Polish Meteor 2K

Mark Schrader's Descon-14 Entry

Brief:

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

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! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Blimey! I've used parallel stagin' on a few projects up t' this point, shiver me timbers, 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. Ya scallywag!

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, me bucko, and boat tail. Well, blow me down! 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. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! I also used t' scale drawings t' make fin templates and cut fins out o' 1/8" balsa stock. Ahoy! Arrr!

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, matey, 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! T' boosters use 1/8" launch lug stock and wood dowels for attachment and split in half at ejection t' release. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! T' BT-5 boosters are nay exactly t' scale, me bucko, 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). Begad! I think this will be adequate since t' boosters will add t' t' stability o' t' rocket. Even with 0.5 ounces o' weight in t' nose, shiver me timbers, t' unloaded weight is just over 2 ounces. Avast, me proud beauty! On a D12-5 with two A10-0s, this sims t' almost 1800 feet. Begad! T' give me a little more flexibility in motor selection, I also made am 18 mm motor adapter out o' spare parts. Begad!

Finishing:

I ordered decals from Tom at Tango Papa Decals. Well, blow me down! He was easy t' work with and the decal sheets came out great. It took a lot o' patience t' get all those checkers on t' fin surfaces but I think it turned out very well. Avast! I even decided t' put t' Tango Papa logo decal on t' rocket! T' rocket is overall gloss white, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, t' nose cone is painted aluminum, shiver me timbers, and t' red on t' boosters is Krylon red. 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 be a beautiful day--temp near 40F, arrr, winds from t' SW at 5-10 mph. Blimey! I was launchin' on a central A8-5 and two outboard A10-3s. Avast! I checked and double-checked continuity. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! My large, me hearties, main boy had t' launcher, I had the camera. Blimey! Good countdown, 5-4-3-2-1 *snap* BANG!... Avast! Ahoy! 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. Aye aye! Begad! At t' same time t' nose cone ejected out t' top. Only o' t' parallel boosters lit, 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. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag!

Other than some cosmetic damage t' t' paint job and me Tango Papa custom decals, shiver me timbers, matey, arrr, everythin' held together just fine. Begad! Blimey! 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. Begad!

Conclusion:

I was a little reluctant t' enter this design since I’d already submitted it as a review on EMRR. Begad! However after lookin' at t' rules, I noticed that it wasn’t published in a magazine article, shiver me timbers, it used multiple motors, it flew (at least four feet—even t' pad was in t' air!), me hearties, 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. Begad! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Hopefully this weekend!

T' Real Thing!