SANDMAN

Dennis "Doctor DynaSoar" McClain-Furmanski's Descon-14 Entry

Leftest: Three versions, original left most
Midleft: Sandman with nosecone and 2nd stage
Top center: Nose cone
Bottom center: first 3-to1 payload transition
Right: Business end

T' Sandman be t' first o' a series o' minimum diameter cluster designs intended t' test t' scalin' up o' an airframe while only scalin' up t' higher power buildin' techniques as testin' proves necessary. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Essentially, ya bilge rat, it is buildin' for performance while combatin' overbuilding. Materials are all "model rocket" quality, light paper tubes, shiver me timbers, me bucko, arrr, medium weight balsa or basswood, and wood glue. Avast! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey!

T' core o' t' design is 3 clustered 24mm tubes. Blimey! Blimey! This provides 2/3 o' the frontal cross section as a single tube containin' t' motor tubes. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' maintain the benefit in lower drag, different configurations o' three-to-one tube complex curved transitions have been sculpted, as has a nose cone for testing without payload sections. Ahoy! Blimey!

T' airframe is three 24mm tubes glued together along their 30 t' 34" length. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Except for motor and recovery equipment areas, me bucko, t' tubes have been drilled along their contact lines so t' glue can "rivet" through these. Avast! Aye aye! Blimey! Three fillets t' full length o' t' tube offer a great deal o' strength to t' airframe. Well, blow me down! (Interestin' aside: t' first model was left on top a hot car roof durin' a launch. Ya scallywag! Blimey! An hour later it had a 10 degree curve along t' body. This remained t' next day after it had cooled. Avast, me proud beauty! I thought it be ruined. Ya scallywag! A week later, matey, with no effort applied at all it be perfectly straight again, me bucko, and eventually flew beautifully. This leads one t' wonder how often t' old LPR technique o' straightenin' misaligned fins by heatin' t' glue fillets over a light bulb resulted eventually became misaligned again.)

Engine mountin' is Estes E size (3.75") engine hooks topped with a 20/50 centerin' rin' as an engine block. Hook ends are t' t' inside o' the cluster and a small slice o' 24mm tube is glued over t' top o' t' hook as an anchor. Aye aye! Aye aye! Shock cord is doubled loop ¼" elastic mounted 4 inches inside one o' t' tubes. Arrr! Avast! T' other tubes contain chutes and/or streamers. Aye aye!

T' fins, balsa or basswood, me bucko, are sanded t' a sharp edge on t' root and glued betwixt two tubes. Begad! This increases t' surface area o' t' fin contacting body tube, increasin' adhesion. Aye aye! Fillets are wood glue. T' first version required repeated puncturin' and fillin' in o' bubbles in t' fillets due to the large amount o' glue used, especially on t' fillets betwixt tubes. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! This was prevented on t' others by doin' t' fillets in many layers. Avast! Arrr! Launch lugs are glued against one fin root, ya bilge rat, and with t' addition o' a piece o' dowel between t' tubes as a stand off, ya bilge rat, near t' top o' t' body. Blimey!

Finishin' is first, arrr, spray lacquer sandin' sealer, me bucko, arrr, on everything. Blimey! Ahoy! Fins are sanded and a second coat is added and sanded. Ya scallywag! Begad! Then primer, followed by white satin finish, arrr, covered with black gloss (except booster, which is flat black "high heat" stove paint and fluorescent orange). Well, blow me down! Well, me hearties, blow me down! T' payload sections are painted (and named) gray, matey, t' match t' Sandman costumes in "Logan's Run", shiver me timbers, blue red and white o' t' Russian flag (named "Mechtayu", meanin' t' dream) and t' traditional four colors o' t' four races from Native American history (named "Dreamcatcher"). Avast, me proud beauty!

First flight o' t' Sandman was with t' nose cone instead o' payload section, on three C5-3's in 18 t' 24mm adapters. Arrr! Begad! T' flight was flawless and higher than expected. Ya scallywag! At ejection, t' parachute failed t' open. Avast, me proud beauty! However, the large size but light weight allowed t' rocket t' float slowly down horizontally, me bucko, arrr, and it suffered no damage. T' second flight was on three E9-6's. Due t' wind, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and t' testin' with several rockets previous t' t' flight, it was launched upwind. Blimey! Blimey! Again t' flight was flawless, matey, but again t' chute didn't open, however it did display t' same gentle horizontal descent. Begad! Due t' the trajectory, it landed in an inaccessible swamp. Ya scallywag! T' lesson learned is, me bucko, 24mm is hard on plastic chutes. Arrr! Unless thar's a significant payload, streamers may be enough for this rocket; weight with payload section before loadin' engines is from 6 t' 7 ounces. Avast, me proud beauty! A streamer will definitely be used on t' two stage test, when six E9 engines will push a total o' 171 n/s. After these are fully tested repeated and examined for stress damage, matey, shiver me timbers, t' next versions will be 29mm with enough engine space for t' longest available 29mm motors. Begad! Both wood glue and epoxy versions will be built for comparison testing. Arrr!