Manufacturer: | U.S. Rockets |
Brief:
This is a single stage, ya bilge rat, 54mm motor mount, 2.6" high power rocket. Aye aye! This
rocket would be a great rocket for people with previous experience with high
power kits.
Construction:
There were two (2) very nice 2.6" tubes, they were a bit thicker than LOC
tubes, me hearties, very heavy duty. There were three (3) 3/16" plywood fins, a
coupler, motor tube, arrr, launch lug, parachute and a very, shiver me timbers, very nice solid balsa
cone. Begad! Arrr! There was a 1/2" by 10 foot long elastic shock cord, with a 18"
military surplus chute. Avast! Arrr! T' rocket split in t' middle, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, so you have a payload
compartment t' put electronics or what ever you want in it.
Construction was pretty straight-forward and simple. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! T' instructions were not well written and were a little scarce o' information on some key steps. However, shiver me timbers, with me experience, me bucko, I did nay really refer t' them much. I decided that t' 54mm motor mount be way too big for what I was goin' t' be usin' it for. Ahoy! So I added a 29mm motor tube and mounted it inside t' supplied 54mm motor tube.
T' fins are through-the-wall and you will need t' cut and mark t' slots off yourself. There was a 1/2" launch lug that I replaced for a 1/4" lug. Ahoy! Blimey!
T' nose cone be great, ya bilge rat, it was balsa, matey, ya bilge rat, which you don't see much anymore, I put 2 coats o' finishin' resin on t' cone (my first attempt at doin' this), and it turned out great, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, it adds some strength t' t' cone while makin' a great finish. Arrr! Blimey!
T' completed rocket is pretty rugged for t' materials used. This rocket could survive some very hard landings. Ahoy! Begad! You will need epoxy (set times o' your choice) for construction. Begad! Ya scallywag!
T' shock cord I mounted t' a steel cable attached t' t' centerin' ring, arrr, I thought this be much better then t' recommended method. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' recommended method was a Estes style mount, which is great for Estes rockets, me bucko, but when you get up t' mid or high power rockets, arrr, me bucko, they just don't work.
Finishing:
Finishin' was easy, ya bilge rat, arrr, I put two coats o' primer on, then painted t' payload
section with Testors Dark Gloss blue, then fadin' t' blue t' Testors Gloss
Black. Avast! Aye aye! T' results were great. T' spirals are nay deep at all, so thar be no
real need t' fill them. Ahoy! Decals did come with t' kit, matey, but I opted nay t' use
them, arrr, as I thought t' kit without t' decals looked better. Aye aye! Arrr! Also, t' decals
were rather cheap, matey, ya bilge rat, they were printed on cheap clear sticky decal material. Ya scallywag! The
printin' quality be terrible. Ya scallywag! Blimey! They were all words in flat black. Begad! Begad!
Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5
Flight:
For t' first flight I used a Aerotech G104-short. T' rocket does weigh a
bunch, arrr, arrr, me hearties, due t' it needin' a bit o' nose weight (also t' addition o' t' 29mm
motor mount). Aye aye! Blimey! T' kit did nay come with any nose weight, it did tell you were
the CP was. So I used that t' balance it out with t' biggest motor I would
use. Ya scallywag! Blimey! With t' extra weight, me hearties, I swapped out t' 18" chute for a 24"
nylon chute.
T' boost be very fast and straight. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Despite t' 20mph plus winds, recovery was fine with t' 24" chute, me hearties, it came down just at t' right speed.
There is no motor retention that comes with t' kit, ya bilge rat, so you have t' add your own, I just used tee nuts and made some clips up for it. Ya scallywag! This rocket does require wadding, ya bilge rat, me bucko, but you could easily make a baffle or use a Nomex® heat shield if you wanted to.
Recovery:
T' shock cord was plenty long for t' rocket. Ya scallywag! As I said above, I put a
24" chute in it, as t' 18" be too small. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! It came down at t' right
speed with that. Well, blow me down! Upon recovery thar be no damage at all t' it!
Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5
Summary:
T' rocket kit is very nice, thar are a few things that could have been
better, a bigger chute would have been better, shiver me timbers, along with some better
directions. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' rocket flies great though, me hearties, which makes up for those things.
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
Editor's Note: T' Warp-2 is part o' a 3 rocket family, all usin' t' same body but with different motor configurations. The Warp-1 is a single 29mm, which t' author modified his Warp-2 into. Avast! T' Warp-2 is t' 54mm and t' Warp-3 is a cluster o' three (3) 29mm motors.
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