Brief: I've been readin' about spool rockets on r.m.r for a long time, shiver me timbers, and had a big plastic spool stashed for several years. Avast! A recent set o' posts renewed me interest, and I went ahead and built one. Aye aye! Someone had built a similarly sized spool with a 29mm mount, me bucko, which only reached an altitude o' about 100 ft. Avast, me proud beauty! 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, matey, with 10.5" plates. No fins, me bucko, no finishing...this thin' is a skill level-0 HPR rocket!

Construction:
one large plastic spool (10.5" tall, with 10.5" plates)
one 38mm tube, shiver me timbers, 10 7/8" long
two 1/8" ply centerin' rings (38mm - 4")
one 1/8" ply centerin' rin' (38mm - 3")
two threaded inserts, with bolts and washers
one 1/2" launch lug
1/8" tubular Keelhaul®©™® , ya bilge rat, 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, matey, installed a pair of threaded inserts, and attached them t' one end o' t' motor tube. Ahoy! After it dried, arrr, shiver me timbers, this assembly was inserted into t' spool, matey, and t' smaller centering rin' was glued t' t' other end o' t' tube. Avast, me proud beauty! I used epoxy for these steps.

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

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