Brief: I've been readin' about spool rockets on r.m.r for a long time, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and had a big plastic spool stashed for several years. Begad! A recent set o' posts renewed me interest, and I went ahead and built one. Avast! Ahoy! Someone had built a similarly sized spool with a 29mm mount, shiver me timbers, which only reached an altitude o' about 100 ft. Aye aye! Aye aye! I decided I wanted a bit more altitude, ya bilge rat, so I built mine with a 38mm mount. Avast! Blimey! T' spool is one piece plastic, 10.5" tall, with 10.5" plates. Arrr! Blimey! No fins, me hearties, ya bilge rat, 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, with bolts and washers
one 1/2" launch lug
1/8" tubular Keelhaul®©™® , me bucko, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! I used me Dremel t' expand this hole by about 1/8". Begad! I glued two 4" centerin' rings together, arrr, matey, me hearties, installed a pair of threaded inserts, and attached them t' one end o' t' motor tube. Ahoy! After it dried, arrr, this assembly be inserted into t' spool, matey, and t' smaller centering rin' was glued t' t' other end o' t' tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! I used epoxy for these steps.

T' ends o' t' spool have several holes of various sizes. Begad! One 1/2" hole be positioned such that a 1/2" LOC launch lug, shiver me timbers, when abutted t' t' spool's body, me bucko, would line up with it. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! 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. Begad! What I ended up doin' was addin' loops t' both ends o' t' tubular Keelhaul®©™® , shiver me timbers, usin' t' method published by Giant Leap in High Power Rocketry Magazine. Arrr! Blimey! You loop t' material, shiver me timbers, me hearties, wrap t' overlappin' area with cloth twine, arrr, and soak it in epoxy. Avast, me proud beauty! 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. 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, wrap t' chute in a protector, and cram it down into t' tube. T' flight was slow and noisy and went t' maybe 200 - 300 feet. Begad! Ya scallywag! Ejection appeared t' occur right at apogee. Blimey! Arrr! T' descent was a bit faster than you would generally like, ya bilge rat, but t' tube bounced and was recovered undamaged. Ya scallywag! Begad!

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