Well, I just finished one o' me more rewardin' projects, that bein' a flyin' V-1 Buzz Bomb. Ya scallywag! Arrr! A friend o' mine is into vacu-formin' styrene, and made up t' body and pulse jet intake on a wood lathe, and molded me some pieces, me hearties, me bucko, on t' condition I would try t' see if I could make it fly. Ya scallywag! Dry weight was goin' t' be around 11oz.

I used a 24mm motor tube (aerotech) and installed a thrust ring, arrr, ya bilge rat, and motor hook held in with fiberglass tape and CA. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I decided on makin' t' wings and tail and pulse jet supports out o' 1/8" basswood, matey, matey, for it's strength nay much less than plywood, arrr, and a weight nay much more than balsa. Avast, me proud beauty! I glued t' wings and tail surfaces and filleted t' t' 24mm core tube. Since this be a home built mold, matey, thar were some imperfections in t' moldin' t' be worked around, arrr, arrr, and it took a while t' trim them so t' two halves o' t' body and pulse jet were flush. 

I fitted t' two halves o' t' pulse jet intake, ya bilge rat, and made a centerin' rin' out o' styrene t' center t' Estes BT-60 for t' outlet pipe. Aye aye! Blimey! It runs t' full length o' t' pulsejet, and is slotted t' allow t' supports t' run through t' wall and glue on t' inside opposite wall o' t' pulsejet. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' pulsejet is hollow, and these supports act as fins inside t' tube, as well as make it strong. Avast! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I glued a coupler in t' aft end o' t' BT-60 t' strengthen it.

I fitted t' styrene body halves, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and glued tabs inside t' locate t' halves together, ya bilge rat, and slotted them for t' wings, shiver me timbers, tail, and forward pulsejet support. I tied a piece o' 90# dacron fishin' line around t' 24mm tube, just forward o' t' forward pulse jet intake for shock line attachment. Aye aye! At this point t' back half hangs slightly tail down for a flat landin' t' minimize win' and tail damage.

I used a styrene forward centerin' rin' since it wasn't takin' any real structural strain. Ya scallywag! I reinforced t' forward end o' t' styrene with another strip o' styrene 3/4" wide glued inside after cuttin' off t' cone section 1" forward o' t' leadin' edge o' t' wings. Begad! Well, blow me down! I reinforced t' lip o' t' cone, and glued another 1.5" strip inside t' cone t' make a shoulder. 

I ran VCP on t' model usin' t' wings as fin set 1, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and t' tail elevators as fin set 2, and neglectin' t' pulse jet, arrr, ya bilge rat, since it would move t' CP back anyway, shiver me timbers, and was unsymmetric. Begad! VCP showed a CP o' midpoint o' t' wings, matey, arrr, me bucko, which is what I would expect for an airplane (from me RC experience). Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! I set t' CG around 1" forward o' t' wings RTF givin' me more than 1 caliber, and which corresponds with other peoples experience with gettin' winged vehicles t' fly upward with stability. Finished empty weight came out as 9 oz., with 8oz o' lead shot and epoxy needed in t' nose for balance. Avast, me proud beauty! This is a lot, but fits in with me original plan t' use 24mm E-15, shiver me timbers, 18's, me bucko, and F-24, shiver me timbers, 39's. Final weight with motor and chutes was 19oz. Blimey! Length is 23" for t' body, 27" for total, arrr, me hearties, arrr, 17" wingspan, arrr, shiver me timbers, 3.5" chord, ya bilge rat, 7" tail span. Begad! Avast! I used t' Fi103A1 format which had shorter wings than t' later versions, and moved them back 1/2". Arrr! T' tail cone exit diameter should really be BT-55. Well, blow me down! Body diameter is 3" at t' widest part.

I decided t' cut off t' back end o' t' body and have t' motor tube stick out the  back, shiver me timbers, so I wouldn't have t' fight asymmetric thrust as well as drag, me hearties, and It is hard t' tell t' difference when you look at t' model.

