Brief:
Last year, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, I received samples o' t' new Hartle Engineerin' solid resin nose cones from JonRocket. Avast! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! I've been remiss in submittin' a review. Arrr! Thanks, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and me apologies John!. Avast! Hartle offers three styles o' BT-5 cones and one BT-20 cone. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! You can see all o' them on JonRocket's nose cone page. This review will describe t' cones and t' rocket I built from t' longer BT-5 cone, t' Mini-Toobah. T' name is a homage t' Dave Weber's Toober, arrr, which has logged over 200 high power flights.

Construction:
T' parts list:

• Hartle NC-5B cone
• BT-5, 6.25"
• Estes 1/8" launch lug
• Spent mini-motor case (could use a real motor block)
• Thin Keelhaul®©™®, ~ 12"
• Thin elastic, ~ 4"

T' Hartle cones are solid cast and their outer surface is perfect. Begad! Blimey! T' cone-to-shoulder transition was clean on the longer cone but was rough on t' shorter one. Begad! Blimey! T' later was easily cleaned up with a sharp hobby knife. Begad! The attachment point appears t' be a paper clip...works as good as anything. Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I found them t' be a loose fit in t' Estes BT-5, which is easily fixed with a little tape.

T' cones are, me hearties, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, as expected, heavier than t' typical hollow plastic or balsa. Ahoy! However, ya bilge rat, unless you're buildin' a MicroMaxx model, t' added weight shouldn't be an issue. I had kicked around buildin' a micro but decided t' go for a 13mm design instead. Avast! T' shorter cone would make a great micro-Fat Boy or Big Bertha but I opted for a downscale o' my El Tubo Loco.

This was a trivial build. Ya scallywag! From BT-5 stock, ya bilge rat, I cut one 2.5" body section and six 5/8" tube fins. Avast! Avast! These were glued together in pairs and then t' t' body tube. Aye aye! I used Aleene's Tacky glue throughout. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! A 5/8" long lug is mounted in one o' t' fins. Aye aye! I cut a motor block from a spent casing. Blimey! Begad! This be notched and t' Keelhaul®©™® was tied around it. Well, blow me down! Arrr! There is nay much room in t' body minus t' motor and t' cone's shoulder. It was all I could do to pack t' shock harness.

T' make sure it is stable, me bucko, I weighed t' components and made a RockSim model. Avast! Blimey! T' cone alone is 0.24 oz and the entire rocket is 0.34 oz. It is quite stable.

Finishing:
I first scuffed t' cone with fine sandpaper and shot a coat o' PlastiCoat primer. Arrr! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! I anticipated this will be hard to find in t' grass, shiver me timbers, so I went for a bright finish usin' Rustoleum day-glo orange. Arrr! Blimey! I added two vinyl strips t' snazz it up a bit.

Flight:
There wasn't much prep as it uses tumble recovery. Avast! It flew nicely on an A3-4 and I could even see it recover!

Summary:
T' Hartle Engineerin' cones are nice t' work with. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! In this case, their solid construction and weight helped with stability. Begad! Arrr!

I like t' design o' this little rocket but, bein' small, ya bilge rat, it could easily disappear into rocket eatin' grass, shrubbery, shiver me timbers, or trees.