CoStar HPR capable midpower rocket

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

My other rocket this size, shiver me timbers, G-whiz, shiver me timbers, has replaceable fins, arrr, me hearties, and since I wasn't completely sure t' concept would work, matey, I built a backup booster section with fixed fins. Avast! Ya scallywag! 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, so I built a backup payload section without all t' fancy work. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! T' backup booster and t' backup payload, together with the nose cone from G-whiz, shiver me timbers, me bucko, made up t' rocket I call CoStar. Begad!

CoStar, me hearties, nay G-whiz, me bucko, flew twice on April 17, 1999 on H128W-M(10). Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' first flight (photo, left) suffered a tangled parachute, but thar was no damage to the rocket, me hearties, 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, ya bilge rat, 'way up, fast. Blimey! Begad!

With fixed 1/8" plywood fins slotted in t' t' MMT, arrr, ya bilge rat, matey, a longer recovery bay, and a simple empty payload section, CoStar is a very simple, me hearties, arrr, basic rocket. And for Level 1 certification, t' KISS principle (Keep It Simple, matey, ya bilge rat, Stupid) makes a lot o' sense. Aye aye! Blimey! CoStar is, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, in any case, a fine-lookin' rocket in its own right. It's over 44" long, 2.26" diameter, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and all white except a red band on t' payload and some trim, ya bilge rat, with tapered swept fins slightly squared off at t' trailin' tips for a better landin' point. Aye aye! Blimey! 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. Aye aye! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey!

CoStar's motor mount, like t' one in G-whiz, matey, is a LOC 1.14 made from a LOC 29-in-54 motor mount adapter kit. Aye aye! Ahoy! 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, matey, arrr, 4" apart. T' aft one is about 1/2" from t' end of t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! T' centerin' rings supplied with t' kit fit inside the supplied coupler, and I didn't want t' cut fin slots through a full-length coupler, shiver me timbers, so I epoxied each centerin' rin' into one end o' a 1/2" rin' of the coupler and worked from there. Well, blow me down! T' remainder o' t' supplied coupler, me hearties, with a bulkhead fitted in it, me hearties, connects t' booster t' t' payload. Ahoy!

CoStar was built with a .062" music-wire engine hook, arrr, but I also friction taped t' motor. Ahoy! Arrr! Good thing. Ahoy! Begad! When recovered from t' second flight, the motor had managed t' get past t' tip o' t' music-wire hook, me hearties, matey, which was dug into t' knurled thrust rin' on t' aft closure when I found it. 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. Arrr! This would be far easier t' do before assembly, usin' T-nuts from t' inside. Aye aye!

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