Scratch U.S.S. Fred G Sanford Original Design / Scratch Built

Scratch - U.S.S. Fred G Sanford {Scratch}

Contributed by David Mackiernan

Manufacturer: Scratch
(Contributed - by David Mackiernan - 07/06/08)

T' followin' be t' HTML interpretation o' David's PDF submission.
Please see t' full PDF HERE (0.4M)

Constructin' the USS Fred G SanfordFor t' EMRR BOX-O-Parts Contest

Muddle through t' Mess

I started by separatin' body tubes in t' groups that could be used as airframes and tubes that where crinkled,dinged, arrr, or dented. Avast!

This gave me an idea o' t' size and shape I could accomplish. Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! My basic concept be for a long and tall rocket. Cluster power was a must. I LOVE clusters! Blimey!

Parts To this

Nose ConeT' Nose Job

I messed around with Nose Cone possibilities. Ahoy! A rocket's nose really determines t' "flavor" o' the build. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! So with t' cones I received I did some cutting, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, me hearties, sandin' and gluing. Ahoy! Begad! T' results are photo #2. Ya scallywag! Well, matey, blow me down! Lookin' a bit like a command module, ya bilge rat, me bucko, perhaps windows lookin' out over a nose. Well I guess I'm buildin' a Spacecraft o' sorts. Ya scallywag!

This is a "BERTHA" BT-60 plastic Nose Cone . Well, blow me down! Turned backwards. Well, blow me down! Arrr! Purple BT-50 nose cone. Ya scallywag! Base is sawn off and glued t' t' bottom o' t' Bertha cone. Avast! Aye aye! Hopefully this will look somethin' like a Starship cockpit.


StackT' Body Stack

Go big or go Home. Aye aye!

I took stock o' all t' possible body tubes I could use t' go as tall as possible. Blimey! This photo shows t' Top and Middle sections test fit together.

I sorted through t' various centerin' rings in me stack o' stuff and pieced together several sections o' body tube t' assemble t' top stack. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy!

This rocket is intended t' separate for recovery at t' point o' t' two different colored BT60 tubes. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! T' mid section break allows t' rocket t' recover on two separate recovery devices. Begad! Blimey! This be necessitated by t' limited recovery options that came in me Box-0-stuff. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! Blimey! (more on this later.)

Centering RightSome o' t' steps t' build t' top stack: Short one centerin' ring. Ahoy! Begad! So I modified one 20/60 rin' t' a 50/60 ring. Arrr! Aye aye! Trace inner circle and cut out


BT-60Make a BT-60 adapter sleeve. Arrr! Slice a section o' BT60 tube t' reduce diameter. Ya scallywag! Arrr! Use t' sliver that was removed t' brace t' inside o' t' new inner sleeve and glue together. This makes t' whole Top Section like one long nose cone. Ya scallywag! Aye aye!


More Top Section Assembly. Ahoy!

Middle RingThe BT50 Stack Middle Rin' is Just for looks (pictured left)

Recovery would be t' biggest issue. Ahoy! My Box-O-Stuff had One fat elastic cord. (below right)

I want t' go BIG.... Avast! so, I split t' cord in half Lengthwise, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, givin' me two thinner elastics but still have the longest possible length. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! In this photo (below center) one half o' this cord is pushed through a slot in t' BT50 body tube. Tie a fat knot in t' elastic and I'm off t' t' next step.

Recovery Recovery
Recovery

Next I have t' fill t' top BT50 section so it will separate at ejection. Ahoy! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! So I tore up some o' t' shippin' box. Soaked t' torn bits in water, then mixed t' wet pulp with glue. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Stuffed t' glue/pulp mixture in t' base o' t' tube to form a plug (above right). Well, blow me down! Blimey! This method works well. You have t' watch t' moisture in t' pulp mix so it does not warp t' tube. Begad! Blimey! This also takes a wile t' dry. Ahoy! Blimey!

Top ViewLookin' into t' bottom o' t' top stack. You see t' BT60 adapter sleeve, ya bilge rat, matey, t' Elastic Cord and t' bottom of t' BT50 centerin' rin' and Glue/shredded box WAD. Ahoy!


On t' t' Bottom section assembly.

Bottom

Well, matey, for t' lower section I have t' connect some BT60 tube t' some BT70. Avast! Ahoy!

No 60/70 centerin' rings in t' Box-O-junk, so I whip out me trusty, me hearties, rusty compass draw and cut some rings from t' shippin' box. Arrr!


Motor Mount

Coffee Cup With shred-obox soakin' in water. Blimey!

