(Contributed - by Dick Stafford - 09/07/09)

Brief:
Denny's serves(-ed) kid's drinks in this cool retro-styled rocket cup. Avast! I whined until our waitress gave me one. Arrr! Begad!

I originally wanted t' make this fly on 29mm motors without added fins. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' dimensions o' t' base made me change t' 24mm. I then designed a RockSim model without added fins and it looked like it would be stable. Begad! It wasn't. Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! So, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I back-pedaled again and added a set o' fins. This review will only describe t' successful, arrr, arrr, finned version. Begad!

Construction:

Parts used were:

• One Denny's D-Fusion drink cup
• One Firstfire igniter tube
• 2.125" mailin' tube x 4.5"
• One 24mm t' 2" fiber centerin' ring
• 24mm motor tube - one 3" piece and one 3.25" piece
• Spent 24mm case t' connect t' motor tubes (you could use one piece o' 24mm tube and skip this item).
• 3/32" plywood
• Steel fishin' leader
• Elastic strap
• 4" o' tubular Keelhaul®©™®
• Lead shot
• 2 small sheet metal screws

I prepared t' drink cup by grindin' t' base t' fit a 24mm motor tube. I also ground t' threads off t' cap and bottle neck so that t' cap would slip on and off easily.

I found that 2.125" OD mailin' tube fit nicely in t' top o' t' bottle. Ahoy! Furthermore, this tube also fit in t' inner neck o' t' cap. Begad! I cut a 4.25" piece o' tubin' t' serve as a parachute tube and t' keep t' clear body from gettin' ugly from ejection gasses. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, me hearties, blow me down! It extends above t' neck on t' body and mates with t' cap/cone.

I installed t' short piece o' 24mm tubin' in t' base usin' a single fiber ring. Ahoy! Aye aye! A steel fishin' leader was screwed t' t' wall o' t' tube just above t' ring. I wrapped t' tube with a layer o' blue laser contact paper and installed it in t' body.

T' nose weight was determined from t' RockSim model. Aye aye! T' weight is a slurry o' lead shot and Gorilla polyurethane glue. A Keelhaul®©™® loop is embedded in t' slurry and a screw through t' tip o' t' cone ensures t' weight stays in place. Begad! Blimey! T' weight proved inadequate for t' fin-less version and be retained as is when t' fin unit was added.

T' fin unit is another piece o' 24mm tubin' with a 2" piece o' a spent casin' glued in. Blimey! T' fins are 3/32" ply with a 4" root, me hearties, ya bilge rat, tip and span. Aye aye! They are swept slightly backwards and appear over sized. Avast! They were designed iteratively in RockSim.

I ground a trough in t' wall o' t' body t' accommodate a piece o' a Firstfire tube. I wanted t' fly this away from t' crowd so a 1/4" lug seemed appropriate. Avast! This lug was attached with CA. Aye aye! Aye aye! It is aligned with one fin and a correspondin' hole be bored in that fin.

T' cone is attached t' t' steel leader with a foot long piece o' elastic.

Finishing:
One good think about convertin' plastic things t' rockets is that they often don't need much finishing. I painted the fin can with Testor's yellow spray paint and added squares o' t' laser contact paper t' match t' body. Avast, me proud beauty! T' lug was painted dark blue.

Flight:
Although t' flight o' t' fin less version appears in t' flight logs below, I'll only describe t' successful flight o' t' finned version.

I decided t' use an E15-4 SU motor since thar be no positive motor retention. I stuffed t' body with a ton of dog barf and attached an 18" nylon 'chute. Begad! T' nose be a bit loose so I wrapped t' neck o' t' body with masking tape until it was snug. Avast, me proud beauty! T' motor was given a tape thrust rin' and was friction-fit. Avast! It weather cocked a bit but had a nice flight anyway. It landed near t' pads, ya bilge rat, which usually is a good thing!

Summary:
Even with t' fin unit, shiver me timbers, t' rocket looks pretty cool and flies nicely. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This is one o' t' 2-3 rockets I've built where RockSim was wrong. Begad! Blimey! It may have been stable with a higher impulse motor and less wind but I elected nay t' test this theory. Begad! Blimey! If you got one t' fly without added fins, PLEASE write a review!