Brief:
T' PeeWee is a little two stage rocket designed by Tom Rhue and featured as t' Estes Design o' t' Month for October 1961. Aye aye! It stuck me as "primitive" and I do nay mean that in a derogatory manner. As someone said on YORF, it hearkens t' a day when t' hobby was bein' made up as t' modeler went along.

I decided t' try and build it and promised I would post t' build thread on YORF. Blimey! It seems a fittin' place for this venerable design.

Construction:
I immediately surmised that I would be orderin' me parts from Semroc and took a look at t' instruction t' hit my first roadblock. They call for BT-3 tubing. Avast, me proud beauty! This be one I had nay worked with before. Avast, me proud beauty! T' only distributor I found for BT-3 be FlisKits (I like their stuff too), but then I realized I was in t' MMX department. I checked t' diameter and realized that thar be no way I was goin' t' fit an 18mm motor into t' FlisKits BT-3. Aye aye! So it is that I posted a message on YORF askin' for help. T' kind folks thar soon gave me an answer I could use. Begad! T' archaic BT-3 o' Estes was still available as t' Semroc BT-30. That bein' t' case, I place me order and had it two days later. Aye aye!

My total parts list was as follows:

• 1/16" balsa
• 3.25" Semroc BT-30
• 2.75" Semroc BT-30
• Semroc BNC 30C balsa nosecone
• 2 x 1/8" launch lug

After gettin' t' parts, me hearties, ya bilge rat, they sat in t' box from 5 Nov until Christmas Day when I finally had time t' get started. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! When I did get started, me bucko, I found a simple but fun project t' occupy an afternoon.

T' sustainer body tube was supposed t' be 3.125 inches long. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I had ordered a 3.25" as t' nearest fit. Ya scallywag! Begad! In lookin' at t' directions, ya bilge rat, thar seems t' have been some play with this length. Ahoy! Aye aye! If you wanted t' build a version that used streamer recovery, me bucko, a tube as long as 5.5" be recommended. Avast! Arrr! I decided t' 1/8" was nay goin' t' hurt me. That bein' t' case, shiver me timbers, t' first step be t' glue on t' nose cone with yellow glue.

While t' nose cone was drying, shiver me timbers, I cut out t' fin template and laid it on me 1/16" balsa stock and traced around it with a pencil. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! I then copied t' pattern twice more makin' sure t' grain was aligned as indicated. An X-Acto knife be then used t' cut t' fins out.

An Estes fin markin' guide be used t' mark t' body tube for 3 fins and t' tick marks were extended usin' a pencil and an angle. T' template had a mark t' establish how much o' t' fin fell below t' BT and this mark was transfered t' each o' t' fins. Ya scallywag! Avast! T' fins were then glued in place with yellow glue and a double glue joint.

As t' sustainer dried, I turned me attention t' t' booster. It called for a 2.75" length o' BT-30 and I did have one t' right length. I marked t' fin lines as before and cut out t' booster fin template. Arrr! T' outlines were transfered t' t' sheet balsa and t' fins were cut out. Arrr! These were more difficult because o' t' curves. Avast! When I was done, I had t' stack t' fins and "regularize" them with some judicious sanding. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' fins were then glued onto t' booster tube in t' same manner as t' sustainer.

As I be postin' this project as a build thread on YORF, somebody noticed that t' grain on t' fins was running the wrong way, arrr, shiver me timbers, parallel t' t' BT, matey, in one o' t' photos. When I took a good look at t' rocket, arrr, me hearties, I saw that t' grain is runnin' t' wrong way. Ya scallywag! A closer inspection o' t' template revealed that t' tick mark for placin' t' fins be indeed on t' surface I used but lookin' at t' artwork, me hearties, I saw that t' template was in error.

An X-Acto was used t' slice t' fins away as closely as I could come t' t' BT. Ya scallywag! Arrr! Blimey! I intended t' make new fins but I wanted t' see how close I could get. When they were off though, matey, arrr, matey, I decided that they were perfectly serviceable and decided t' reuse them.

T' correct distance was marked off on t' real root edge and t' fins were reattached t' t' BT. Blimey! T' result looked better and hopefully will nay shred t' fins.

Finishing:
Finishin' was done separately on t' booster and sustainer because I had t' go back and redo t' fins on the sustainer. Avast! T' booster was done first.

I brushed Elmer's Wood Filler onto t' booster fins and then tried somethin' new I learned about on a new website. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I took a razor blade and scraped off t' excess. Arrr! Begad! This led t' a couple o' happy results. Avast! T' filler was much thinner so it dried much more quickly. Arrr! I waited overnight but I could see t' first fin was fairly dry before I had finished t' third. Ahoy! T' second nice thin' was t' resultin' uniformity. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Only a light sandin' with #400 was needed t' be ready for primer.

I primed with Kilz. Ya scallywag! Two coats were applied and t' primer was allowed t' dry. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! T' next day, me bucko, t' sustainer was ready t' be primed and it got 2 coats o' Kilz as well.

While sandin' t' primed stages, I noticed a perennial mistake o' mine. Arrr! Blimey! I had forgotten t' launch lug...again. I scraped off a bit o' primer and glued it on, shiver me timbers, me bucko, givin' it a chance t' dry.

When t' lug had dried, I painted t' BTs o' both t' sustainer and booster yellow. Ya scallywag! T' yellow be given a day to dry and then t' rocket was masked t' paint t' NC and fins o' both stages orange. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Then it be just a simple matter of sprayin' t' orange on each stage.

T' final result be bright yellow and orange and, I hoped, easy t' see way up there.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
At least a half a year after I first got started on this one, me hearties, it finally made its maiden flight. It had been taken out t' fly before but always somethin' went wrong. Arrr! Avast! This time, it would fly.

T' start things off, shiver me timbers, arrr, I wanted t' try just t' single stage configuration with just a 1/2A6-2. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! I wanted to see how it would behave. Aye aye! I had spotters ready.

It took off fine and disappeared t' most people. Begad! It was reacquired when we heard t' motor pop. Avast, me proud beauty! T' motor landed a few feet from t' flight line but nobody saw what happened t' t' rocket itself. Ya scallywag! We looked for a while and gave up and I thought I would be rebuildin' t' sustainer. Begad! Near t' close o' t' day, though, somebody found it while hunting for a mid power rocket. Well, blow me down! I decided nay t' fly it again on that field. A video o' t' maiden flight can be seen here.

I got tired o' waitin' for t' A8-0s t' come back so I decided t' go ahead and give it a try in t' 2-stage configuration with a B6-0/½A6-2 arrangement. Well, blow me down! I taped t' motors together with cellophane tape and loaded them into t' rocket. Avast! Ya scallywag! T' rocket was then taken t' t' pad and hooked up. Blimey! Avast! I asked all present t' help with t' tracking. On ignition, it started scootin' and looked pretty good doin' it. Begad! Everyone saw t' stagin' and t' booster tumblin' back to earth but t' sustainer was never seen again.

Recovery:
PROs: it flies nice.

CONs: It was nay recovered.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This was an easy rocket t' build. Aye aye! Blimey! I had me problems with it but they were my problems. Aye aye! Aye aye! It also flies well...too well. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Without a smaller booster motor available, it is likely t' be lost, as mine was. Even in t' single stage configuration on a 1/2A, arrr, it really moved.

I will be rebuildin' t' sustainer but will make some modifications, lengthenin' it t' include a streamer.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5