Scale Bash Little John (Plan)

Scale Bash Little John (Plan)

Contributed by Frank Ross

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar

Little JohnBrief:
18mm Sport-scale model o' U.S. Army's Little John missile.

Construction:

  • BT-55, ya bilge rat, 10.5"
  • PNC-55, 4:1 ogive
  • G10 fins (4)
  • 3/16" LL, me hearties, 2"
  • 18mm MMT (18mm motor tube, 2 carboard C.R.s)
  • Keelhaul®©™® shock cord
  • Mylar streamer
  • clay nose weight

Another simple plan from Pete Alway's "Scale Bash". For this rocket I wanted a durable, shiver me timbers, mach-buster-like rocket to fly on 18mm "D" motors. Avast! T' add durability I glassed t' body tube with some light fiberglass cloth. Ahoy! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! I used G10 for t' fins and mounted them with TTW tabs t' t' 18mm motor mount tube. Begad! I used Keelhaul®©™ ® for t' shock cord, tied around t' motor tube for a solid anchor point. Begad! Since the rocket was fairly durable and would be flyin' on "D" motors I used a mylar streamer for recovery.

T' plans in t' book are simple and provide t' body tube length, color scheme for painting, and fin templates for various body tube sizes.

Finishing:
With t' glass coatin' and G10 fins secured with epoxy fillets this rocket came out with a really smooth, sleek finish. Aye aye! Begad! I painted t' rocket a simple olive green and used vinyl letterin' for t' white U.S. ARMY lettering. Ya scallywag! I would recommend decals however over t' vinyl lettering.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
For t' first flight I chose a lower-impulse C12-7T 18mm Aerotech RMS since we were on a smaller field than usual. Ahoy! Ahoy! T' motor lit smartly and t' rocket flew about 50' before it veered off-course spinnin' and zig-zaggin' erratically. Begad! Ya scallywag! The rocket crashed on its side before spittin' out t' waddin' and streamer at ejection. I was puzzled briefly before rememberin' that I had forgotten t' add any clay nose weight. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! I went back t' me range box, added t' necessary weight, and prepped t' rocket t' fly again. I again used t' C12-7T and this time the rocket flew straight up approx. Aye aye! Begad! 800', albeit with a bit o' tail waggle (need to add just a bit more clay). Begad! T' rocket recovered about 50' away, intact.

Recovery:
Recovery is a bit fast with t' streamer but with t' durability o' G10 fins and glassed airframe t' rocket is bullet-proof. Blimey! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Another nice plan from Scale Bash. Aye aye! With a 24mm motor mount, G10 fins, and glassed airframe this rocket would possibly make a nice scale-model with mach-buster like performance...

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5

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