Brief:

My first true 'scratch-built' model rocket be t' Ugly Bug. It is based on t' Estes Mosquito, but built for an Estes 'D' (24mm) motor rather than t' standard mini-motor. Well, blow me down! This is actually nay t' first time I've built a scaled-up Mosquito, but I don't really count t' first time as a rocket. Back in grad school a fellow student who had never seen a model rocket was curious about them. Begad! I didn't have any built models, me bucko, but did have a spare D booster motor sittin' around and had an idea. We added some balsa fins, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, me hearties, a wooden nose cone, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and a launch lug made from paper and glue formed on a drill bit. Ahoy! This little assembly went like stink off t' pad and we promptly lost track o' it. We found it sittin' in t' parkin' lot later, ya bilge rat, matey, and t' other grad student repainted it, plugged t' burned-out motor with glue, me hearties, ya bilge rat, arrr, and hung it on t' wall of his office.

Years later, I be workin' on a true scaled-up Mosquito design about 14" in length with a full parachute recovery system. However, shiver me timbers, arrr, I wasn't finished with it by t' time a NDRA launch came around. Well, blow me down! Nay wantin' t' bring only mundane models t' t' launch, me hearties, I decided on a Thursday night that I should build another o' t' 'flyin' motor' D birds t' get rid o' some D12-3 motors I had. Avast, me proud beauty! T' delay on these was too short for me only D rocket at t' time, so they seemed good candidates for glued-on fins. Part-way into buildin' t' first one, I thought, shiver me timbers, "Heck, why go t' all this trouble when I could add a body tube and have a real, shiver me timbers, me hearties, reusable rocket?" Thus t' Ugly Bug project was born.

Construction:

It was Thursday night, and t' launch was Saturday morning. Aye aye! I had less than 48 hours t' actually build a rocket. "No problem," I figured, "I'll just use whatever I can find and keep it super-simple." Since I had no actual kit parts, shiver me timbers, I'd have t' scrounge and scratch-build everything. Aye aye! I decided t' keep t' t' original Mosquito recovery system, which is 'featherweight'. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! This means t' rocket ejects its spent motor and is so light it won't be harmed by t' fall. Aye aye! This works fine for a model barely bigger than a mini-motor, but lookin' back on it, me hearties, it be probably wishful thinkin' for a D bird. Ya scallywag! In any case, ya bilge rat, I started scroungin' around t' garbage and me rocket shop and gathered t' needed materials.

For t' bigger scaled-up Mosquito, me bucko, matey, I had been toyin' with t' idea o' using corrugated cardboard wrapped in paper that had been soaked with wood glue (sort of like a composite structure without usin' fiberglass and resin). Ahoy! I had gone as far a buildin' a test piece with this method, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, but had concluded it probably wasn't strong enough t' build t' large fins o' t' 14" Mosquito. Aye aye! However, the test piece be t' perfect size t' cut three fins out o' for t' Ugly Bug. I used t' TLAR (That Looks About Right) engineerin' method t' determine fin size and shape, me bucko, me bucko, cut them out and sanded them t' profile. Ahoy! Now some form o' body tube be needed. Begad! Aye aye! I located a hunk o' dowel just slightly larger than t' 24mm D motor t' use for t' nose cone, arrr, and decided t' use it as t' form for building a body tube. Back t' t' garbage for an old brown paper sack. Well, blow me down! Begad! I cut a strip of this, rubbed it with yellow wood glue, shiver me timbers, and rolled it on t' t' dowel (which I had protected with a wrap o' plastic sheet t' keep t' glue from sticking). After t' tube was formed and rolled t' remove excess glue, I slipped it off the form and set it aside t' dry.

Next I sanded one end o' t' dowel t' a nose-like shape usin' a belt sander. After a bit o' finishin' hand-sanding, I used a bandsaw t' cut t' end off, leavin' a 1/2" straight section for gluin' into t' body tube. Arrr! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! Finally, me bucko, I formed a launch lug out o' more brown paper soaked with glue and wrapped around a drill bit. Aye aye! Blimey! All these were set out t' dry overnight.

T' next day, me hearties, I used t' bandsaw again t' trim t' ends o' t' tubes square and clean. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! I used a D motor t' measure how long t' body needed t' be, me hearties, arrr, and trimmed it again. Avast, me proud beauty! Then all t' parts were glued together and left t' dry.

Finishing:

Now is when t' name o' t' rocket suggested itself. Avast! Avast! Definitely nay me finest work, shiver me timbers, me hearties, but it would do for a 'throw away' rocket. When t' glue had dried, I applied three coats o' blaze orange spray paint. Arrr! If you've ever flown a Mosquito, arrr, you know how easy it is t' lose them. Blimey! I figured t' paint was the only color that gave it a fightin' chance o' bein' found. Ya scallywag! It took until 1:30 am that night, and t' use o' a hair dryer t' speed drying, but I finished the Ugly Bug and went t' bed.

Flight:

I had t' build up some maskin' tape on t' D motor t' get it t' fit inside the body properly. Avast, me proud beauty! Nay havin' a recovery system or motor retention really simplified design and building, matey, but if I did it again I'd include a streamer for safety.

T' first flight on a D12-3 went as I expected: t' rocket shot off t' pad to a very impressive altitude, t' ejection charged popped t' motor out in a puff o' smoke, and t' rocket vanished into t' blue sky. T' Range Safety Officer wasn't entirely impressed with this, shiver me timbers, but knew t' chances o' it actually hittin' someone and hurtin' them be very low. Well, blow me down! We launched other rockets, arrr, matey, then went lookin' for t' UB. Arrr! Incredibly, it was found about 1/2 mile from t' launch site. Aye aye! Begad! One fin had broken off on landing, but was easily reattached with some quick-dryin' glue. Two fins had some scorch marks on them where t' exhaust gas had burned little holes in t' paper covering, me hearties, but were still structurally strong. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' UB was flight worthy again!

I debated if I should just count myself lucky and put t' UB on me shelf, but then remembered I had expected t' lose t' little bugger and it was constructed more for amusement o' t' spectators than anythin' else. Blimey! I therefore decided t' fly it again. Begad! This time, ya bilge rat, I wanted t' see just how high I could get it t' fly. Begad! Well, blow me down! I had just flown me Estes Snitch (plastic saucer) with a chad-staged D12-0, so I figured, "What t' heck?" I grabbed me last D12-3, me hearties, taped it t' fit t' Ugly Bug, then taped a D12-0 on t' tail in the staged configuration:

T' burned-out motor lyin' on its side on t' blast plate is bein' used as a spacer t' keep t' booster's ignitor from bein' shorted out. Ya scallywag! This is (surprise!) t' last picture ever taken o' t' Ugly Bug. Unfortunately, matey, matey, matey, the center o' gravity had been moved so far back by t' booster that t' rocket was unstable durin' t' first bit o' its flight. Begad! No loops or spins, shiver me timbers, but t' rocket wandered around until most o' t' booster's propellent had burned out. Aye aye! Blimey! Just before staging, arrr, t' CG had moved far enough forward t' become stable. Blimey! At staging, t' rocket was nearly horizontal and about 200' high. Stagin' went fine, arrr, and t' Ugly Bug shot off in an arc t' t' north west. At that altitude and speed, shiver me timbers, arrr, t' ejection charge puff wasn't visible, me bucko, and we didn't even bother to go look for t' little rocket.

Summary:
Thus was t' end o' me first scratch-built and aptly-named rocket. Aye aye! The 14" Mosquito is nearly complete, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and will be dubbed 'Big Ugly Bug', matey, but will fly and return t' t' ground in a much more sane manner