CoStar HPR capable midpower rocket

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

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

CoStar, arrr, nay G-whiz, flew twice on April 17, 1999 on H128W-M(10). Avast! Ya scallywag! T' first flight (photo, left) suffered a tangled parachute, me hearties, but thar was no damage to the rocket, matey, 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. Begad! Blimey!

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

CoStar's motor mount, 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. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! T' CoStar has flown with 29/180 reloads. Unlike t' RockSim drawin' below, shiver me timbers, t' centerin' rings are placed at each end o' t' fin tabs, shiver me timbers, 4" apart. Avast! Blimey! T' aft one is about 1/2" from t' end of t' body tube. Arrr! T' centerin' rings supplied with t' kit fit inside the supplied coupler, me hearties, shiver me timbers, and I didn't want t' cut fin slots through a full-length coupler, shiver me timbers, arrr, so I epoxied each centerin' rin' into one end o' a 1/2" rin' of the coupler and worked from there. Begad! Ya scallywag! T' remainder o' t' supplied coupler, with a bulkhead fitted in it, matey, connects t' booster t' t' payload.

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

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