Well, me hearties, I just finished one o' me more rewardin' projects, that bein' a flyin' V-1 Buzz Bomb. A friend o' mine is into vacu-formin' styrene, and made up t' body and pulse jet intake on a wood lathe, and molded me some pieces, ya bilge rat, on t' condition I would try t' see if I could make it fly. Dry weight was goin' t' be around 11oz.

I used a 24mm motor tube (aerotech) and installed a thrust ring, and motor hook held in with fiberglass tape and CA. Avast! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! I decided on makin' t' wings and tail and pulse jet supports out o' 1/8" basswood, me bucko, for it's strength nay much less than plywood, and a weight nay much more than balsa. I glued t' wings and tail surfaces and filleted t' t' 24mm core tube. Ya scallywag! Since this was a home built mold, thar were some imperfections in t' moldin' t' be worked around, and it took a while t' trim them so t' two halves o' t' body and pulse jet were flush. 

I fitted t' two halves o' t' pulse jet intake, and made a centerin' rin' out o' styrene t' center t' Estes BT-60 for t' outlet pipe. Begad! Begad! Blimey! It runs t' full length o' t' pulsejet, arrr, and is slotted t' allow t' supports t' run through t' wall and glue on t' inside opposite wall o' t' pulsejet. Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' pulsejet is hollow, and these supports act as fins inside t' tube, me hearties, as well as make it strong. Begad! I glued a coupler in t' aft end o' t' BT-60 t' strengthen it.

I fitted t' styrene body halves, shiver me timbers, and glued tabs inside t' locate t' halves together, and slotted them for t' wings, matey, tail, and forward pulsejet support. Begad! I tied a piece o' 90# dacron fishin' line around t' 24mm tube, arrr, me hearties, just forward o' t' forward pulse jet intake for shock line attachment. Avast, me proud beauty! At this point t' back half hangs slightly tail down for a flat landin' t' minimize win' and tail damage.

I used a styrene forward centerin' rin' since it wasn't takin' any real structural strain. Well, blow me down! Avast! I reinforced t' forward end o' t' styrene with another strip o' styrene 3/4" wide glued inside after cuttin' off t' cone section 1" forward o' t' leadin' edge o' t' wings. Blimey! Arrr! I reinforced t' lip o' t' cone, me bucko, and glued another 1.5" strip inside t' cone t' make a shoulder. 

I ran VCP on t' model usin' t' wings as fin set 1, matey, and t' tail elevators as fin set 2, arrr, and neglectin' t' pulse jet, since it would move t' CP back anyway, matey, and was unsymmetric. Well, blow me down! Arrr! VCP showed a CP o' midpoint o' t' wings, matey, which is what I would expect for an airplane (from me RC experience). I set t' CG around 1" forward o' t' wings RTF givin' me more than 1 caliber, shiver me timbers, and which corresponds with other peoples experience with gettin' winged vehicles t' fly upward with stability. Begad! Finished empty weight came out as 9 oz., with 8oz o' lead shot and epoxy needed in t' nose for balance. Begad! This is a lot, shiver me timbers, but fits in with me original plan t' use 24mm E-15, me hearties, 18's, and F-24, arrr, 39's. Begad! Final weight with motor and chutes was 19oz. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! Length is 23" for t' body, shiver me timbers, 27" for total, me hearties, 17" wingspan, 3.5" chord, 7" tail span. Ya scallywag! I used t' Fi103A1 format which had shorter wings than t' later versions, matey, and moved them back 1/2". Well, blow me down! T' tail cone exit diameter should really be BT-55. Begad! Blimey! Body diameter is 3" at t' widest part.

I decided t' cut off t' back end o' t' body and have t' motor tube stick out the  back, so I wouldn't have t' fight asymmetric thrust as well as drag, shiver me timbers, and It is hard t' tell t' difference when you look at t' model.

