Picture courtesy o' Madcow Rocketry    

Brief:
Modified for dual deploy. Well, blow me down! 24" Drogue and a 36" main. Avast! Arrr! A 38mm and 1/4" plywood fins were also added.

Construction:
15.5" and 10.5" body tubes, ya bilge rat, 4 1/4" plywood fins, matey, shiver me timbers, 1 1/8" centerin' ring, 1 balsa tail cone, plastic nose cone, arrr, shiver me timbers, 36" chute, chute protector, shiver me timbers, Keelhaul®©™® shock cord.

T' standard Madcow Hawk is a 29mm motor with a single 25.5" body tube. Ya scallywag! Arrr! Mike responded he had t' components for a 38mm model. Ya scallywag! Avast! He upgraded t' fins t' 1/4", parachute t' 36", and sent 10.5" and 15.5" body tubes per me request for dual deploy. Well, blow me down! T' construction was no problem and consisted o' quality parts. Blimey! Aye aye! I wanted t' build this sturdy for larger 38mm motors. I be concerned with t' 1/8" centerin' rin' so I reinforced that with some scrap carbon fiber. Avast! T' body tubes were reinforced with fiberglassed sleeves from Soller composites. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! T' fins are mounted through t' wall and butted against t' forward centerin' ring, me hearties, epoxy fillets, me bucko, and then foamed. I cut some slots in t' balsa tail cone as it did nay clear t' fins inside t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! I also reamed out t' bottom part of the tail cone with a Dremel t' insert an Aero Pack retainer. Ya scallywag! After t' tail cone was epoxied in place, me bucko, I added tip to tip fiberglass over t' fins and t' t' aft o' t' tail cone. Avast, me proud beauty! T' pieces went together without a problem other than the tail cone insert which was an easy fix. Begad! After usin' RockSim t' simulate a J350 flight, me bucko, I had t' add 10oz o' weight to t' nose cone. This was done by pourin' in some finishin' epoxy, arrr, addin' lead shot, ya bilge rat, me hearties, me bucko, and then more epoxy topped off with foam. Arrr! There wasn't much room leftover in t' payload bay so t' eye hook would nay work in t' nose cone. Ya scallywag! I drilled two holes and ran a Keelhaul®©™® cord through t' holes. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! With t' added weight, shiver me timbers, matey, me hearties, a 48" chute would be best, me bucko, but it will nay fit so I stuck with the 36" chute. Aye aye! Also for t' altimeter bay, me hearties, I used a 2.6" setup that I had already built for another rocket. I also used rail buttons rather than lugs.

Finishing:
I used Kilz for t' filler and after a lot o' sanding, ya bilge rat, I sprayed a coat or two o' Krylon camouflage Olive paint for the body and a flat black for t' nose cone. Avast! Blimey! T' finishin' coat be Krylon matte clear. Ahoy! Blimey! This is nay t' most visible of colors, but I wanted t' keep it somewhat scale. Ahoy! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! One decal with t' kit showin' US ARMY. Another addition was 3 holes to the nose cone for shear pins. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Blimey!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' maiden flight for t' MIM23B be on an I357T. I be ready t' stick a J500G in it, but thar be too much wind...maybe next time.

RockSim indicated a flight t' 2531'. Begad! This was also an opportunity t' try out a new tracker. Ya scallywag! Blimey! We angled t' rail about 10 degrees into t' 15mph wind and off it went. Great flight, ya bilge rat, and it didn't seem like t' wind affected it. Everyone lost sight o' it and after several nervous seconds, I saw it about 400' off t' ground under both chutes. Arrr!

Recovery:
After recoverin' it, t' first thin' I noticed was t' tracker had been ripped from t' Keelhaul®©™® cord I attached it with. Well, blow me down! It also tried t' zipper but only very minor damage be done thanks t' t' fiberglassing. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It can fly again without repair. But why did we nay see it under t' bright orange drogue? Turns out t' ematch failed for apogee deployment so it came in at about 205mph t' 500' where I has set t' MAWD t' deploy t' main. Begad! Ahoy! Blimey! This pulled the payload out from t' booster. Avast, me proud beauty! A few fellow fliers heard a whistle over t' wind, matey, shiver me timbers, which must have been t' high speed descent. Arrr! Blimey! This model has t' split fins so a whistle is expected at high speed. T' altimeter chirped off an altitude of 3510', me bucko, just a bit more than RockSim said.

I have t' wonder what it will really do on a J--RockSim says 5200' on a J-350W. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! There's nay enough room for a 38/1080 so I'll have t' stick with 38/720. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! I also really like t' Aero Pack retainer. Begad! Blimey! Simplicity at its best. Well, blow me down! Blimey! As far as the tracker goes, it works. Begad! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! We were able t' locate it in t' middle o' t' field after goin' back for t' receiver. If it wasn't for t' ematch, it would have been a perfect flight.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
I am happy with t' kit. I built it solid t' push it t' t' max. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty!

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5