Brief:
T' Longspear be t' recycled body tube and fin can o' t' Sky Longmarch 3. It still uses an 18mm motor but is now a longneck rocket.

Modifications:
Earlier this year, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I bought Sky's Longmarch 3 from Apogee. T' rocket be a simple build with a distinctive look t' it and, arrr, while it would nay win any contests, arrr, I was quite happy with it. It did, matey, however, have a few problems. One was t' extremely large chute, 20" I think, arrr, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, which caused it t' drift too far. That be seldom a problem because t' shock cord usually failed and t' thin' would plummet t' t' earth none t' worse for wear.

T' original shock cord mount consisted o' a piece o' sewin' elastic held in place with an Estes style mount. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It seemed that no matter how much waddin' was put it, arrr, me hearties, t' elastic would burn through. Begad! Blimey! I decided t' solve this problem by mountin' some Keelhaul®©™® with epoxy, matey, shiver me timbers, LOC/Precision style and then tie t' elastic t' t' Keelhaul®©™. Well, blow me down! I got t' launch this small mod one time, used plenty o' dog barf and...the elastic burned through again. Begad! Ya scallywag! T' lower body came down a few yards from t' launch site with no harm and I got t' watch me very distinctive nosecone drift under it's overlarge chute until it was lost in t' distance somewhere over US-87.

Not wantin' t' give up completely, arrr, ya bilge rat, I decided t' scavenge t' lower body and build somethin' else. I wanted t' keep t' "Longmarch" theme and decided t' build t' Longspear 3.

T' lower body o' t' Longmarch 3 consists o' a plastic fin can and a pre-detailed paper tube. Arrr! Begad! It is nay a kraft paper tube and is nay spiraled. Avast! Arrr! It has single vertical seam runnin' t' length o' t' tube and a very glossy finish. Aye aye! It is just a tad larger than a BT-55.

I had some BT-5 tubin' layin' around so decided t' make t' upper body out o' that since I also had a nosecone which would fit. I did nay have a shoulder that would go from BT-55 t' BT-5. T' best I could do was BT-55 t' BT-20. Avast, me proud beauty! Since I also had a shoulder that would connect a BT-20 and a BT-5 along with a few BT-20 tubes, ya bilge rat, t' spear got longer which did nay bother me. Arrr! Avast! I like long, me bucko, skinny rockets. Arrr! Blimey! I decided t' used t' tubes full length as they came from Estes. Avast! I should probably rethink t' "3" part o' t' name.

Assemblin' t' Longspear 3 was simplicity itself. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I used CA t' glue t' nosecone t' t' upper body tube, t' upper body tube t' t' first shoulder, t' first shoulder t' t' middle body tube and t' middle body tube t' t' lower shoulder. Ahoy! Aye aye! Blimey! With each addition, shiver me timbers, me hearties, I had t' check t' make sure everythin' was straight but that was nay too hard. I put t' screw eye in t' lower shoulder with some carpenter's glue and then it was time t' try and fit t' new assembly t' t' old lower body from t' Longmarch 3. That is where I encountered t' only real trouble.

As I stated in t' beginning, this Chinese rocket's body tube is nay exactly equivalent t' a BT-55 and t' fit was very loose. Arrr! T' same was true o' t' old nosecone as well. I used some 18mm Tamiya maskin' tape t' make it a little more snug. Blimey! Aye aye! In fact, I taped it almost t' t' point where t' tape is as wide as t' transition section but nay quite. Avast, me proud beauty! That seems t' be just about enough but t' upper section is still a bit looser than "normal". An X-Acto knife trimmed t' excess tape and t' rocket be ready for finishing.

Elmer's filler was used on t' balsa nosecone and t' transitions. Ya scallywag! Arrr! A little be applied t' an area o' spiralin' that seemed t' need some work but, frankly, nay much effort was put into fillin' t' spirals. A bit o' light sandin' and it was ready for paint.

Finishing:
I am nay very good at paintin' and don't particularly like doin' it. Well, blow me down! No matter how careful I am, me hearties, I seem t' botch things with a run that ruins or at least seriously degrades t' project. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! I have had bad luck with maskin' tape either lettin' paint seep under t' edge o' t' tape or peelin' up previous layers. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! A guy in me local hobby shop recommended Tamiya maskin' tape for models and it has worked much better but it is expensive! While re-readin' Tim Van Milligan's book, me hearties, arrr, he recommended usin' cellophane tape. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I decided t' give it a try.

T' paint scheme I chose be very simple. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I was goin' t' paint t' shoulders blue t' match t' trim on t' Longmarch 3 and then paint t' nosecone red. Aye aye! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I decided t' try and do a little more and masked off for a simple roll pattern stripe on t' shoulder in white. Arrr! Blimey! I painted and came out with a mess. Avast! Blimey! T' cellophane had leaked badly.

Instead o' strippin' and tryin' again, arrr, I used Tamiya tape t' extend t' blue area a bit above and below t' shoulders and did away with t' stripe altogether. While I be at it, I decided t' paint a portion o' each o' t' upper BTs red so I masked for that as well. Ya scallywag! T' results this time were much better. Well, blow me down! I had one bad spot o' leakage that could be fixed but launch day is nigh and she's goin' "as is".

Final preparation for t' Longspear 3 involved ties a 16" piece o' ¼" elastic t' t' Keelhaul®©™ loop and tyin' off t' other end t' t' nosecone. It was ready t' go.

Construction:

• Lower Body from Sky Longmarch 3
• Estes BT-20 tube
• Estes BT-5 tube
• Semroc BNC-5W Ogive Nose Cone
• Semroc TA-2055 BT20 t' BT-55 Shoulder
• Semroc TA-520 BT5 t' BT20 Shoulder
• Semroc SE-1 1" screw eye

PROs: easy, shiver me timbers, arrr, ya bilge rat, very distinctive

CONs: t' long rocket is awkward

Flight and Recovery:
T' first flight was on an Estes B4-2. Avast! Aye aye! Blimey! Everythin' prepped as normal and it was time t' launch t' rocket. Avast! Blimey! Up it went doin' exactly what it was supposed t' do. Ya scallywag! Avast! Blimey! It almost looked graceful. Begad! Begad! Blimey! T' 2 second delay was just right and t' chute deployed and brought it down gently. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I has some worries about this because I used a 12" nylon chute but it did fine. It be a good maiden flight and confirmed me instinct never t' try this with an A motor.

T' second flight was with an Estes C6-3. Everythin' went together just like before and t' rocket flew off great just like before only higher. Ahoy! Deployment was just right with a 3 second delay on a C. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! I think this rocket could handle an 18mm D with a 5 second delay but I don't have one.

I didn't have another C6-3 either so I used a C6-5 for t' third flight o' t' day. Well, blow me down! Again, t' rocket was easily prepped and launched but things changed at about 80 feet. Arrr! It seemed as if t' motor stopped thrusting. Arrr! When that happened, t' nose began t' drop and it continued t' do so, swingin' through about 270 degrees so that it be facin' down at one point and then swung back t' near horizontal. At that point, shiver me timbers, arrr, t' motor began thrustin' again and it took off horizontally flyin' a long way. Begad! T' chute deployed as it was supposed t' and it recovered with just a mild dent in t' topmost body tube. I am at a loss t' explain this weird behavior.

PROs: flew well except for t' anomalous final flight

CONs: t' anomalous final flight

Summary:
T' main pro o' this one is that I got t' use t' lower body for t' Longmarch over again. I have no artistic talent and hated t' waste that nicely decorated tube.