Brief:

It's Estes Mean Machine. Begad! Blimey! It's a single staged rocket originally it is a 24mm rocket made t' take D motors but I modified it with a home made 29mm motor mount.

Modifications:

Since I was plannin' t' use an F-50 motor I thought it would be a very good idea t' fiberglass it. I fiberglassed it twice with some 1.5oz fiberglass. Well, blow me down! I also fiberglassed t' fins (not on t' t' rocket). Blimey! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Now for t' motor mount, shiver me timbers, that's a whole other project. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! First I got a 29mm motor and put saran wrap around it then layered some heavy fiberglass (not sure what) around that. Then pulled t' cast off. Begad! Blimey! And wow, me bucko, ya bilge rat, what a very strong motor mount. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' center rings are 1/4" aircraft plywood. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Other than that everythin' was kept t' same.

Construction:

It comes with 4 body tubes that are pain t' align, me hearties, me hearties, shiver me timbers, but I got it done with a jig, shiver me timbers, but even after t' tubes are glued together perfect it seemed that t' tubes ever so slightly bent. Begad! But nothin' significant.

Flight:

My first flight was with a F50-9. Aye aye! Blimey! It be a fairly nice day with a slight wind around 5mph. 5-4-3-2-1- little smoke then it went up very very fast, me bucko, ya bilge rat, matey, but after about 1 sec it started t' make large screw like turns in t' sky. Ahoy! But it keep climbin' and climbing. Ya scallywag! Then t' two 24" parachutes ejected perfectly at apogee. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I ran after it t' t' end o' t' field, matey, arrr, then we got in t' truck and followed it down t' road. We found it 2 miles down t' road. Well, blow me down! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' second flight was about 3 months later. Begad! Blimey! But this time I added some weight t' t' nose, choose t' fly it on a smaller F20-6, and took one o' t' parachutes out. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! This time t' rocket flew perfect t' about 2500' but t' parachute opened too late causin' a small 1" zipper. Aye aye! Avast! Blimey! I would recommend flyin' it on a F20-4

Summary:

Pros- very fun t' fly for mid power and yet reach high altitude. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Cons- pain t' align t' tubes.