Polish Meteor 2K

Mark Schrader's Descon-14 Entry

Brief:

Parallel staged sport scale model o' a Polish soundin' rocket. Ahoy!

Construction:

Parallel stagin' is a great way t' kick it up a notch in model rocketry without addin' t' expense o' mid and high power. Arrr! I've used parallel stagin' on a few projects up t' this point, me hearties, but when I saw t' Polish Meteor-2K in Peter Alway's Rockets o' t' World, I knew this was t' model I needed to build next. Avast! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey!

I began with t' Estes Black Brant II kit for t' nose cone, arrr, shiver me timbers, BT-55 body tube, 24 mm motor mount, ya bilge rat, and boat tail. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Usin' a photo copier, I scaled the rocket drawings in Rockets o' t' World t' 1.325" diameter t' match the BT-55 outside diameter and used these measurements t' trim t' Black Brant body tube t' size. Avast! I also used t' scale drawings t' make fin templates and cut fins out o' 1/8" balsa stock. Begad!

T' strap-on boosters are based on BT-5 body tubin' and t' nose cones are plastic 4:1 ogive sawed t' approximate t' unique shape found on t' Meteor-2K. Once I'd cut them, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, I filled t' hole in t' plastic cone with a balsa dowel and wood filler then sanded t' shape. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' boosters use 1/8" launch lug stock and wood dowels for attachment and split in half at ejection t' release. I also used t' scale drawin' t' cut t' booster’s fins out o' 1/16" balsa. I used about 18" o' Keelhaul®©™® thread and a streamer for booster recovery. Aye aye! Blimey! T' BT-5 boosters are nay exactly t' scale, matey, arrr, but they look pretty good.

In RockSim, the rocket with boosters loaded with a D12-5 and two A10-0s has a static stability margin o' 0.58 (Barrowman method) and 1.02 (RockSim method). Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! I think this will be adequate since t' boosters will add t' t' stability o' t' rocket. Well, arrr, blow me down! Even with 0.5 ounces o' weight in t' nose, arrr, t' unloaded weight is just over 2 ounces. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! On a D12-5 with two A10-0s, matey, arrr, this sims t' almost 1800 feet. Avast, me proud beauty! T' give me a little more flexibility in motor selection, me bucko, me hearties, I also made am 18 mm motor adapter out o' spare parts. Aye aye!

Finishing:

I ordered decals from Tom at Tango Papa Decals. Begad! He was easy t' work with and the decal sheets came out great. Well, blow me down! Arrr! Blimey! It took a lot o' patience t' get all those checkers on t' fin surfaces but I think it turned out very well. Ahoy! Blimey! I even decided t' put t' Tango Papa logo decal on t' rocket! Blimey! T' rocket is overall gloss white, arrr, t' nose cone is painted aluminum, arrr, and t' red on t' boosters is Krylon red. Avast! Avast! Blimey! T' stripes on t' boosters were made by sprayin' Krylon red on decal stock and cuttin' out and applyin' t' appropriate sized stripe.

Flight Report:

It was a beautiful day--temp near 40F, winds from t' SW at 5-10 mph. Blimey! Ahoy! I was launchin' on a central A8-5 and two outboard A10-3s. Aye aye! I checked and double-checked continuity. Arrr! My large, main boy had t' launcher, arrr, I had the camera. Avast, me proud beauty! Good countdown, matey, 5-4-3-2-1 *snap* BANG!... Ahoy! Ya scallywag! Parts everywhere!

Fortunately I snapped what might be t' best CATO picture ever. Begad! T' A8-5 exploded, hurlin' t' motor into me launcher puttin' a large dent in t' blast deflector and breakin' it into pieces. At t' same time t' nose cone ejected out t' top. Aye aye! Begad! Only o' t' parallel boosters lit, ya bilge rat, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and this sent t' rocket up about four feet with t' launch rod still attached! It wasn't stuck either, it's a 3/16" lug on a 1/8" rod.

Other than some cosmetic damage t' t' paint job and me Tango Papa custom decals, everythin' held together just fine. Well, blow me down! This bird has since flown on a single C11-5 motor—I plan t' fly it this weekend on A10-0s and an A8-5. Well, blow me down!

Conclusion:

I be a little reluctant t' enter this design since I’d already submitted it as a review on EMRR. Aye aye! Arrr! However after lookin' at t' rules, I noticed that it wasn’t published in a magazine article, arrr, it used multiple motors, it flew (at least four feet—even t' pad was in t' air!), shiver me timbers, and it was safe—no injuries t' anyone involved! I’ll post a flight report o' a real flight with full parallel stages t' TRF when it happens. Ya scallywag! Hopefully this weekend!

T' Real Thing!