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T' followin' be t' HTML
interpretation o' David's PDF submission. Blimey!
Please see t' full PDF HERE (0.4M)
Constructin' the
For t' EMRR BOX-O-Parts
Contest
Muddle through t' Mess
I started by separatin' body tubes in t' groups that could be used as airframes and tubes that where crinkled,dinged, arrr, or dented. Well, blow me down!
This gave me an idea o' t' size and shape I could accomplish. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! My basic concept was for a long and tall rocket. Cluster power be a must. Arrr! I LOVE clusters!
T' Nose Job
I messed around with Nose Cone possibilities. A rocket's nose really determines t' "flavor" o' the build. So with t' cones I received I did some cutting, arrr, shiver me timbers, sandin' and gluing. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' results are photo #2. Begad! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Lookin' a bit like a command module, perhaps windows lookin' out over a nose. Well I guess I'm buildin' a Spacecraft o' sorts. Begad! Blimey!
This is a "BERTHA" BT-60 plastic Nose Cone . Avast, me proud beauty! Turned backwards. Avast! Purple BT-50 nose cone. Ahoy! Base is sawn off and glued t' t' bottom o' t' Bertha cone. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Hopefully this will look somethin' like a Starship cockpit. Well, blow me down! Ahoy!
T' Body Stack
Go big or go Home. Ahoy! Ya scallywag!
I took stock o' all t' possible body tubes I could use t' go as tall as possible. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! Blimey! This photo shows t' Top and Middle sections test fit together. Aye aye! Blimey!
I sorted through t' various centerin' rings in me stack o' stuff and pieced together several sections o' body tube t' assemble t' top stack. Ya scallywag!
This rocket is intended t' separate for recovery at t' point o' t' two different colored BT60 tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' mid section break allows t' rocket t' recover on two separate recovery devices. Blimey! Blimey! This was necessitated by t' limited recovery options that came in me Box-0-stuff. (more on this later.)
Some o' t' steps t' build t' top stack: Short one centerin' ring. So I modified one 20/60
rin' t' a 50/60 ring. Trace inner circle and cut out
Make a BT-60 adapter sleeve. Slice a section o' BT60 tube t' reduce diameter. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! Use t' sliver that was
removed t' brace t' inside o' t' new inner sleeve and glue together. Blimey! This makes t' whole Top Section like one long
nose cone. Ahoy!
More Top Section Assembly. Arrr!
The
BT50 Stack Middle Rin' is Just for looks (pictured left)
Recovery would be t' biggest issue. Avast, me proud beauty! My Box-O-Stuff had One fat elastic cord. Avast! (below right)
I want t' go BIG.... Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! so, I split t' cord in half Lengthwise, givin' me two thinner elastics but still have the longest possible length. In this photo (below center) one half o' this cord is pushed through a slot in t' BT50 body tube. Blimey! Tie a fat knot in t' elastic and I'm off t' t' next step.
Next I have t' fill t' top BT50 section so it will separate at ejection. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! So I tore up some o' t' shippin' box. Soaked t' torn bits in water, me hearties, me hearties, then mixed t' wet pulp with glue. Stuffed t' glue/pulp mixture in t' base o' t' tube to form a plug (above right). Begad! This method works well. Avast, me proud beauty! You have t' watch t' moisture in t' pulp mix so it does not warp t' tube. Ahoy! This also takes a wile t' dry. Ahoy!
Lookin' into t' bottom o' t' top stack. Begad! Blimey! You see t' BT60 adapter sleeve, arrr, t' Elastic Cord and t' bottom
of t' BT50 centerin' rin' and Glue/shredded box WAD. Begad! Blimey!
On t' t' Bottom section assembly. Ya scallywag! Blimey!
Well, for t' lower section I have t' connect some BT60 tube t' some BT70. Avast, me proud beauty!
No 60/70 centerin' rings in t' Box-O-junk, so I whip out me trusty, rusty compass draw and cut some rings from t' shippin' box. Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey!
Motor Mount
Coffee Cup With shred-obox soakin' in water.
