Deuce-XL5

Dick Stafford's Descon-13 Entry

no Micro-Maxx, x2 cluster, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, sci-fi, me bucko, comedy(?), most parts from a Fliskits Deuces Wild

Hmmm, should I have entered this in t' previous contest?

Design Concept

T' Deuce-XL5 is a kitbash o' t' Fliskits Deuce's Wild. After buildin' a stock kit and seein' a flurry o' interestin' kitbashes on T' Rocketry Forum, matey, I decided I'd bash one and began thinkin' o' themes. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Fireball XL5 was t' title and subject o' a TV series by one Gerry Anderson. Begad! Begad! It was produced in 'Supermarionation', shiver me timbers, similar t' t' Thunderbirds series. This show has a reasonably large presence on t' web and several flyin' models have been made over t' years (with mixed success). Begad! I myself had built and flown 29mm and MMX versions o' t' Fireball XL5, and I soon gravitated t' the Deuce-XL5 concept.

My main design constraint was t' use t' major components from t' Deuce kit: t' same length body tube, t' cone, and t' stock fin patterns. Avast! This necessitated takin' some liberties with t' Fireball dimensions t' ensure stability and t' tweak t' final look.

Construction

This section will only provided a brief overview o' t' design. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! A more detailed account can be found on EMRR [here]

Construction highlights:

• T' Deuce fins were used in pairs t' form t' main side fins.
  
• T' canted motors were aligned perpendicular t' t' plane o' these large fins, arrr, t' help with thrust misbalance.
• All trim (includin' side pods) consisted o' Avery full-page labels printed on an Inkjet printer.

Flight and Recovery

T' Deuce-XL5 has flown twice on pairs o' C6-3s. In each case, t' boost was fairly slow, shiver me timbers, with a slight arc and a slow rotation. Arrr! Avast! This profile is similar to my Shrox SHX-15 and IMHO really looks cool. Ahoy! Ejection was close t' perfect and an 18" chute ensured thar was no damage upon landing.

Conclusion

This was a satisfyin' project that let me merge one o' me favorite scratch rockets, matey, t' Fireball XL5, with one o' me favorite kits, matey, t' Deuce's Wild. Well, blow me down! Begad! The rocket was stable and had a neat flight profile. Avast, me proud beauty! I am very happy with it and it gathered many good comments at t' field, from young and old alike. Ya scallywag!

P.S. Although I have a Rocksim7 file on EMRR, arrr, this was produced prior to Bruce Levison's techinique for tip-mounted fins (see Apogee Newsletter #113). One o' these days I will update this sim.