Brief:

My first true 'scratch-built' model rocket was t' Ugly Bug. It is based on t' Estes Mosquito, but built for an Estes 'D' (24mm) motor rather than t' standard mini-motor. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! This is actually nay t' first time I've built a scaled-up Mosquito, but I don't really count t' first time as a rocket. Begad! Back in grad school a fellow student who had never seen a model rocket was curious about them. Avast! Ya scallywag! I didn't have any built models, but did have a spare D booster motor sittin' around and had an idea. Well, me hearties, blow me down! We added some balsa fins, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, a wooden nose cone, arrr, me bucko, and a launch lug made from paper and glue formed on a drill bit. This little assembly went like stink off t' pad and we promptly lost track o' it. We found it sittin' in t' parkin' lot later, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and t' other grad student repainted it, shiver me timbers, me bucko, plugged t' burned-out motor with glue, arrr, and hung it on t' wall of his office.

Years later, I was workin' on a true scaled-up Mosquito design about 14" in length with a full parachute recovery system. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! However, shiver me timbers, I wasn't finished with it by t' time a NDRA launch came around. Avast, me proud beauty! Nay wantin' t' bring only mundane models t' t' launch, I decided on a Thursday night that I should build another o' t' 'flyin' motor' D birds t' get rid o' some D12-3 motors I had. T' delay on these be too short for me only D rocket at t' time, so they seemed good candidates for glued-on fins. Begad! Part-way into buildin' t' first one, I thought, me bucko, arrr, "Heck, ya bilge rat, why go t' all this trouble when I could add a body tube and have a real, reusable rocket?" Thus t' Ugly Bug project be born.

Construction:

It was Thursday night, and t' launch was Saturday morning. Blimey! Arrr! I had less than 48 hours t' actually build a rocket. "No problem," I figured, "I'll just use whatever I can find and keep it super-simple." Since I had no actual kit parts, shiver me timbers, I'd have t' scrounge and scratch-build everything. Ya scallywag! I decided t' keep t' t' original Mosquito recovery system, which is 'featherweight'. Avast! Begad! This means t' rocket ejects its spent motor and is so light it won't be harmed by t' fall. Well, blow me down! This works fine for a model barely bigger than a mini-motor, me hearties, but lookin' back on it, matey, it was probably wishful thinkin' for a D bird. Avast, me proud beauty! In any case, I started scroungin' around t' garbage and me rocket shop and gathered t' needed materials.

For t' bigger scaled-up Mosquito, matey, I had been toyin' with t' idea o' using corrugated cardboard wrapped in paper that had been soaked with wood glue (sort of like a composite structure without usin' fiberglass and resin). Arrr! I had gone as far a buildin' a test piece with this method, shiver me timbers, but had concluded it probably wasn't strong enough t' build t' large fins o' t' 14" Mosquito. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! However, the test piece was t' perfect size t' cut three fins out o' for t' Ugly Bug. I used t' TLAR (That Looks About Right) engineerin' method t' determine fin size and shape, cut them out and sanded them t' profile. Arrr! Arrr! Now some form o' body tube was needed. Well, blow me down! Arrr! I located a hunk o' dowel just slightly larger than t' 24mm D motor t' use for t' nose cone, me bucko, me bucko, and decided t' use it as t' form for building a body tube. Aye aye! Back t' t' garbage for an old brown paper sack. Avast, me proud beauty! I cut a strip of this, shiver me timbers, me hearties, me hearties, rubbed it with yellow wood glue, me bucko, me hearties, and rolled it on t' t' dowel (which I had protected with a wrap o' plastic sheet t' keep t' glue from sticking). After t' tube was formed and rolled t' remove excess glue, I slipped it off the form and set it aside t' dry.

