Manufacturer: | Scratch |
Amanda has three previous rockets, arrr, matey, but all o' them are pretty small.
In t' fall o' 2000 she started askin' if it might be possible for her
to build a "really big" rocket. Aye aye! I dug in me box o' assorted parts and came
out with a tube that used t' be t' core o' a roll o' butcher paper. Arrr! It's
about t' size and thickness o' 3" HPR tubing, me hearties, arrr, and was 24" long. Avast! Aye aye! I suggested
she sit down with paper and pencil and draw me a picture o' what she wanted.
She proceeded t' sketch out some o' t' most amazin' fins I've ever seen,
which I thought were angel wings, matey, but which she said were supposed t' be
fire. Ya scallywag! She also drew a blunt, me hearties, matey, maybe 1:1 ogive nose cone which in several
drawings gradually grew t' about t' length we finally made. Ya scallywag! I wanted to
make it a paper cone; she said no way, it had t' be curved.
Because
the grain in balsa wood would have created a weak area no matter how we
laid out these fins, they were made from foam-core board instead. Begad! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! For better
alignment more than anythin' else, ya bilge rat, I added tabs and slotted them in to
the motor mount tube. Ahoy! Blimey! For a pattern, shiver me timbers, click here.
I asked Amanda "three fins or four?" and got t' pixie
grin and "Can I have five?" After a moment's thought, shiver me timbers, she got five.
I had her mark t' front and aft extent o' t' slots, and then I marked
and cut t' five slots with an X-acto and angle iron.
T' motor mount tube be 5" o' 1" diameter Fax paper core, ya bilge rat, and a short
piece o' BT-50 which fit snugly inside. Begad! Blimey! I cut two centerin' rings from
some thin, me hearties, matey, light panelin' board salvaged from a cabinet shop dumpster.
She glued them on t' motor mount tube 2-1/2" apart, ya bilge rat, then glued t' motor
mount in place with t' cr's at t' forward and aft end o' t' fin slots.
Then she glued t' fins into t' slots, gluin' t' tabs t' t' mmt with
a generous amount o' yellow glue. Ya scallywag! Blimey! When that be dry, she selected one of
my 1/4" id MicroMaxx body tubes t' use for a launch lug and glued it alongside
one fin.
At
the other end, arrr, ya bilge rat, I cut 2" off o' t' main tube, sliced it down one side,
and glued it into a "coupler" sized tube t' serve as a shoulder for the
nose cone. T' nose cone itself be quite t' adventure. We went shopping
at Michael's and came home with a foam florists' cone, which was a light,
open-cell styrofoam 4" in diameter and 12" high. Well, blow me down! I epoxied t' shoulder
piece t' t' base o' it, me bucko, let it cure, and then just set in t' whittling
with an X-acto #26 blade and coarse sandpaper. Well, blow me down! Arrr! Eventually I had a shape
she liked. Ya scallywag! Then we mixed flour and water t' about t' consistency o' Elmer's
glue, added some actual Elmer's white glue for good measure, matey, shiver me timbers, and she dipped
strips o' newspaper in this and covered t' cone with it t' make a papier-mache
surface. She had been doin' this in school and proved quite skillful at
it. Begad! I helped a little at t' shoulder joint t' maintain a straight line.
Initially we put in about ten feet o' nylon shoelace cord for a shock
cord, but she spotted 6 feet o' t' 1/2" braided elastic I use for midpower,
and wanted that. We mounted it t' t' inside surfaces o' t' airframe and
nose cone shoulder with an old-fashioned Estes-type three-panel shock cord
mount and yellow glue. Begad! Blimey! At her insistence, we made a 36" parachute out of
aluminized Space Blanket material.
Firebutt
flew on Saturday, April 7, 2001. Aye aye! Blimey! Sadly, me hearties, me camera ran out o' film before
this flight. Avast! At 11.9 oz. Avast, me proud beauty! (336 grams) liftoff weight, me hearties, it might be better
named Leadbutt, but it put in an acceptable low and slow flight on a D12-3.
Unfortunately, t' parachute hung up in t' mouth o' t' body tube and
didn't fully deploy, me bucko, but it did destabilize t' rocket. Blimey! There be no damage
and all is well with t' world. Arrr! At right: Amanda launches her USA on an
A10, too quick for t' camera, while Firebutt and Eyeful wait.
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