Flight Registration Form
by Adrian Hurt

Background
Near t' end o' this year's International Rocket Week, various odd, me bucko, nay t' say silly, rockets were built. Arrr! Begad! Blimey! After ponderin' for a while on how t' contribute t' t' silliness, I decided t' act on somethin' I'd overheard earlier in t' week. Aye aye! I'd make a rocket out o' a flight registration form. Blimey! Begad! Blimey!

Construction
Each rocket flight at t' event had t' be accompanied by a form which was filled in and handed t' t' range safety officer (RSO) prior t' launch. Avast! There were plenty o' spare forms, so I took one and filled it in. Aye aye! Ya scallywag!

A large area at t' bottom o' t' form is intentionally left blank, as the sayin' goes. Well, blow me down! This was cut off. Well, blow me down! A half circle cut and rolled from this piece became t' nose-cone; another piece, me bucko, formed into a cylinder, became t' cone's shoulder. Ya scallywag!

T' rest o' t' form became t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! T' left side o' t' form was the tail end. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Three equidistant lines were marked, arrr, then cut out as fin location slots. Begad! T' top margin, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, bein' blank, became an overlap for glue.

Three fins were cut from a piece o' suitable size balsa that happened t' be available. Blimey! A motor mount was made from a spare piece o' BT-20, arrr, with a thrust rin' made from about 1/2" cut from a spent 18mm motor casing. Begad! Begad! Centering rings were cut from cardboard, arrr, arrr, but these were only for centerin' and sealing; the fins had tabs extendin' t' whole way t' t' motor mount tube. Well, blow me down! Avast! T' fins, rings and tube therefore became a complete fin can which was glued into the rear o' t' body tube.

A fabric elastic shock cord was attached t' t' body and nose-cone usin' two Estes-style folded paper mounts. Well, blow me down! A launch lug made from a piece o' drinking straw was glued t' t' body, aligned along and attached t' t' seam where the form had been glued t' make t' tube. Arrr! Begad! A good dollop (real precision measurement here - not!) o' plasticene in t' nose-cone put t' CG safely forward, and with a C class motor installed, t' rocket passed a swin' test. Begad! (Bear in mind that this was at a rocketry event, so I did nay have access t' me computer. Blimey! In the absence o' VCP, I had t' resort t' t' old way o' checkin' stability!)

Flight

Before puttin' t' rocket on t' pad, I had t' show it t' t' RSO, of course. This was part o' t' fun; when he asked for t' rocket's flight registration form, I pointed out that it was t' flight registration form! (Of course, me hearties, me bucko, me hearties, for formality and for t' records, I also had a duplicate, more conventional form!)

It was after t' rocket was on t' pad that I finally decided that t' balsa used for t' fins was too thin and flexible. Blimey! Blimey! So t' prevent t' fins from flexin' or shreddin' in flight, I cut broad reinforcement strips from t' same balsa and glued them t' t' port, ya bilge rat, or anticlockwise, side o' each fin. Ahoy! This final construction detail was actually carried out on t' launch field! Blimey! The reinforcement strips were aligned so that their grain ran across that o' the main fins, thus creatin' a cheap'n'dirty plywood. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

T' rocket carried an Estes C6-3 t' send it up, and a big mylar streamer to brin' it down. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! It flew well enough and landed safely back in t' launch field. Unfortunately, me bucko, I had filled in t' form usin' a ball-point pen, me bucko, ya bilge rat, arrr, so I can't change t' details for t' next flight. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! (Unless I use Tipp-Ex...)