AEON

Tim Breland's Descon-14 Entry

Talk about last minute, me bucko, this thin' almost had t' fly with wet paint. Begad! ;)

My design is called t' AEON.

One definition o' Aeon is "an indefinitely long period o' time", which is about how long this rocket might stay in t' air, me hearties, indefinitely.

Stickin' with t' theme, me bucko, matey, t' Aeon burns a total o' 6 motors. Arrr! It is clustered and staged, ya bilge rat, usin' 5 motors in t' booster and 1 in t' sustainer.

Construction is pretty simple. Arrr! A parts list and fin patterns are included in t' pdf file. Avast, me proud beauty! Pretty much all o' me parts came from Fliskits, shiver me timbers, t' most unique bein' t' 5 motor cluster mount which has a central 24mm mount surrounded by 4 13mm mounts.

Sustainer:

Startin' with 2 BT70 tubes standard 17.5" in length, shiver me timbers, arrr, I cut a 70mm long piece from 1 tube t' use as t' booster. Arrr! T' remainder o' that tube be coupled t' t' other tube t' make t' sustainer body, with a balsa nose cone on top.

T' sustainer got a standard 24mm motor mount, me bucko, ya bilge rat, makin' sure t' put t' aft centerin' rin' about 1" from t' end t' allow room for t' stagin' coupler. Ya scallywag! This motor mount is 4" long with an engine block in place allowin' it t' hold and Estes E size motor.

T' sustainer fin pattern is in t' pdf file. Begad! 4 fins were cut from some high quality 1/8" balsa. Begad! Well, blow me down! Some may prefer thicker balsa or even plywood, but I wanted t' keep t' weight down. Avast! T' fins were mounted with t' root end about 10mm up from t' end o' t' body tube. Aye aye! This was done just for t' look o' a gap betwixt t' sustainer and booster fins.

A basic recovery system was installed; 4' piece o' 1/4" elastic attached with t' tri-fold method and t' a screw eye in t' nose cone.

An 18" mylar chute from Rockethead Rockets was me choice o' recovery.

Booster:

For t' booster I started by assemblin' t' 5 motor cluster mount. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! T' central tube included with t' kit be cut down t' 70mm long. This kit includes 4 centerin' rings. Avast! I left t' forward CR out due t' t' shorter central tube, me bucko, and t' allow room for t' stagin' coupler. Begad! I also left out t' central motor block t' allow for staging. Ahoy! T' motor mount be then glued into t' 70mm piece o' BT that I cut earlier, flush with t' end. Ya scallywag! Begad! I then glued t' stagin' coupler into t' forward end. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Again, matey, 4 fins were cut from 1/8" balsa and attached t' t' booster (pdf file has pattern).

Finishing:

After priming, arrr, I applied a basecoat o' Krylon Metallic Silver. Arrr! I then masked off t' fins and nose cone, shiver me timbers, and finished t' rest o' t' rocket with a candy green. Unfortunately, matey, t' tape marked t' silver, me hearties, and I may have t' repaint one day.

Flight report:

After t' paint dried, me hearties, matey, I prepped her for flight. Aye aye! Ahoy! I knew it would get dark soon, me bucko, so I opted nay t' go fully loaded. I went with a D12-0 surrounded by 4 A10-P's in t' booster, me bucko, staged t' a C11-7 in t' sustainer. Well, blow me down! Arrr! This added a good bit o' weight and I wasn't comfortable with t' Cg location. Ahoy! Avast! I then drilled 4 - 3/16" holes in t' base o' t' nose cone, ya bilge rat, added some BB's and secured with epoxy. Blimey! This put t' Cg at about 17" from t' bottom, shiver me timbers, which is more than enough stability margin. Aye aye! So off t' fly. Well, blow me down! By now it's gettin' dark, although nay as dark as t' pics show, but I'm still worried about recovery.

I set her up, push t' button, and whoosh, man be that fast. Arrr! Pics show nothing. Well, blow me down! I obviously didn't get t' rocket in t' pics, because they're just black. Aye aye! I would guess it went about 1000', but it be probably lower, ya bilge rat, and I just couldn't see good. Avast! Well, I saw t' ejection, shiver me timbers, and thank goodness for mylar chutes. Arrr! Without t' shimmer from t' mylar I probably would have lost it. Well, blow me down! It came down in t' field next t' me home about 300 feet away. Luckily t' grass was cut over t' weekend and I be able t' find it pretty easily. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! I can't wait t' launch it with an E9 in t' sustainer.