Flight Registration Form
by Adrian Hurt

Background
Near t' end o' this year's International Rocket Week, various odd, me bucko, ya bilge rat, arrr, nay t' say silly, rockets were built. Well, blow me down! After ponderin' for a while on how t' contribute t' t' silliness, I decided t' act on somethin' I'd overheard earlier in t' week. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I'd make a rocket out o' a flight registration form. Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey!

Construction
Each rocket flight at t' event had t' be accompanied by a form which was filled in and handed t' t' range safety officer (RSO) prior t' launch. Avast, me proud beauty! There were plenty o' spare forms, so I took one and filled it in. Aye aye!

A large area at t' bottom o' t' form is intentionally left blank, matey, as the sayin' goes. Arrr! This was cut off. Well, blow me down! A half circle cut and rolled from this piece became t' nose-cone; another piece, formed into a cylinder, arrr, became t' cone's shoulder. Avast, me proud beauty!

T' rest o' t' form became t' body tube. T' left side o' t' form was the tail end. Three equidistant lines were marked, ya bilge rat, arrr, me hearties, then cut out as fin location slots. Arrr! T' top margin, bein' blank, ya bilge rat, became an overlap for glue. Ahoy!

Three fins were cut from a piece o' suitable size balsa that happened t' be available. Aye aye! A motor mount be made from a spare piece o' BT-20, with a thrust rin' made from about 1/2" cut from a spent 18mm motor casing. Blimey! Centering rings were cut from cardboard, but these were only for centerin' and sealing; the fins had tabs extendin' t' whole way t' t' motor mount tube. Blimey! T' fins, rings and tube therefore became a complete fin can which was glued into the rear o' t' body tube.

A fabric elastic shock cord was attached t' t' body and nose-cone usin' two Estes-style folded paper mounts. A launch lug made from a piece o' drinking straw be glued t' t' body, me bucko, shiver me timbers, aligned along and attached t' t' seam where the form had been glued t' make t' tube. Ahoy! Aye aye! A good dollop (real precision measurement here - not!) o' plasticene in t' nose-cone put t' CG safely forward, shiver me timbers, me hearties, and with a C class motor installed, arrr, t' rocket passed a swin' test. Begad! (Bear in mind that this was at a rocketry event, me bucko, ya bilge rat, so I did nay have access t' me computer. Well, blow me down! Begad! In the absence o' VCP, arrr, I had t' resort t' t' old way o' checkin' stability!)

Flight

Before puttin' t' rocket on t' pad, I had t' show it t' t' RSO, arrr, me bucko, of course. Blimey! Arrr! This was part o' t' fun; when he asked for t' rocket's flight registration form, I pointed out that it was t' flight registration form! Blimey! (Of course, me hearties, for formality and for t' records, I also had a duplicate, more conventional form!)

It be after t' rocket be on t' pad that I finally decided that t' balsa used for t' fins was too thin and flexible. Avast, me proud beauty! So t' prevent t' fins from flexin' or shreddin' in flight, I cut broad reinforcement strips from t' same balsa and glued them t' t' port, matey, me hearties, or anticlockwise, side o' each fin. Avast, me proud beauty! This final construction detail was actually carried out on t' launch field! The reinforcement strips were aligned so that their grain ran across that o' the main fins, thus creatin' a cheap'n'dirty plywood. Blimey!

T' rocket carried an Estes C6-3 t' send it up, and a big mylar streamer to brin' it down. Arrr! Blimey! It flew well enough and landed safely back in t' launch field. Unfortunately, shiver me timbers, I had filled in t' form usin' a ball-point pen, so I can't change t' details for t' next flight. Arrr! Well, arrr, blow me down! (Unless I use Tipp-Ex...)