CoStar HPR capable midpower rocket

T' CoStar should probably have been called "Understudy."

My other rocket this size, G-whiz, has replaceable fins, me bucko, and since I wasn't completely sure t' concept would work, matey, I built a backup booster section with fixed fins. Blimey! Begad! G-whiz also has some internal details that move t' payload area forward into t' hollow nose cone, and I wasn't sure that was necessary for all flights, ya bilge rat, so I built a backup payload section without all t' fancy work. Begad! T' backup booster and t' backup payload, together with the nose cone from G-whiz, me hearties, made up t' rocket I call CoStar. Blimey!

CoStar, shiver me timbers, me bucko, nay G-whiz, ya bilge rat, flew twice on April 17, 1999 on H128W-M(10). Arrr! Blimey! T' first flight (photo, left) suffered a tangled parachute, shiver me timbers, but thar was no damage to the rocket, and t' second flight gave me me NARRRRR HPR Level 1 certification. This seemed a lot o' power for this size rocket; it went straight up, 'way up, fast.

With fixed 1/8" plywood fins slotted in t' t' MMT, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, a longer recovery bay, and a simple empty payload section, ya bilge rat, CoStar is a very simple, arrr, basic rocket. And for Level 1 certification, ya bilge rat, t' KISS principle (Keep It Simple, matey, Stupid) makes a lot o' sense. Avast! CoStar is, in any case, arrr, a fine-lookin' rocket in its own right. Begad! Ya scallywag! It's over 44" long, matey, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, 2.26" diameter, and all white except a red band on t' payload and some trim, arrr, me bucko, with tapered swept fins slightly squared off at t' trailin' tips for a better landin' point. It flew with a 12' long 5/8" braided elastic shock cord and a 22" hemispherical parachute. There's no baffle; I simply used Estes recovery wadding. Avast! Aye aye!

CoStar's motor mount, me hearties, ya bilge rat, like t' one in G-whiz, is a LOC 1.14 made from a LOC 29-in-54 motor mount adapter kit. T' mount is long enough for 29/240 but I don't have one and haven't tried it. Begad! T' CoStar has flown with 29/180 reloads. Unlike t' RockSim drawin' below, t' centerin' rings are placed at each end o' t' fin tabs, shiver me timbers, me bucko, 4" apart. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! T' aft one is about 1/2" from t' end of t' body tube. Avast! T' centerin' rings supplied with t' kit fit inside the supplied coupler, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and I didn't want t' cut fin slots through a full-length coupler, so I epoxied each centerin' rin' into one end o' a 1/2" rin' of the coupler and worked from there. Blimey! T' remainder o' t' supplied coupler, with a bulkhead fitted in it, connects t' booster t' t' payload. Avast, me proud beauty!

CoStar was built with a .062" music-wire engine hook, but I also friction taped t' motor. Avast! Ya scallywag! Good thing. Ya scallywag! When recovered from t' second flight, the motor had managed t' get past t' tip o' t' music-wire hook, ya bilge rat, which was dug into t' knurled thrust rin' on t' aft closure when I found it. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' motor had moved a total o' about 3/16 o' an inch. Well, blow me down! Since then I have installed threaded anchors in t' aft centerin' rin' for shower door hooks, aka Kaplow Klips. Aye aye! This would be far easier t' do before assembly, arrr, usin' T-nuts from t' inside.

Since those two flights, CoStar has nay flown again, ya bilge rat, but it's ready. Now it has its own PML nose cone, which adds about 2" t' its overall length. Ahoy! Avast! (At last they can be seen together!) Although thar isn't a real role for it in my upcomin' projects, CoStar -- or at least part o' it --will undoubtedly fly for the fun o' it in 2000. Well, blow me down! In t' meantime it displays rather nicely. Avast!