SANDMAN

Dennis "Doctor DynaSoar" McClain-Furmanski's Descon-14 Entry

Leftest: Three versions, original left most
Midleft: Sandman with nosecone and 2nd stage
Top center: Nose cone
Bottom center: first 3-to1 payload transition
Right: Business end

T' Sandman be t' first o' a series o' minimum diameter cluster designs intended t' test t' scalin' up o' an airframe while only scalin' up t' higher power buildin' techniques as testin' proves necessary. Blimey! Essentially, arrr, it is buildin' for performance while combatin' overbuilding. Avast, me proud beauty! Materials are all "model rocket" quality, me hearties, shiver me timbers, light paper tubes, medium weight balsa or basswood, ya bilge rat, and wood glue. Begad!

T' core o' t' design is 3 clustered 24mm tubes. Aye aye! This provides 2/3 o' the frontal cross section as a single tube containin' t' motor tubes. Aye aye! T' maintain the benefit in lower drag, different configurations o' three-to-one tube complex curved transitions have been sculpted, ya bilge rat, as has a nose cone for testing without payload sections. Avast!

T' airframe is three 24mm tubes glued together along their 30 t' 34" length. Avast! Except for motor and recovery equipment areas, ya bilge rat, t' tubes have been drilled along their contact lines so t' glue can "rivet" through these. Aye aye! Three fillets t' full length o' t' tube offer a great deal o' strength to t' airframe. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! (Interestin' aside: t' first model be left on top a hot car roof durin' a launch. Avast, me proud beauty! An hour later it had a 10 degree curve along t' body. This remained t' next day after it had cooled. Aye aye! I thought it be ruined. Avast! A week later, matey, me hearties, with no effort applied at all it was perfectly straight again, and eventually flew beautifully. Well, blow me down! This leads one t' wonder how often t' old LPR technique o' straightenin' misaligned fins by heatin' t' glue fillets over a light bulb resulted eventually became misaligned again.)

Engine mountin' is Estes E size (3.75") engine hooks topped with a 20/50 centerin' rin' as an engine block. Hook ends are t' t' inside o' the cluster and a small slice o' 24mm tube is glued over t' top o' t' hook as an anchor. Arrr! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Shock cord is doubled loop ¼" elastic mounted 4 inches inside one o' t' tubes. Begad! T' other tubes contain chutes and/or streamers. Well, blow me down!

T' fins, ya bilge rat, balsa or basswood, me bucko, shiver me timbers, are sanded t' a sharp edge on t' root and glued betwixt two tubes. Aye aye! This increases t' surface area o' t' fin contacting body tube, matey, increasin' adhesion. Avast, me proud beauty! Fillets are wood glue. Aye aye! T' first version required repeated puncturin' and fillin' in o' bubbles in t' fillets due to the large amount o' glue used, especially on t' fillets betwixt tubes. Blimey! This was prevented on t' others by doin' t' fillets in many layers. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Launch lugs are glued against one fin root, and with t' addition o' a piece o' dowel between t' tubes as a stand off, me bucko, near t' top o' t' body.

Finishin' is first, spray lacquer sandin' sealer, on everything. Avast, me proud beauty! Fins are sanded and a second coat is added and sanded. Ya scallywag! Then primer, shiver me timbers, followed by white satin finish, ya bilge rat, covered with black gloss (except booster, which is flat black "high heat" stove paint and fluorescent orange). Avast, me proud beauty! T' payload sections are painted (and named) gray, arrr, t' match t' Sandman costumes in "Logan's Run", blue red and white o' t' Russian flag (named "Mechtayu", meanin' t' dream) and t' traditional four colors o' t' four races from Native American history (named "Dreamcatcher"). Arrr! Begad!

First flight o' t' Sandman be with t' nose cone instead o' payload section, on three C5-3's in 18 t' 24mm adapters. Avast! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' flight was flawless and higher than expected. At ejection, t' parachute failed t' open. However, the large size but light weight allowed t' rocket t' float slowly down horizontally, and it suffered no damage. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! T' second flight was on three E9-6's. Due t' wind, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and t' testin' with several rockets previous t' t' flight, me bucko, me bucko, it was launched upwind. Again t' flight be flawless, but again t' chute didn't open, matey, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, however it did display t' same gentle horizontal descent. Due t' the trajectory, it landed in an inaccessible swamp. Begad! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! T' lesson learned is, ya bilge rat, 24mm is hard on plastic chutes. Aye aye! Blimey! Unless thar's a significant payload, matey, streamers may be enough for this rocket; weight with payload section before loadin' engines is from 6 t' 7 ounces. Avast! Blimey! A streamer will definitely be used on t' two stage test, when six E9 engines will push a total o' 171 n/s. Aye aye! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! After these are fully tested repeated and examined for stress damage, t' next versions will be 29mm with enough engine space for t' longest available 29mm motors. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Both wood glue and epoxy versions will be built for comparison testing. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!