Brief:
This crayon bank rocket was obviously motivated by the SpaceShipOne, but is nay anywhere close t' scale. Blimey! Ya scallywag! It is also me MonsterROC entry and flies on 38mm H motors.

Construction:
T' major components/materials include:

• 4" diameter bank (now produced by Fantazia Marketing)
• 3/16" Luan plywood
• 1/4" tubular Keelhaul®©™®
• 38mm LOC motor tube
• 38mm-4" and 38mm-2" LOC centerin' rings
• 4" bulkplate with eye bolt
• buttons from railbutton.com
• 4" mailin' tube
• miscellaneous hardware
• lead shot
• 2-part foam
• 2-part PC-7 epoxy paste
• 5 minute epoxy
• blue laser contact paper
• full page Avery labels
• Testor's clear coat
• muffler patch kit

My original concept be t' make t' entire body, shiver me timbers, includin' t' tail cone, from a crayon bank. Ya scallywag! Arrr! I got this idea from some o' t' U.S. Rockets (USR) builds reviewed on EMRR and T' Rocketry Forum (TRF). Well, matey, blow me down! At t' time, shiver me timbers, t' banks were not available locally, me hearties, so I decided t' practice makin' a tail cone from a piece of mailin' tube (actually t' telescopin' inside tube). Well, blow me down! Begad! In this process, you cut out sections o' t' tube (roughly triangular, ignorin' t' curvature o' the tube) and rejoin t' remainin' pieces. T' more sections you remove, arrr, t' closer the resultin' structure will resemble a true cone. Blimey! Aye aye! In me case, I only cut out four sections, arrr, resultin' in a roughly rectangular end. I suggest you read the USR EMRR reviews for more details about makin' transitions and tail cones from body tubes. Blimey! I'm nay an expert and I did this a while ago.

This cone sat around for months until me local Toys'R'Us again started carryin' the banks. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! As I pondered choppin' up t' bank, I noticed that t' test item was almost exactly t' same diameter. Avast! I couldn't brin' myself t' risk damagin' the bank, so I decided t' use me test cone. This would result in a much longer than scale rocket, me hearties, shiver me timbers, but how scale be it goin' t' be anyway? I also thought it would be nice t' cut back on t' required nose weight.

T' motor mount is ~16" o' LOC 38mm tubing. Ahoy! I have a 4" CR at the top (sanded down a bit) and a 3" rin' part way down in t' tail cone. Arrr! Begad! A homemade coupler is mounted betwixt t' tail cone and t' top ring. For motor retention, I epoxied two bolts t' t' aft o' t' motor tube. Begad! A nut serves as a spacer t' keep t' bolts parallel with t' tube. Begad! Well, blow me down! I also added a couple o' wraps of fiberglass around t' end in betwixt t' head o' t' bolt and t' nut. These seem t' be solid. T' 1/4" Keelhaul®©™® shock tether is mounted through t' top ring, ya bilge rat, completin' t' motor mount assembly.

When t' long fins were attached, ya bilge rat, I be surprised at how flexible they were. Ya scallywag! I thought about glassin' them, matey, but instead decided some support in t' back be in order. I pondered more Luan, Lexan strips, matey, etc. Arrr! but decided on an aluminum rod for t' side closest t' t' motor and a dowel for the other. This mix was again partially driven by what I had on hand. I also covered t' aluminum rod, matey, which is closer t' t' axis o' t' motor, me bucko, with a heat resistant muffler patch kit. Well, blow me down! Avast! This turned out ugly and I may remove it later.

I knew I be goin' t' need a lot o' nose weight on this baby. Avast! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! My nose cone design started with a 4" bulkplate with an eyebolt mounted on it. Avast! Blimey! This plate rests where t' cone begins taperin' forward. A piece o' all-thread extends from t' bulk plate t' close t' t' tip o' t' cone. Blimey! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! A washer is mounted on this all-thread about half way down. Avast! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I planned t' add lead shot and 2-part foam through t' crayon tips doubloon slot. Avast! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! Thus, shiver me timbers, me bucko, t' washer would become embedded in t' lead/foam slurry, lockin' t' resultin' plug t' t' bulkhead. T' bulk plate assembly and a 2-layer cardboard shoulder are attached t' the plastic cone with PC-7 epoxy paste. Ahoy! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey!

I ran a RockSim model t' approximate t' CG and added nose weight t' get the CG where I wanted it. I think I be quite conservative, me bucko, producin' a static margin o' over 2 with t' H144 loaded.

Finishing:
T' crayon bank was blue, so I stuck with blue throughout. Ya scallywag! Arrr! (I wanted a white one, matey, me bucko, but you sometimes take what you can get.) T' tail cone and side wings were painted with Krylon and t' main wings were covered with blue laser contact paper.

T' stickers were added after I decided t' make this an entry in EMRR's MonsterROC contest. Ya scallywag! T' majority, other than t' US flags, matey, me bucko, matey, t' MDRA logo, me hearties, and the DC101 sticker (a local rock station), were merely printed on full page Avery labels usin' me OfficeJet printer.

T' homemade stickers include: CrayShipOne logos, logos for EMRR and TRF, my blog address, shiver me timbers, and vendor logos for Loki, matey, me bucko, ya bilge rat, Performance Hobbies, LOC/Precision, railbuttons.com, me hearties, Giant Leap, Home Depot, and Michael's. This covers most o' the materials used in t' makin' o' t' rocket. I protected these with two coats of clear coat before application and one after.

Flight:
This rocket uses separate chutes for t' heavy cone and t' body. Ya scallywag! Begad! I attached a chute protector t' t' body's shock tether and used a large 60" chute. This be packed into t' nose cone shoulder. Aye aye! A 42" chute was attached to the cone's shock tether and be packed in t' body. Well, blow me down! Arrr!

Since t' model is heavy and was unproven, arrr, I made sure that t' launch rail was pointed away from t' flight line just in case. Blimey! T' boost be great (launch photos courtesy o' Vertical Force Rocketry), shiver me timbers, matey, however, me bucko, ejection was very late.

Recovery:
T' main chute opened just fine but t' cone's chute never opened. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' cone was recovered undamaged. Arrr! Blimey! When I approached t' body, me hearties, me bucko, it looked like it had landed standin' up on end. Ahoy! Blimey! On closer inspection, it be danglin' about 6" from the ground from a tall tree branch. Well, blow me down! Blimey! A light tug dislodged t' chute. Begad! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! This was an interestin' and successful recovery, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but it didn't prove whether me fin braces worked. Blimey! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey!

Summary:
I love crayon banks--they are about t' cheapest 4" cone and body tube you can find and are quite sturdy. Aye aye! Aye aye! This rocket turned out lookin' and flying nicely. Well, me bucko, blow me down! This design definitely stands-out in a crowd. Begad! Ahoy! T' two issues are the heavy nose and t' floppy fins. If anyone else builds somethin' like this, better wood and some fiberglass would be a good idea. Arrr! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Giant Leap honeycomb composites would be cool, but expensive.