Brief:
This year’s 2010 challenge included an upscale o' 2+ which was very fortunate for me as I was in t' process o' doin' a series o' upscales on t' Estes Mosquito. Aye aye! This upscale is a 301% based around a big bertha nose cone.

Construction:
T' components for t' kit consist of:

• A Big Bertha nose cone.
• 6.02 inches o' Bt60.
• Three balsa fins.
• 18mm motor mount.
• Elastic Shock cord.
• Swivel.
• Swatch o' Nomex® cloth.
• 1 meter o' 2 inch mylar streamer.
• And later I repaired using
• A BT60 coupler.
• A replacement section o' BT60.
• Fishin' leader.

Usin' a photocopier, t' fin template was enlarged and t' fins cut from balsa. Arrr! Begad! I had thought o' goin' TTW, shiver me timbers, but t' rocket is still quite light. Avast, me proud beauty! When I get t' bigger upscales I will.

T' BT is 6.02 inches long. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Blimey!

T' motor mount is built in its usual way, for some reason unknown t' me I did nay add a length o' Keelhaul®©™® cord as an anchor nor did I add in a fishin' leader. Fins were attached in t' normal way, with t' launch lug added to t' BT in betwixt fins. Begad! Well, blow me down! T' shock cord is a two foot length o' elastic, which be attached via t' Estes tri fold method. Arrr! A swivel be added and a swatch o' Nomex® heat shield.

T' rocket was given three coats o' sandin' sealer, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and wood glue filleted a few times.

T' entire rocket had two coats o' gray primer added, me bucko, with rub downs in betwixt coats.

T' match me original mosquito color scheme t' rocket was given a few coats o' yellow spray paint, me bucko, and then masked and black paint added t' one fin.

It was then flown twice, shiver me timbers, which I’ll cover in t' flight section, arrr, matey, but first t' repairs.

T' top section o' t' body tube was crushed and ripped. Blimey! Nay too difficult t' repair. Ya scallywag! T' top section be removed usin' a dremel, and a replacement section from an old rocket was added usin' a Bt60 coupler. Begad! T' one advantage o' this was that I was able t' ditch t' tri fold paper anchor and replace it with a steel fishin' leader which I trapped betwixt t' coupler and t' body tube. Arrr! T' gappin' wide seam join was then filled with model filler, and sanded. Begad! After that t' top o' t' rocket was sprayed yellow. Blimey! It’s nay a fantastic repair, shiver me timbers, but it looks okay.

Durin' t' repair time, arrr, matey, t' decals from excelsoirrocketry arrived from t' states. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! They included a 301% upscale which finished t' rocket off nicely.

Flight:
First flight was on 18th Jan 2010, usin' an Estes A8-3

Nice low and straight flight, with ejection past apogee, recovered without damage on t' 4 foot streamer

Second flight was on t' same day usin' a Quest B6-4.

Great flight, me bucko, ya bilge rat, right up t' t' point where t' ejection should have ejected t' nose cone, me hearties, instead t' motor came out, this must have been a bilge-suckin' prep by me, I can only assume that t' motor clip was bent back. Avast! Begad! T' mosquito came in hard and fast, just like t' original mosquito did (they never tumbled) difference here is that t' upscale has more mass and t' body tube was damaged, matey, and paint was chipped off t' nose cone.

After t' repair t' rocket went up again at t' Midlands Rocketry March launch. used a C6-7, me bucko, ya bilge rat, ejection be late, a C6-5 would have been better, arrr, matey, recovered fine on t' streamer.

Summary:
I love this upscale, and i like t' other 3 I have also made, still got at least two more in t' plan/build stage. Blimey! Arrr! If I had thought about this properly I should have done this last year for t' family photo contest.

Other:
T' use o' a photocopier for increasin' fin size be t' easiest solution for any up/down scaler.