Next I sanded one end o' t' dowel t' a nose-like shape usin' a belt sander. After a bit o' finishin' hand-sanding, shiver me timbers, matey, me bucko, I used a bandsaw t' cut t' end off, leavin' a 1/2" straight section for gluin' into t' body tube. Blimey! Well, matey, blow me down! Finally, shiver me timbers, me bucko, I formed a launch lug out o' more brown paper soaked with glue and wrapped around a drill bit. All these were set out t' dry overnight.

T' next day, I used t' bandsaw again t' trim t' ends o' t' tubes square and clean. Begad! Ahoy! I used a D motor t' measure how long t' body needed t' be, and trimmed it again. Aye aye! Then all t' parts were glued together and left t' dry.

Finishing:

Now is when t' name o' t' rocket suggested itself. Ahoy! Definitely nay me finest work, but it would do for a 'throw away' rocket. Begad! When t' glue had dried, ya bilge rat, I applied three coats o' blaze orange spray paint. Aye aye! If you've ever flown a Mosquito, me bucko, you know how easy it is t' lose them. Aye aye! Arrr! I figured t' paint was the only color that gave it a fightin' chance o' bein' found. Begad! Begad! It took until 1:30 am that night, arrr, and t' use o' a hair dryer t' speed drying, but I finished the Ugly Bug and went t' bed.

Flight:

I had t' build up some maskin' tape on t' D motor t' get it t' fit inside the body properly. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Nay havin' a recovery system or motor retention really simplified design and building, but if I did it again I'd include a streamer for safety.

T' first flight on a D12-3 went as I expected: t' rocket shot off t' pad to a very impressive altitude, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, t' ejection charged popped t' motor out in a puff o' smoke, and t' rocket vanished into t' blue sky. Begad! T' Range Safety Officer wasn't entirely impressed with this, but knew t' chances o' it actually hittin' someone and hurtin' them was very low. Arrr! We launched other rockets, then went lookin' for t' UB. Arrr! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Incredibly, me hearties, it was found about 1/2 mile from t' launch site. One fin had broken off on landing, but was easily reattached with some quick-dryin' glue. Aye aye! Aye aye! Two fins had some scorch marks on them where t' exhaust gas had burned little holes in t' paper covering, me bucko, but were still structurally strong. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' UB was flight worthy again!

I debated if I should just count myself lucky and put t' UB on me shelf, but then remembered I had expected t' lose t' little bugger and it was constructed more for amusement o' t' spectators than anythin' else. Aye aye! I therefore decided t' fly it again. Begad! This time, me hearties, matey, I wanted t' see just how high I could get it t' fly. Avast! Blimey! I had just flown me Estes Snitch (plastic saucer) with a chad-staged D12-0, arrr, shiver me timbers, so I figured, arrr, "What t' heck?" I grabbed me last D12-3, ya bilge rat, taped it t' fit t' Ugly Bug, then taped a D12-0 on t' tail in the staged configuration:

T' burned-out motor lyin' on its side on t' blast plate is bein' used as a spacer t' keep t' booster's ignitor from bein' shorted out. Begad! This is (surprise!) t' last picture ever taken o' t' Ugly Bug. Unfortunately, ya bilge rat, the center o' gravity had been moved so far back by t' booster that t' rocket was unstable durin' t' first bit o' its flight. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! No loops or spins, arrr, but t' rocket wandered around until most o' t' booster's propellent had burned out. Aye aye! Aye aye! Just before staging, t' CG had moved far enough forward t' become stable. Ya scallywag! At staging, t' rocket was nearly horizontal and about 200' high. Ya scallywag! Stagin' went fine, me bucko, and t' Ugly Bug shot off in an arc t' t' north west. At that altitude and speed, t' ejection charge puff wasn't visible, me bucko, me bucko, and we didn't even bother to go look for t' little rocket.

Summary:
Thus was t' end o' me first scratch-built and aptly-named rocket. Arrr! The 14" Mosquito is nearly complete, and will be dubbed 'Big Ugly Bug', arrr, but will fly and return t' t' ground in a much more sane manner