I rigged t' nose and body t' come down separately, with a 22" nylon for t' bottom, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and a 20" xform for t' nose. Aye aye! T' chutes fit in t' hollow nose. Well, blow me down! Arrr! T' 1/8" plywood forward bulkhead in t' nose is just behind t' nose weight. Avast, me proud beauty! This allows plenty o' room for t' two chutes, and 3/8" elastic. I rigged t' bottom chute forward, arrr, ya bilge rat, matey, with t' nose chute behind, shiver me timbers, arrr, so they would both get pulled out. I used a 9/32" id brass tube as a launch lug, on t' bottom just behind t' nose cone joint, arrr, matey, since it was t' only place on t' body that was parallel t' t' flyin' surfaces.

Flight was on a foggy calm day with ceilin' around 600'. Boost was vertical for t' first 150' or so, then archin' toward t' pulse jet around 15-20 degrees for t' rest o' t' boost. Blimey! I cut down t' delay from t' E-18-7(8) 1/4" which gave me a 4 second delay (boy these delays are out o' whack) This was from experience. It arched over, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and ejected perfectly.

On recovery I saw some damage t' t' body plastic which had been torn. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I thought it be t' recovery line attach point through t' plastic which had done it, but on inspection I noticed that t' forward centerin' rin' be torn in half, and part be missing. Begad! I discovered t' problem. Avast, me proud beauty! Since I didn't think t' forward rin' would take any structural force, I didn't put a fillet behind t' ring, arrr, and relied on t' lip reinforcement t' hold it from goin' forward.

T' ejection charge was so forceful (the cap supplied with t' reload kit) that t' heavy nose resisted ejection, matey, me hearties, and t' centerin' was blown backwards inside t' body shell. Avast, me proud beauty! Once that happened t' body blow out a side portion behind t' wing. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! We taped t' body back with maskin' tape, matey, me hearties, me bucko, and flew again on an F-39. Avast! This accelerates faster, shiver me timbers, and due t' t' larger drag at higher speed, arrr, shiver me timbers, arced a little more than t' E-18. Begad! T' V-1 had a half roll on t' way up, me hearties, t' horizontal flight at t' top, and a slow half roll arcin' over t' ejection. Arrr! Begad! Recovery was fine this time with no more damage.

I got out t' heat cannon at home, me bucko, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and removed t' remains for o' centerin' ring, ya bilge rat, which was held in place with 5 min. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! epoxy around t' motor tube, me hearties, me bucko, replaced it with 1/8" plywood, and fixed t' hairline cracks with liquid styrene cement. Ahoy! Blimey! It is now RTF and good as new.

This was a really fun, shiver me timbers, and rewardin' project. T' rocket performed better than I thought, due t' t' asymmetric drag. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! This be t' second time I have used styrene, ya bilge rat, and it is a nice way t' make complicated shapes, and is easy t' work with. T' first time be t' Estes Space Shuttle, which flew really well, ya bilge rat, but t' thin styrene was tricky t' get together. Begad! It really looked awesome goin' over t' top like an airplane. Only thin' missin' was t' buzzing. Blimey! A larger version with a Hypertek hybrid would sound about right:) A little bit larger, and I think an RC version could be worked out with micro servos. Begad! I'm surprised I haven't seen a ducted fan RC Buzz Bomb, since it be t' perfect model with t' engine in a separate pod, easy t' get at, has a rather large wing, and t' buzzin' would sound great. Ya scallywag! Takin' off from a carriage, arrr, me hearties, and landin' on t' belly, or with rudimentary wheels.

Now I can paint t' model, me hearties, and I have some still pictures, me hearties, and an attempt at gettin' liftoff, and as soon as I get them developed, arrr, I'll put them on me web page.

My friend has already done a D powered Natter, now with our 7.6", me hearties, 5.5", 4", 2.6", and 2" V-2's, and t' V-1, we are gettin' a little one sided on t' German side, shiver me timbers, arrr, me hearties, so we are goin' t' try a 4" X-15 usin' Vacu-formin' for t' body shells, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and win' skins.

Hope this be interesting.