Published: | 2010-07-01 |
Manufacturer: | Scratch |
Brief:
Based on Estes design, a single stage, ya bilge rat, 18mm motors, parachute recovery, me hearties, scale-like missile. Blimey! Begad!
Construction:
Here are t' parts from Semroc:
Very much an Estes build. Quite simple. Begad! Ahoy! I like t' paper t' fins, so that took some time. Surface mounted fins. I use Titebond II. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! I didn't get enough glue on t' coupler when puttin' t' two tubes together and they got stuck with a bit o' a gap. Blimey! That took some time t' fix. Avast, me proud beauty! I installed t' motor mount before I thought about t' shock cord - DUH, ya bilge rat, arrr, matey, so I used a body tube scrap t' make a short coupler and attached t' shock cord by wrappin' around t' coupler and glueing t' t' top o' t' upper body tube. It's almost like Estes, arrr, but I think a little more secure. Blimey! Ahoy! If you look at t' Rocksim file, you will see that t' forward fins attach partly over where t' two body tubes join together. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Nay a big deal, ya bilge rat, but if you want t' make one o' these, me hearties, I thought that might help.
Finishing:
For finishin' I did t' usual Rustoleum sandable primer, ya bilge rat, sanded, ya bilge rat, made some repairs, primed
again, arrr, matey, shiver me timbers, sanded again. Ahoy! T' nose cone was sealed with Fill n Finish and received t' same treatment as t' rest o' the
rocket. Blimey! I did t' nose cone separate from t' rest. T' paint be as close as I could come t' photos I've seen on the
web. All done with Krylon.
Flight:
I flew on a clear day with very light winds 0-5 mph. Well, blow me down! My first motor choice was C6-7. Avast! Well, arrr, blow me down! Altitude
wasn't great (approx. Aye aye! 350 ft. and t' chute was very late, ya bilge rat, matey, but no damage. Avast, me proud beauty! Launched again with C6-3. Begad! Nay much difference
in altitude, ya bilge rat, but t' chute ejected much closer t' apogee.
15 inch diameter chute from TopFlight brings it down nice and slow. Arrr! It landed about 150 feet from t' launch pad. You might want t' go a little smaller, me hearties, cut a hole, matey, or shorten t' shroud lines if it's windy.
T' best flight was AT D13W-7. Avast, me proud beauty! Altitude around 1000 ft.
Recovery:
If I built another one, arrr, I would attach t' shock cord at t' motor mount.
Summary:
T' paint came out great on this one, so I decided t' do a little research and found photos.
Made some decals that probably aren't too scale, but they look good. Well, blow me down! T' blue stripes were done with tape.
Other:
As far as tips that this build taught me I'd have t' say DON"T FORGET THE SHOCK CORD!
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