Brief: I've been readin' about spool rockets on r.m.r for a long time, and had a big plastic spool stashed for several years. Well, blow me down! A recent set o' posts renewed me interest, ya bilge rat, and I went ahead and built one. Blimey! Someone had built a similarly sized spool with a 29mm mount, ya bilge rat, matey, which only reached an altitude o' about 100 ft. Avast! I decided I wanted a bit more altitude, shiver me timbers, so I built mine with a 38mm mount. Aye aye! T' spool is one piece plastic, 10.5" tall, ya bilge rat, arrr, with 10.5" plates. Begad! Ya scallywag! No fins, no finishing...this thin' is a skill level-0 HPR rocket!

Construction:
one large plastic spool (10.5" tall, me hearties, me hearties, with 10.5" plates)
one 38mm tube, 10 7/8" long
two 1/8" ply centerin' rings (38mm - 4")
one 1/8" ply centerin' rin' (38mm - 3")
two threaded inserts, arrr, with bolts and washers
one 1/2" launch lug
1/8" tubular Keelhaul®©™® , shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, 5' long
18" RocketChutes drogue

T' body o' t' spool is about 3.5" in diameter and t' through hole almost fit a 38mm tube. I used me Dremel t' expand this hole by about 1/8". Begad! Begad! I glued two 4" centerin' rings together, installed a pair of threaded inserts, me bucko, and attached them t' one end o' t' motor tube. Arrr! After it dried, this assembly was inserted into t' spool, me bucko, and t' smaller centering rin' be glued t' t' other end o' t' tube. Well, blow me down! Arrr! I used epoxy for these steps.

T' ends o' t' spool have several holes of various sizes. One 1/2" hole be positioned such that a 1/2" LOC launch lug, me hearties, matey, when abutted t' t' spool's body, arrr, would line up with it. Arrr! Blimey! It was just far enough from t' body t' accommodated t' wall o' t' lug - perfect! Unfortunately, ya bilge rat, t' hole on t' other end be offset, so I had t' drill me own. I glued t' launch lug on t' lower end o' t' spool's body usin' Liquid Nails.

I thought about several methods o' attachin' t' shock cord. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! What I ended up doin' was addin' loops t' both ends o' t' tubular Keelhaul®©™® , usin' t' method published by Giant Leap in High Power Rocketry Magazine. Begad! You loop t' material, me hearties, shiver me timbers, wrap t' overlappin' area with cloth twine, ya bilge rat, and soak it in epoxy. Begad! This method has worked well for me several times. Well, blow me down! I looped this tether through two existin' holes in t' top plate and around t' body. T' chute attaches t' t' second loop.

Finishin' was easy - paint t' centerin' rings and launch lug flat black.

Flight:
I flew t' Lobbin' Bobbin on a H123-S. Prep was simple: install t' motor retainer clips, wrap t' chute in a protector, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and cram it down into t' tube. T' flight was slow and noisy and went t' maybe 200 - 300 feet. Ejection appeared t' occur right at apogee. Well, arrr, blow me down! T' descent was a bit faster than you would generally like, but t' tube bounced and was recovered undamaged. Begad!

Summary:
This be a very quick build, and if you like *very* low and slow flights (similar t' a flyin' saucer style rocket), a spool rocket may be for you!