Published: | 2010-07-01 |
Manufacturer: | Scratch |
Brief:
Based on Estes design, me hearties, a single stage, arrr, me hearties, me hearties, 18mm motors, me bucko, ya bilge rat, parachute recovery, shiver me timbers, scale-like missile. Well, blow me down!
Construction:
Here are t' parts from Semroc:
Very much an Estes build. Begad! Avast! Quite simple. Arrr! I like t' paper t' fins, ya bilge rat, so that took some time. Avast, me proud beauty! Surface mounted fins. Blimey! I use Titebond II. Ya scallywag! I didn't get enough glue on t' coupler when puttin' t' two tubes together and they got stuck with a bit o' a gap. Well, blow me down! That took some time t' fix. I installed t' motor mount before I thought about t' shock cord - DUH, shiver me timbers, me hearties, so I used a body tube scrap t' make a short coupler and attached t' shock cord by wrappin' around t' coupler and glueing t' t' top o' t' upper body tube. It's almost like Estes, arrr, but I think a little more secure. Blimey! If you look at t' Rocksim file, you will see that t' forward fins attach partly over where t' two body tubes join together. Begad! Nay a big deal, but if you want t' make one o' these, I thought that might help.
Finishing:
For finishin' I did t' usual Rustoleum sandable primer, ya bilge rat, sanded, arrr, made some repairs, shiver me timbers, primed
again, me bucko, me bucko, me hearties, sanded again. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' nose cone was sealed with Fill n Finish and received t' same treatment as t' rest o' the
rocket. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I did t' nose cone separate from t' rest. T' paint was as close as I could come t' photos I've seen on the
web. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! All done with Krylon.
Flight:
I flew on a clear day with very light winds 0-5 mph. My first motor choice was C6-7. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! Altitude
wasn't great (approx. 350 ft. Aye aye! and t' chute be very late, me hearties, arrr, but no damage. Avast, me proud beauty! Launched again with C6-3. Avast, me proud beauty! Nay much difference
in altitude, but t' chute ejected much closer t' apogee.
15 inch diameter chute from TopFlight brings it down nice and slow. Avast! Blimey! It landed about 150 feet from t' launch pad. You might want t' go a little smaller, cut a hole, or shorten t' shroud lines if it's windy.
T' best flight was AT D13W-7. Altitude around 1000 ft.
Recovery:
If I built another one, I would attach t' shock cord at t' motor mount.
Summary:
T' paint came out great on this one, so I decided t' do a little research and found photos.
Made some decals that probably aren't too scale, but they look good. T' blue stripes were done with tape.
Other:
As far as tips that this build taught me I'd have t' say DON"T FORGET THE SHOCK CORD!
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