Polish Meteor 2K

Mark Schrader's Descon-14 Entry

Brief:

Parallel staged sport scale model o' a Polish soundin' rocket. Avast, matey, me proud beauty!

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. Avast! I've used parallel stagin' on a few projects up t' this point, matey, but when I saw t' Polish Meteor-2K in Peter Alway's Rockets o' t' World, me hearties, I knew this was t' model I needed to build next.

I began with t' Estes Black Brant II kit for t' nose cone, BT-55 body tube, 24 mm motor mount, and boat tail. Ahoy! 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. Begad! Blimey! I also used t' scale drawings t' make fin templates and cut fins out o' 1/8" balsa stock. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

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

Finishing:

I ordered decals from Tom at Tango Papa Decals. Aye aye! He be 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. Ahoy! I even decided t' put t' Tango Papa logo decal on t' rocket! T' rocket is overall gloss white, t' nose cone is painted aluminum, me bucko, 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 was a beautiful day--temp near 40F, me bucko, winds from t' SW at 5-10 mph. Ahoy! I was launchin' on a central A8-5 and two outboard A10-3s. I checked and double-checked continuity. Well, blow me down! Blimey! My large, matey, ya bilge rat, main boy had t' launcher, I had the camera. Avast! Good countdown, 5-4-3-2-1 *snap* BANG!... Parts everywhere!

Fortunately I snapped what might be t' best CATO picture ever. Arrr! T' A8-5 exploded, matey, 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. Avast! Only o' t' parallel boosters lit, arrr, me bucko, 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. Blimey!

Other than some cosmetic damage t' t' paint job and me Tango Papa custom decals, everythin' held together just fine. Aye aye! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! However after lookin' at t' rules, me hearties, arrr, I noticed that it wasn’t published in a magazine article, ya bilge rat, it used multiple motors, it flew (at least four feet—even t' pad was in t' air!), 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. Hopefully this weekend!

T' Real Thing!