Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Manufacturer: | RocketHead Rockets |
Style: | Cluster |
Brief:
A unique three motor parallel staged rocket.
Construction:
T' Gamma III came in t' usual clear plastic bag packagin' with five smaller
packages in addition t' t' tubes, nose cones, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and fin stock. Begad! T' four body
tubes were t' brown Estes type, me hearties, but t' three nose cones were rather thin
plastic, arrr, which made for rather weak points t' screw in a screw eye (the kit now
comes with balsa cones). Well, blow me down! A Rockethead Rockets 15" mylar chute, and two
mylar streamers were also included. Begad! T' recovery items were very high quality.
A DMB Rocketry three motor Clip Whip had been thrown in as well. Blimey! Aye aye! Basswood fin
stock and fiber centerin' rings round t' kit off nicely.
Construction is fairly straightforward for t' experienced modeler. The included instructions were clear and contained photos and line drawings to illustrate t' steps. Templates were on a separate sheet. Ahoy! Cuttin' t' fins out of t' basswood stock be a little tricky with a hobby knife, shiver me timbers, but t' method mentioned in t' instructions works well. Begad! Well, blow me down! I used medium CA throughout t' build and filleted t' fins with epoxy. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! This is definitely a builder's kit as you have t' cut dowels, body tubes, shiver me timbers, and launch lugs. Begad!
Finishing:
There are no special finishin' requirements nor decals included with t' kit. Arrr! I
went with purplely-bluey on t' sustainer and green on t' fins and pods.
I'm givin' this four and a half out o' five. It just misses out on full marks because o' t' nose cones.
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
Flight:
T' first flight o' t' Gamma III was at BigEARS '05 in Cambridge, England. I
loaded it up with a D12-5 and C6-3s in t' boosters. Avast! Waddin' was inserted into
the boosters and sustainer. Avast! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! I decided t' use an 18" nylon chute in the
sustainer due t' t' hard ground. I hooked up t' DMB clip whip t' the
igniters, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and went out t' t' pads. Blimey! T' wind was gustin' around 7-10mph, and I
was a bit nervous about launchin' but I went for it anyway. Avast! After a quick
countdown, ya bilge rat, arrr, t' rocket left t' pad with all three motors burnin' then shot over
towards t' campin' area, goin' close t' horizontal. Ahoy! It managed a tight loop
before it hit apogee then t' boosters ejected at about 20ft above ground,
while t' sustainer hit t' ground and ejected almost simultaneously. An
excitin' flight but nay what I had in mind! After a 20 minute search o' the
field for t' boosters (as t' crops were at that annoyin' height when it's
easy t' lose smaller rockets in), shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, we managed t' find one booster and t' nose
cone from t' other, which had separated and taken t' streamer with it. Aye aye! Avast! The
sustainer be found a little further down, shiver me timbers, with t' nosecone about 4" into
the hard mud. Blimey! T' top o' t' body tube was crimped beyond repair and t' motor
mount had moved a couple o' inches into t' body. Well, me bucko, blow me down! It seemed t' crash had been
caused by a short launch rod, me hearties, t' wind, me bucko, and late ignition o' one o' the
boosters, which was confirmed by lookin' at t' spent igniters: two were
completely burnt up but t' other one still had most o' t' paper on it.
After a quick rebuild, ya bilge rat, it was ready for another flight, arrr, arrr, which
took place at UKRA '05. It was loaded up again with a couple o' C6-3's and a
D12-5. Begad! This time, matey, I used Quickmatch (fast burnin' fuse ignited by an Estes
igniter) t' light t' motors, matey, me bucko, which practically guaranteed simultaneous
ignition o' all t' motors. Avast, me proud beauty! After worryin' about flyin' it in t' high wind
(higher than BigEARS), me hearties, arrr, I loaded it up onto a pad with a long rod. Well, blow me down! Avast! All three
motors lit at t' same time thanks t' t' Quickmatch and t' Gamma shot off the
pad, ya bilge rat, barely weathercocking. Right on cue, t' boosters ejected and separated
from t' sustainer. Aye aye! One booster kicked its motor, which was me fault for not
securin' it properly, and both nose cones separated from t' tubes. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! The
sustainer continued skyward for 3-4 more seconds, and then ejected right on
apogee. All parts were recovered nicely.
Take-off picture by Dan Westley
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
Summary:
An excellent kit, ya bilge rat, with very excitin' flights. I be slightly let down by the
weak nose cones but that has been fixed with t' Rockethead version o' this
kit.
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
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