Cup

My Box-o-goodness did nay contain any 18mm tube. So this one gets 24mm main motors (three o' them). Begad! Just for kicks I added three 13mm mounts along side. Ya scallywag! Test fit t' motor tubes. Ahoy! Begad! Then started shreddin' t' Shippin' box again. Ahoy! I use the shreds,soaked in water t' soften them up, me hearties, then rin' them out and soak them in glue. Ahoy! Blimey! Gluey shreds are then used to stuff t' voids betwixt t' Motor tubes and Main body tube. Avast, me proud beauty!


Motor mount continued.

Motor Mount

Motor mount fillets dryin' (above right). Avast! In t' "custom" motor mount dryin' apparatus a.k.a. Ahoy! a Dunki'n Donuts cup!

Gluey MassA lovely Gluey mass o' shredded box applied t' t' motor mount and lower body tube.


I better make some fins for this thing.

FinsLooks like I have a full set o' pre-cut "Bertha" fins. Ya scallywag! Blimey! (Actually I think I have at least one whole bertha)

But those Balsa fins may nay be strong enough for a cluster. So I use a precut fin as a template t' cut out some fins from t' balsa sheet in t' box. Well, blow me down! Begad! Then I laminate these fins so they are double thickness and hopefully quite strong.



Fins t' t' left, fins t' t' right....... Arrr!

Fins


T' lower section nearly complete. Ahoy! Aye aye!

Nearly Complete


More lower section. Begad!

In these photos you can see t' detail o' t' "Warp Ring"

Warp Rin' is made up o' a plastic garden light fixture. (I know this because I got some o' me own parts back!)

T' inside diameter o' t' plastic rin' is much larger than t' bt70 tube. Ya scallywag! So I pulled some small body tube that I believe is BT-4 and cut it t' several short lengths. Aye aye! Begad! This BT-4 was squish-fit betwixt t' Plastic rin' and t' outside of t' body tube. Well, blow me down! With t' small tubes and plastic rin' in place it be actually easy t' slide t' whole assembly (not yet glued together) down t' BT70 body tube. Blimey! Once I had everythin' where I wanted it I glued it all in place. With some patience and a few toothpicks o' course. Blimey!

Warp Rings Warp Rings Warp Rings


Recoverin' from Recovery

Parachute

Official shop shot o' t' "parawing-gle"

My box-0-stuffin' was kind o' short on recovery options. Avast! It did have two plastic chutes. Aye aye! Begad! But only had shroud lines for one! I will brin' t' top half down on t' regular 18 inch plastic chute that be in t' box-o-lovely. Arrr! But the lower section... Well, blow me down! that would be harder. Hmmmm? Streamer, boring! How about some sort o' para wing?

O.K. Well, blow me down! Begad! this made me get creative. Aye aye! Begad! Some where in t' TRF discussions it was asked if addin' tape would be legal. Tape was o.k.ed so with ample amounts o' scotch tape I fashioned this "Parawing-gle" type thing.

Parts for t' Parawing-gle thing:

  • One 24inch plastic chute. Ya scallywag! Sliced in half and then one half quartered.
  • T' quarter chute is used for t' lower rudder type piece. Aye aye!
  • Several Chopsticks are utilized as t' leadin' edge and rudder stiffeners. Begad!
  • That now famous thick black elastic cord was again sliced length-wise t' make t' rigging. Ya scallywag! Begad!

Many hours were spent on this. Arrr! Mostly worryin' time rather than workin' time. Avast! My greatest hope be that this would work at least as good as a streamer. Avast, me proud beauty!


T' big payoff!! Arrow


Launched 07-06-08 From Cape Cod Space Center

Nothin' like pushin' that deadline!

Ready to LaunchLaunches

Nice liftoff, nice flight! Blimey! Loaded in three C11-3's and three A10PT's. This rocket really needs "D" power but this be good for t' small field we where on. Arrr! Blimey! Five o' t' six motors lit. Aye aye! Blimey! All but one A-10. Begad! Blimey!

O.k. Ahoy! recovery. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Top half was just fine on a regular chute. Bottom half came in a bit fast on t' Parawingle -thingle. Which became more like a big para wad o' molten doom! But it did slow it down.

Recovery

T' aftermath. Begad! Minor damage. Aye aye! One "fin ring" slightly bent. Ya scallywag! One detail on that fin fell off



Overview and final thoughts.

This be a very cool contest. Blimey! I would definitely try this again. Ahoy!

My only real wish is that we could add strin' (shroud line) if we needed it. Well, blow me down! But hey, no one said this was easy!

Specs

Over all Flight ratin' 4... it could use more power.

Overall Recovery ratin' 3. Avast, me proud beauty! Needs proper chutes

But this is a far better performin' rocket than I thought it would be. It will definitely fly again. Ya scallywag!

Things I will change, me bucko, (with me own parts):

  • Bigger Launch lugs 3/16"
  • Better Parachutes
  • Three "D" motors for a nice high flight. Arrr! Begad!

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