I rigged t' nose and body t' come down separately, me hearties, ya bilge rat, with a 22" nylon for t' bottom, and a 20" xform for t' nose. T' chutes fit in t' hollow nose. Avast! T' 1/8" plywood forward bulkhead in t' nose is just behind t' nose weight. This allows plenty o' room for t' two chutes, and 3/8" elastic. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! I rigged t' bottom chute forward, with t' nose chute behind, so they would both get pulled out. Ya scallywag! I used a 9/32" id brass tube as a launch lug, on t' bottom just behind t' nose cone joint, matey, since it be t' only place on t' body that was parallel t' t' flyin' surfaces.

Flight was on a foggy calm day with ceilin' around 600'. Blimey! Boost was vertical for t' first 150' or so, shiver me timbers, then archin' toward t' pulse jet around 15-20 degrees for t' rest o' t' boost. Begad! I cut down t' delay from t' E-18-7(8) 1/4" which gave me a 4 second delay (boy these delays are out o' whack) This was from experience. Avast, me proud beauty! It arched over, and ejected perfectly.

On recovery I saw some damage t' t' body plastic which had been torn. Blimey! Avast! I thought it was t' recovery line attach point through t' plastic which had done it, shiver me timbers, but on inspection I noticed that t' forward centerin' rin' be torn in half, me bucko, and part was missing. Blimey! Ya scallywag! I discovered t' problem. Begad! Begad! Since I didn't think t' forward rin' would take any structural force, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I didn't put a fillet behind t' ring, and relied on t' lip reinforcement t' hold it from goin' forward.

T' ejection charge was so forceful (the cap supplied with t' reload kit) that t' heavy nose resisted ejection, and t' centerin' be blown backwards inside t' body shell. Ya scallywag! Once that happened t' body blow out a side portion behind t' wing. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! We taped t' body back with maskin' tape, ya bilge rat, and flew again on an F-39. Begad! This accelerates faster, and due t' t' larger drag at higher speed, me hearties, arced a little more than t' E-18. Blimey! Blimey! T' V-1 had a half roll on t' way up, t' horizontal flight at t' top, arrr, me hearties, and a slow half roll arcin' over t' ejection. Arrr! Recovery was fine this time with no more damage.

I got out t' heat cannon at home, and removed t' remains for o' centerin' ring, which was held in place with 5 min. Arrr! epoxy around t' motor tube, replaced it with 1/8" plywood, me bucko, matey, and fixed t' hairline cracks with liquid styrene cement. Ahoy! It is now RTF and good as new.

This was a really fun, and rewardin' project. Ya scallywag! T' rocket performed better than I thought, me hearties, due t' t' asymmetric drag. Avast! Blimey! This be t' second time I have used styrene, and it is a nice way t' make complicated shapes, matey, and is easy t' work with. T' first time was t' Estes Space Shuttle, which flew really well, matey, but t' thin styrene was tricky t' get together. Aye aye! It really looked awesome goin' over t' top like an airplane. Well, blow me down! Only thin' missin' be t' buzzing. Blimey! A larger version with a Hypertek hybrid would sound about right:) A little bit larger, and I think an RC version could be worked out with micro servos. Begad! I'm surprised I haven't seen a ducted fan RC Buzz Bomb, since it be t' perfect model with t' engine in a separate pod, easy t' get at, arrr, has a rather large wing, me bucko, and t' buzzin' would sound great. Begad! Takin' off from a carriage, and landin' on t' belly, ya bilge rat, or with rudimentary wheels.

Now I can paint t' model, and I have some still pictures, and an attempt at gettin' liftoff, me bucko, me hearties, and as soon as I get them developed, matey, I'll put them on me web page.

My friend has already done a D powered Natter, now with our 7.6", 5.5", me hearties, 4", 2.6", and 2" V-2's, and t' V-1, me bucko, arrr, we are gettin' a little one sided on t' German side, me hearties, so we are goin' t' try a 4" X-15 usin' Vacu-formin' for t' body shells, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and win' skins.

Hope this was interesting.