My Box-o-goodness did nay contain any 18mm tube. Aye aye! So this one gets 24mm main motors (three o' them). Just for kicks I added three 13mm mounts along side. Well, blow me down! Test fit t' motor tubes. Begad! Then started shreddin' t' Shippin' box again. Blimey! I use the shreds,soaked in water t' soften them up, matey, then rin' them out and soak them in glue. Ahoy! Gluey shreds are then used to stuff t' voids betwixt t' Motor tubes and Main body tube. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty!
Motor mount continued.
Motor mount fillets dryin' (above right). Well, blow me down! Blimey! In t' "custom" motor mount dryin' apparatus a.k.a. Arrr! Blimey! a Dunki'n Donuts cup! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey!
A lovely Gluey mass o' shredded box applied t' t' motor mount and lower body tube.
I better make some fins for this thing.
Looks like I have a full set o' pre-cut "Bertha" fins. Aye aye! (Actually I think I have at least one whole
bertha)
But those Balsa fins may nay be strong enough for a cluster. So I use a precut fin as a template t' cut out some fins from t' balsa sheet in t' box. Begad! Then I laminate these fins so they are double thickness and hopefully quite strong. Aye aye!
Fins t' t' left, fins t' t' right....... Avast! Well, blow me down!
T' lower section nearly complete. Ya scallywag!
More lower section. Arrr!
In these photos you can see t' detail o' t' "Warp Ring"
Warp Rin' is made up o' a plastic garden light fixture. Aye aye! (I know this because I got some o' me own parts back!)
T' inside diameter o' t' plastic rin' is much larger than t' bt70 tube. Aye aye! So I pulled some small body tube that I believe is BT-4 and cut it t' several short lengths. Well, blow me down! This BT-4 was squish-fit betwixt t' Plastic rin' and t' outside of t' body tube. Begad! With t' small tubes and plastic rin' in place it was actually easy t' slide t' whole assembly (not yet glued together) down t' BT70 body tube. Once I had everythin' where I wanted it I glued it all in place. With some patience and a few toothpicks o' course. Ahoy!
Recoverin' from Recovery
Official shop shot o' t' "parawing-gle"
My box-0-stuffin' was kind o' short on recovery options. Avast! Blimey! It did have two plastic chutes. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! But only had shroud lines for one! Blimey! I will brin' t' top half down on t' regular 18 inch plastic chute that was in t' box-o-lovely. Ya scallywag! Blimey! But the lower section... that would be harder. Hmmmm? Streamer, boring! Blimey! How about some sort o' para wing?
O.K. this made me get creative. Avast! Some where in t' TRF discussions it be asked if addin' tape would be legal. Ya scallywag! Tape was o.k.ed so with ample amounts o' scotch tape I fashioned this "Parawing-gle" type thing. Avast, me proud beauty!
Parts for t' Parawing-gle thing:
Many hours were spent on this. Well, blow me down! Mostly worryin' time rather than workin' time. Ahoy! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! My greatest hope was that this would work at least as good as a streamer.
T' big payoff!!
Launched 07-06-08 From Cape Cod Space Center
Nothin' like pushin' that deadline!
Nice liftoff, nice flight! Loaded in three C11-3's and three A10PT's. Arrr! This rocket really needs "D" power but this was good for t' small field we where on. Five o' t' six motors lit. All but one A-10.
O.k. Begad! Begad! recovery. Arrr! Aye aye! Top half be just fine on a regular chute. Blimey! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Bottom half came in a bit fast on t' Parawingle -thingle. Which became more like a big para wad o' molten doom! But it did slow it down. Ya scallywag!
T' aftermath. Blimey! Minor damage. One "fin ring" slightly bent. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! One detail on that fin fell off
Overview and final thoughts.
This was a very cool contest. Ya scallywag! I would definitely try this again. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag!
My only real wish is that we could add strin' (shroud line) if we needed it. Aye aye! But hey, no one said this was easy! Blimey!
Over all Flight ratin' 4... it could use more power.
Overall Recovery ratin' 3. Needs proper chutes
But this is a far better performin' rocket than I thought it would be. Avast, me proud beauty! It will definitely fly again. Ahoy! Avast!
Things I will change, (with me own parts):
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