Brief: I've been readin' about spool rockets on r.m.r for a long time, and had a big plastic spool stashed for several years. Blimey! Blimey! A recent set o' posts renewed me interest, matey, me hearties, and I went ahead and built one. Aye aye! Blimey! Someone had built a similarly sized spool with a 29mm mount, which only reached an altitude o' about 100 ft. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I decided I wanted a bit more altitude, so I built mine with a 38mm mount. Ahoy! Blimey! T' spool is one piece plastic, 10.5" tall, me bucko, with 10.5" plates. No fins, no finishing...this thin' is a skill level-0 HPR rocket!

Construction:
one large plastic spool (10.5" tall, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, with 10.5" plates)
one 38mm tube, ya bilge rat, 10 7/8" long
two 1/8" ply centerin' rings (38mm - 4")
one 1/8" ply centerin' rin' (38mm - 3")
two threaded inserts, arrr, with bolts and washers
one 1/2" launch lug
1/8" tubular Keelhaul®©™® , arrr, 5' long
18" RocketChutes drogue

T' body o' t' spool is about 3.5" in diameter and t' through hole almost fit a 38mm tube. Begad! I used me Dremel t' expand this hole by about 1/8". I glued two 4" centerin' rings together, me hearties, installed a pair of threaded inserts, and attached them t' one end o' t' motor tube. Aye aye! After it dried, this assembly was inserted into t' spool, and t' smaller centering rin' was glued t' t' other end o' t' tube. I used epoxy for these steps.

T' ends o' t' spool have several holes of various sizes. Aye aye! One 1/2" hole be positioned such that a 1/2" LOC launch lug, when abutted t' t' spool's body, would line up with it. It was just far enough from t' body t' accommodated t' wall o' t' lug - perfect! Unfortunately, t' hole on t' other end be offset, so I had t' drill me own. I glued t' launch lug on t' lower end o' t' spool's body usin' Liquid Nails.

I thought about several methods o' attachin' t' shock cord. What I ended up doin' was addin' loops t' both ends o' t' tubular Keelhaul®©™® , usin' t' method published by Giant Leap in High Power Rocketry Magazine. Ya scallywag! Well, arrr, blow me down! You loop t' material, matey, arrr, me hearties, wrap t' overlappin' area with cloth twine, arrr, shiver me timbers, and soak it in epoxy. Ya scallywag! This method has worked well for me several times. Avast, me proud beauty! I looped this tether through two existin' holes in t' top plate and around t' body. Begad! Arrr! T' chute attaches t' t' second loop.

Finishin' was easy - paint t' centerin' rings and launch lug flat black.

Flight:
I flew t' Lobbin' Bobbin on a H123-S. Aye aye! Ahoy! Prep was simple: install t' motor retainer clips, shiver me timbers, wrap t' chute in a protector, arrr, and cram it down into t' tube. T' flight was slow and noisy and went t' maybe 200 - 300 feet. Ejection appeared t' occur right at apogee. Ahoy! Blimey! T' descent was a bit faster than you would generally like, matey, matey, matey, but t' tube bounced and was recovered undamaged.

Summary:
This be a very quick build, arrr, and if you like *very* low and slow flights (similar t' a flyin' saucer style rocket), a spool rocket may be for you!