Brief:
This year’s 2010 challenge included an upscale o' 2+ which be very fortunate for me as I was in t' process o' doin' a series o' upscales on t' Estes Mosquito. This upscale is a 301% based around a big bertha nose cone.

Construction:
T' components for t' kit consist of:

• A Big Bertha nose cone.
• 6.02 inches o' Bt60.
• Three balsa fins.
• 18mm motor mount.
• Elastic Shock cord.
• Swivel.
• Swatch o' Nomex® cloth.
• 1 meter o' 2 inch mylar streamer.
• And later I repaired using
• A BT60 coupler.
• A replacement section o' BT60.
• Fishin' leader. Blimey!

Usin' a photocopier, t' fin template be enlarged and t' fins cut from balsa. Begad! Avast! I had thought o' goin' TTW, but t' rocket is still quite light. Well, blow me down! When I get t' bigger upscales I will.

T' BT is 6.02 inches long. Avast!

T' motor mount is built in its usual way, me hearties, for some reason unknown t' me I did nay add a length o' Keelhaul®©™® cord as an anchor nor did I add in a fishin' leader. Fins were attached in t' normal way, with t' launch lug added to t' BT in betwixt fins. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' shock cord is a two foot length o' elastic, which was attached via t' Estes tri fold method. Begad! A swivel be added and a swatch o' Nomex® heat shield.

T' rocket was given three coats o' sandin' sealer, me bucko, me bucko, and wood glue filleted a few times.

T' entire rocket had two coats o' gray primer added, me bucko, with rub downs in betwixt coats.

T' match me original mosquito color scheme t' rocket be given a few coats o' yellow spray paint, and then masked and black paint added t' one fin.

It was then flown twice, arrr, which I’ll cover in t' flight section, but first t' repairs.

T' top section o' t' body tube be crushed and ripped. Nay too difficult t' repair. Ahoy! Aye aye! T' top section was removed usin' a dremel, arrr, and a replacement section from an old rocket was added usin' a Bt60 coupler. Avast, me proud beauty! T' one advantage o' this was that I be able t' ditch t' tri fold paper anchor and replace it with a steel fishin' leader which I trapped betwixt t' coupler and t' body tube. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! T' gappin' wide seam join was then filled with model filler, arrr, me hearties, me hearties, and sanded. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! After that t' top o' t' rocket be sprayed yellow. Arrr! It’s nay a fantastic repair, me bucko, ya bilge rat, but it looks okay.

Durin' t' repair time, t' decals from excelsoirrocketry arrived from t' states. Aye aye! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! They included a 301% upscale which finished t' rocket off nicely.

Flight:
First flight was on 18th Jan 2010, usin' an Estes A8-3

Nice low and straight flight, matey, with ejection past apogee, recovered without damage on t' 4 foot streamer

Second flight was on t' same day usin' a Quest B6-4.

Great flight, right up t' t' point where t' ejection should have ejected t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, instead t' motor came out, this must have been a bad prep by me, me hearties, I can only assume that t' motor clip be bent back. Ya scallywag! T' mosquito came in hard and fast, just like t' original mosquito did (they never tumbled) difference here is that t' upscale has more mass and t' body tube was damaged, and paint was chipped off t' nose cone.

After t' repair t' rocket went up again at t' Midlands Rocketry March launch. Arrr! Avast! Blimey! used a C6-7, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, ejection be late, a C6-5 would have been better, recovered fine on t' streamer.

Summary:
I love this upscale, and i like t' other 3 I have also made, still got at least two more in t' plan/build stage. If I had thought about this properly I should have done this last year for t' family photo contest.

Other:
T' use o' a photocopier for increasin' fin size be t' easiest solution for any up/down scaler.