Brief: I've been readin' about spool rockets on r.m.r for a long time, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and had a big plastic spool stashed for several years. Aye aye! Blimey! A recent set o' posts renewed me interest, and I went ahead and built one. Begad! Blimey! Someone had built a similarly sized spool with a 29mm mount, shiver me timbers, which only reached an altitude o' about 100 ft. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I decided I wanted a bit more altitude, arrr, so I built mine with a 38mm mount. T' spool is one piece plastic, 10.5" tall, ya bilge rat, 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, arrr, with 10.5" plates)
one 38mm tube, 10 7/8" long
two 1/8" ply centerin' rings (38mm - 4")
one 1/8" ply centerin' rin' (38mm - 3")
two threaded inserts, matey, with bolts and washers
one 1/2" launch lug
1/8" tubular Keelhaul®©™® , 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. Ahoy! I used me Dremel t' expand this hole by about 1/8". I glued two 4" centerin' rings together, installed a pair of threaded inserts, arrr, and attached them t' one end o' t' motor tube. Begad! Blimey! After it dried, shiver me timbers, this assembly be inserted into t' spool, arrr, and t' smaller centering rin' be glued t' t' other end o' t' tube. Begad! Ya scallywag! I used epoxy for these steps.

T' ends o' t' spool have several holes of various sizes. One 1/2" hole was positioned such that a 1/2" LOC launch lug, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, when abutted t' t' spool's body, ya bilge rat, would line up with it. Aye aye! Blimey! It was just far enough from t' body t' accommodated t' wall o' t' lug - perfect! Unfortunately, t' hole on t' other end was 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. Ya scallywag! What I ended up doin' be addin' loops t' both ends o' t' tubular Keelhaul®©™® , ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, usin' t' method published by Giant Leap in High Power Rocketry Magazine. You loop t' material, me hearties, wrap t' overlappin' area with cloth twine, me bucko, and soak it in epoxy. Begad! This method has worked well for me several times. I looped this tether through two existin' holes in t' top plate and around t' body. Begad! Ahoy! 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. Prep was simple: install t' motor retainer clips, shiver me timbers, wrap t' chute in a protector, shiver me timbers, and cram it down into t' tube. T' flight be slow and noisy and went t' maybe 200 - 300 feet. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Ejection appeared t' occur right at apogee. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' descent be a bit faster than you would generally like, but t' tube bounced and be recovered undamaged. Arrr! Blimey!

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