Brief:
This crayon bank rocket was obviously motivated by the SpaceShipOne, but is nay anywhere close t' scale. Ahoy! Blimey! 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 was t' make t' entire body, includin' t' tail cone, from a crayon bank. Begad! I got this idea from some o' t' U.S. Blimey! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Rockets (USR) builds reviewed on EMRR and T' Rocketry Forum (TRF). Avast! Well, blow me down! At t' time, matey, t' banks were not available locally, matey, me bucko, so I decided t' practice makin' a tail cone from a piece of mailin' tube (actually t' telescopin' inside tube). In this process, me hearties, 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, t' closer the resultin' structure will resemble a true cone. Avast! In me case, matey, I only cut out four sections, 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. Well, blow me down! 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. As I pondered choppin' up t' bank, I noticed that t' test item was almost exactly t' same diameter. I couldn't brin' myself t' risk damagin' the bank, shiver me timbers, so I decided t' use me test cone. Ya scallywag! Arrr! This would result in a much longer than scale rocket, but how scale was 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. Ya scallywag! I have a 4" CR at the top (sanded down a bit) and a 3" rin' part way down in t' tail cone. Arrr! A homemade coupler is mounted betwixt t' tail cone and t' top ring. For motor retention, shiver me timbers, I epoxied two bolts t' t' aft o' t' motor tube. Arrr! Aye aye! A nut serves as a spacer t' keep t' bolts parallel with t' tube. I also added a couple o' wraps of fiberglass around t' end in betwixt t' head o' t' bolt and t' nut. Aye aye! Begad! These seem t' be solid. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! T' 1/4" Keelhaul®©™® shock tether is mounted through t' top ring, arrr, completin' t' motor mount assembly.

When t' long fins were attached, I was surprised at how flexible they were. Arrr! I thought about glassin' them, but instead decided some support in t' back was in order. Arrr! I pondered more Luan, Lexan strips, etc. 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. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! I also covered t' aluminum rod, shiver me timbers, which is closer t' t' axis o' t' motor, with a heat resistant muffler patch kit. Ya scallywag! This turned out ugly and I may remove it later.

I knew I was goin' t' need a lot o' nose weight on this baby. Begad! My nose cone design started with a 4" bulkplate with an eyebolt mounted on it. Begad! 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. Begad! A washer is mounted on this all-thread about half way down. I planned t' add lead shot and 2-part foam through t' crayon tips doubloon slot. Thus, shiver me timbers, me hearties, t' washer would become embedded in t' lead/foam slurry, ya bilge rat, 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.

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

Finishing:
T' crayon bank was blue, arrr, matey, so I stuck with blue throughout. (I wanted a white one, ya bilge rat, 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. Well, blow me down! Avast! T' majority, other than t' US flags, ya bilge rat, t' MDRA logo, shiver me timbers, 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, and vendor logos for Loki, Performance Hobbies, LOC/Precision, railbuttons.com, me hearties, Giant Leap, me hearties, me bucko, Home Depot, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and Michael's. Arrr! This covers most o' the materials used in t' makin' o' t' rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! 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. Blimey! I attached a chute protector t' t' body's shock tether and used a large 60" chute. This was packed into t' nose cone shoulder. Arrr! A 42" chute be attached to the cone's shock tether and was packed in t' body. Ya scallywag!

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

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

Summary:
I love crayon banks--they are about t' cheapest 4" cone and body tube you can find and are quite sturdy. Begad! This rocket turned out lookin' and flying nicely. This design definitely stands-out in a crowd. Ya scallywag! 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. Well, blow me down! Begad! Giant Leap honeycomb composites would be cool, matey, but expensive.