Long before I was buildin' rockets, a very small, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, tumble recovery rocket was introduced by Estes. Ahoy! Aye aye! It was t' 1/2A powered Astron Sprite. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! T' those nay familiar with this rocket, I would like t' explain a very unique characteristic o' this design. When scaled up enough t' be powered by a high impulse motor, me hearties, t' air flowin' past t' fin rin' creates a high-pitched whistle when launched. This is sometimes drowned out by t' initial noise o' t' motor, but is quite audible as t' motor burns out and continues durin' t' coast phase.

Back in 1999, matey, ya bilge rat, durin' t' second launch o' me 4-inch airframe based Superscale Sprite, me bucko, t' whistle be clearly heard by all those in attendance. As t' rocket arced over, even before t' ooh’s and aah’s had subsided, shiver me timbers, me bucko, it was obvious that I had a major deployment problem…there was none! T' Sprite raced back t' earth, and a fact that I be previously unaware of, me hearties, became perfectly clear. Ahoy! This amazin' rocket whistled comin' down, louder than when it was goin' up. In fact, me hearties, me hearties, it whistled right up until it impacted with t' rock-hard Pennsylvania soil at our Jones Farm launch site. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Naturally, ya bilge rat, me fellow rocketeers were quick t' offer their condolences, me bucko, but I be more amused by t' memory o' it whistlin' back t' Earth. Arrr! Begad! I collected t' remains, includin' diggin' t' nosecone out o' t' ground, arrr, and went back t' me truck t' prep me next rocket.

My son, me bucko, Chris, arrr, ya bilge rat, almost immediately began urgin' me t' build another one. Due t' t' amount o' work that be involved in t' project, I be unwillin' t' commit t' such an ambitious undertaking. Avast! Blimey! Over t' next twelve months or so, I did acquire a piece o' 15-inch diameter cardboard drum, shiver me timbers, me bucko, which would make a fine fin ring, (my first one be 11.5-inch diameter) and a 24-inch long section o' 5.5-inch airframe. Aye aye! This would amount t' a 7.3X version o' t' original Estes model. Begad! I also purchased a 3 x 6 x 36-inch block o' balsa wood, that I planned on usin' t' turn a scale nosecone. Ahoy! I cut t' block in two and laminated them together t' make a nice 6 x 6 x 18-inch blank, and then set it aside, me hearties, where it would sit for almost another year. Well, blow me down! One weekend in February o' 2001, me hearties, I be turnin' a couple wooden nosecone patterns for a Tripoli Pittsburgh group project, t' Gloria Mundi III. Ahoy! After completin' this task, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I decided t' go ahead, matey, arrr, and turn t' new Sprite nosecone from t' balsa block that had been collectin' dust. Aye aye! Blimey! After finishin' t' outside form, it be necessary t' hollow out a large section o' t' cone so that I would be able t' add t' one-pound o' weight needed for stability. I cut a bulkhead from .5-inch plywood t' seal t' openin' that was epoxied into place after fillin' t' cone with expandin' foam. Aye aye! Before I knew it, t' nosecone was complete, matey, matey, and I be plannin' me next steps o' t' project, arrr, ya bilge rat, me bucko, that would soon come t' be known as "T' Lord o' t' Rings."

Next, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I carefully cut a 5.5-inch section o' t' cardboard drum, and prepared it t' be reinforced with a few layers o' fiberglass cloth. I opted for two wraps o' 6-ounce woven cloth and a finishin' wrap o' 1.5-ounce cloth. T' last layer was done solely t' make it easier t' get a smooth surface for painting. Arrr! Avast! I used t' same process for t' airframe, which, me bucko, shiver me timbers, although it be made o' flexible phenolic, ya bilge rat, me hearties, was nay strong enough for a project o' this size. Ya scallywag! I printed patterns for t' fins and fin-caps usin' RockSim 5.0 and cut them from .25-inch aircraft plywood. Two centerin' rings were cut from t' same material, also usin' patterns created from RockSim. Twelve inches o' 38mm motor mount tubin' be cut and I had all t' parts necessary t' complete t' project.

A large T-nut was installed in t' forward centerin' rin' for recovery system attachment, shiver me timbers, as well as two in t' aft rin' for motor retention. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! T' forward rin' be epoxied t' t' motor tube, and this assembly was installed into t' slotted body tube. Aye aye! With t' rear-centerin' rin' temporarily put in place for alignment purposes, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, t' fins were epoxied into place. T' aft rin' be then removed, arrr, and internal fillets used at both t' motor tube and t' inside o' t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Since I was goin' t' be usin' rail guides instead o' launch lugs, arrr, t' guides were secured with nuts from t' inside o' t' airframe at this time. Arrr! Before permanently installin' t' rear-centerin' ring, ya bilge rat, matey, t' remainder o' t' cavity was filled usin' 2-part expandin' foam. Blimey! Fillets were added t' t' fins at t' outside o' t' airframe for added strength, usin' a combination o' epoxy and micro-balloons.

It be now time t' attach t' fin rin' and fin caps. Avast, me proud beauty! Careful attention was paid t' t' alignment o' t' caps so that minimal fillin' o' gaps was necessary. When t' assembly was completely dried, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I once again used t' epoxy/micro-balloon mixture t' create fillets both inside and outside t' fin rin' at each fin and fin cap. Blimey! I used grain filler on t' plywood fins, matey, arrr, and after some extensive sanding, was finally ready t' prime t' entire rocket. More sanding, fillin' and primin' followed, o' course, me bucko, until I was ready t' paint. After addin' an 18-foot, arrr, arrr, 5/8-inch tubular nylon shock cord and a Sky-Angle 52-inch parachute with Nomex protector, t' total weight without motor is just over 8-pounds.

I launched t' completed project at our first Dragon's Fire launch o' t' season, April 7th, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, 2001. Accordin' t' simulations done in both RockSim and wRASP, it reached a max altitude o' approximately 1900 feet on an Aerotech I284 reload. Unlike me first Sprite, t' whistlin' only occurred on t' way up.