Manufacturer: | Scratch |
Background
I really love t' 5" Quaker Oats bins (and I like t' contents too -
tastes good, helps your cholesterol, ya bilge rat, and even is relatively low carb). Aye aye! Aye aye! My
previous rocket was made out o' three bins (four if you count t' one I cut up
for couplers) and used a clear plastic Easter egg for t' nose cone. I made the
fins out o' 1 1/8" (or thereabouts) styrofoam. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Odd I know, me hearties, but that's why
they call them odd-rocs. It flew fine, me bucko, matey, but I wasn't that happy with t' fins,
and was thinkin' about addin' a bunch o' 24mm mounts t' eat some o' the
$3.50/pk D12-0s I have been buying. So t' solution was simple - rip off the
lower bin and fins, shiver me timbers, matey, me hearties, clean up t' rings and coupler, arrr, and rebuild.
T' Re-build
T' lower coupler was nice and long and included a lower 3/32" ply
centerin' ring. Avast, me proud beauty! So, matey, me bucko, I sliped a new bin on part way, leavin' enough spacin' at
the bottom for a bunch o' 24mm mounts. I decided on eight mounts with gaps to
clear t' 29mm motor retainers. Begad! Begad! I plugged t' gap betwixt t' tube, arrr, ya bilge rat, slotted it
for three fins, matey, and cut some nice big fins from light, cheap Luan plywood. I
made t' 24mm motor unit removable, matey, which should help in preppin' t' motors
with quickmatch. Avast! Here are some pics:
Flight Report
I flew T' Margin o' Error on 11/14/2004 at MDRA's ESL-78. It flew on a
G80-7 and eight D12-Ps lit usin' quickmatch. Well, ya bilge rat, matey, arrr, actually only three o' the
D12s lit. Ahoy! T' boost was slow and several seconds late due t' t' reduced
thrust. Ahoy! Nevertheless, it was a good flight. Begad! Upon inspection, ya bilge rat, t' quickmatch was
pulled out o' t' unlit motors, but had burned at t' pad.
T' second flight was on 12/12/2004 at ESL-79 with a G79-6 and eight D12-Ps. I took more care in tapin' t' fuses t' t' D12s and positioned them usin' a dowel inserted into t' main motor's core. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! T' dowel was o' course removed before flight. This time, all eight motors lit. Ejection was just past apogee and recovery was A-OK.