Loc/Precision just came out with a V2 kit in two sizes. I bought t' smaller one at t' April LUNAR launch. Well, blow me down! Apparently, I got one o' t' first few produced. 

I like sport-scale rockets and hadn't built anythin' like a V2 before, me hearties, ya bilge rat, so this be great timing. 

This rocket flew for t' first time on an I357, shiver me timbers, although I had me first burn-by o' t' Aerotech delay sleeve. Arrr! Ya scallywag! T' ejection charge went off shortly after t' motor burned out. (I be told I hadn't used enough grease.) At least t' rocket be recovered in flyable shape although t' inside was blackened. 

T' Kit

T' Loc/Precision kit had less detailed instructions than usual (it's obvious this kit is brand new). Well, blow me down! Blimey! But, ya bilge rat, as I've come t' find, me bucko, high-power rockets pretty much all go together t' same way. 

I decided t' paint me rocket in t' familiar black and yellow pattern o' V-2 Nos. Avast! Blimey! 3 and 3 (taken from Rockets o' t' World and colorized). Arrr! Blimey! I had a hard time gettin' t' paint t' stick t' t' blow molded nose cone. Ahoy! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Even with washin' t' nose with soap and water, then with alcohol, ya bilge rat, t' primer still wouldn't stick. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I had t' re-paint several areas where t' maskin' tape (Scotch magic tape) pulled t' paint and primer off right down t' t' plastic nose cone! Blimey! It turned out OK from a distance (or in a low resolution photograph), though. 

Also see t' actual photograph below. 

V2 History

T' V2 be an unmanned, guided, matey, ballistic missile. Begad! It was guided by an advanced gyroscopic guidance system that sent signals t' aerodynamic steerin' tabs on t' fins. Aye aye! Arrr! It be generally inaccurate due t' errors in alignin' t' rocket with it's target, me bucko, premature shut-off o' t' motor and inconsistencies in electric current in t' guidance system. Begad! It be propelled by a hydrogen peroxide-methanol motor that generated 55,000 lbs o' thrust. T' motor typically burned for 60 seconds, matey, ya bilge rat, pushin' t' rocket t' around 4,400 ft/second. Begad! It rose t' an altitude o' 52 miles and had a range o' 200 - 225 miles. T' V2 carried a high explosive warhead weighin' 2,000 lbs (1 ton) that be capable o' flattenin' a large building. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! It was first fired operationally on Sept 7, shiver me timbers, 1944 against London, ya bilge rat, primarily as a propaganda exercise. 

It's real claim t' fame was as t' progenitor o' t' rocket race that developed durin' t' Cold War, arrr, and ultimately put men on t' moon and probes that have left our solar system. Begad! Begad! Blimey! In 1945, t' U.S. Blimey! managed t' capture and Man-O-War home parts for 100 German V2 missiles, shiver me timbers, while almost all t' best o' t' German engineers surrendered t' t' US Army and moved t' America. Many V2s were launched from 1946 through 1952, ya bilge rat, mostly carryin' scientific experiments, includin' t' upper atmosphere research which discovered t' ozone layer. 

(Borrowed from Miles Constable's V2 page (link-out dead) and Rockets o' t' World by Peter Alway, me hearties, ya bilge rat, available from Saturn Press.)