-4, and set it up on t' middle row o' pads. Well, blow me down! It be rather windy this day so we had about a 10 degree rod angle, matey, but I still be nay worried. Avast! Aye aye! Blimey! Upon ignition though, me hearties, shiver me timbers, t' Hypersonic Transport appeared t' lose its spaceship-like qualities and more resembled a wounded duck. It was flyin' in t' right direction, but seemed as if t' wind would push it, me hearties, t' fins corrected it, shiver me timbers, push, correct, push, correct . Begad! Avast! Blimey! . Aye aye! . then turned back toward t' ground then ejection. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Very scary. Avast, me proud beauty!

T' 'chute opened and it carried right on over t' hit the porta-potty door. Begad! Scared t' women goin' inside, shiver me timbers, but no damage at all.

I bounced this information off o' t' folks at Fat Cat Rockets and got a couple o' interestin' thoughts back. Since t' first flight was stable and no changes were made t' rocket appears t' have been built correctly (if was) and be stable, me bucko, therefore, stability factures would need to be outside o' t' rocket. I gave thought t' t' wind however, they assured me they have experience with it flyin' well in t' wind AND from me own observations with other flights t' wind doesn't do this push, shiver me timbers, correct thin' it would simply push it over more and more horizontal. So what else? Motor and rod length were discussed. Begad! Arrr! Blimey! I inspected t' motor and they may have a point. Arrr! Blimey! As I inspected t' nozzle I did notice a build up on one side behind and in the throat. Also t' way t' residue be in t' motor casin' t' one side. Ya scallywag! Begad! Blimey! I can't say for sure as I lack experience in this but thar are some clues. So time and more flights will tell!

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY I would rate this kit 3 points. Ya scallywag! I found t' looks and flight silhouette t' be excellent. The recovery system is very nice and brings t' rocket in nicely. Aye aye! Keep an eye on the elastic shockcord though. Begad! T' kit also needs positive motor retention (I know, I know, me bucko, most mid t' high power kits don't have it, but....). Regardless of me second flight, arrr, me gut feel is that this is a stable flyin' rocket and I look forward t' future flights t' prove that.

If you are lookin' for a medium-sized rocket with some unique looks and quality components, shiver me timbers, then t' Hypersonic Transport is for you. Solid construction and a great flight silhouette. Arrr! You may be limited t' the days you can actually fly it (calm) but it will definitely get t' attention of observers. Aye aye! Aye aye! On G's, ya bilge rat, it is nay a terribly high flier either, so this will be nice for smaller fields. Ya scallywag! Begad! Overall, I would rate this kit 3 ½ points.