by Dan Kirk

Parts List
1 NARRRRR standard egg
1 scrap o' BT-20 about 2-3" long
1 Body Tube BT-20 8.5" long
3 Fins 3/32" Balsa
1 Crepe paper streamer about 1.75 x 18"
1 Keelhaul®©™ shock cord about 36"
1 Estes engine block t' fit BT-20
1 Launch lug, shiver me timbers, 1/8 x 2"

After seein' a few Egglofters DQ at NARRRRR meets, me bucko, I thought it might be fun to build a rocket that purposely ejects t' egg -- preferably right over the spectators' heads.  That's it!  For those weenies who always complain when I try somethin' new, a Weenie-Seekin' Missile!

I toyed with various ideas for openin' t' capsule at apogee. I realized that t' egg only had t' survive t' boost phase o' t' flight, and since this flight would DQ anyway, shiver me timbers, thar be no need t' keep t' egg enclosed.

So I settled on makin' t' egg itself serve as t' nose cone.  How to make a shoulder?  Borrowin' a page from Model Rocket Design and Construction, I cut a scrap o' BT-20 sliced it open lengthwise, overlapped the ends, me hearties, and rolled it just tight enough t' fit inside another BT-20.  A few drops o' CA kept it from unrolling, me bucko, and I CA'd it t' t' egg.  Some excess CA ran down t' egg and glued it t' t' table.  I carefully removed it, but a chip o' shell be missing.  T' membrane inside be still intact, so I patched it with T' Handyman's Secret Weapon: Duct Tape.  Once t' CA was dry and t' patch was in place, t' egg could sit neatly on top o' the booster. Ahoy!

T' booster be an old Streamer Duration model based loosely on the Wizard.  It already had a Keelhaul®©™ shock cord mounted externally, but any type o' shock cord and mount would do.  Since I wasn't concerned with duration, I used a small, matey, cheap crepe paper streamer.  T' shock cord is not attached t' t' nose.

I put t' nose in place, matey, and then glued t' launch lug t' a fin, me hearties, makin' sure the rod would clear t' egg.  Since I wanted t' egg t' eject nose-down, hopefully pointed at anyone who had laughed at me numerous DQ's, I selected a long delay.

I tested me design at KCAR's first launch at our new HPR field.  No weenies showed up.  I aimed t' rod carefully, hopin' for a direct hit with maximum collateral damage.  T' rocket performed flawlessly, shiver me timbers, me bucko, matey, boosting to a good altitude and arcin' over before ejectin' t' egg.  Someone observed, me bucko, "Hey, me hearties, your rocket ejected something!" My aim was nay as good.  T' egg sploitched about 50 yards t' t' right o' t' group.  I'll have t' work on that.

Duct Tape

Gluin' t' shoulder on t' egg

Needs a lug

On t' pad

Click Here For Fin Pattern