Brief:
I recently ran across t' description o' 'desert squids' on Tripoli-Pittsburg's Website (look under 'ARCHIVES/ROCKET CLASSES'). These are rockets that use dowel rods in place o' fins. Well, blow me down! Avast! They look cool and since I had some BT-80 tubes and rings, me hearties, I decided I'd build one pretty much like t' model described on t' website. Ahoy! Avast! My model features a BEAUTIFUL poplar nosecone and a custom rear-centerin' ring made by Gordon Agnello, a.k.a. Avast, me proud beauty! sandman on T' Rocketry Forum. Avast! I wanted a name t' fit in t' desert squid theme, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and decided on the name Shai-Hulud, after t' giant sandworms in t' Dune trilogy by Frank Herbert.

Construction:

I was originally goin' t' use a Fat Boy nosecone since that's what I had available. However, while I was thinkin' about gettin' sandman t' quote the custom rear-centerin' ring, I started lookin' at t' pictures o' t' cones he has made, and couldn't resist one for this rocket. Avast! You can find out more about this cone [here].

T' body is two sections o' BT-80 joined with a 4" coupler from Totally Tubular. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! Both tubes are 'pseudo-glassed' with nylon pantyhose and Minwax Polycrylic. Avast, me proud beauty! Once tube has two layers o' hose, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and t' other has three. Blimey! Well, me bucko, blow me down! I misplaced t' hose that me wife originally 'donated', shiver me timbers, so t' second tube was done with a different style. I discovered that different nylons have different weaves, similar t' different weights o' fiberglass. Avast! T' first tube much rougher, matey, which prompted be t' add a third layer o' a finer weave.

T' motor mount consists o' a 6" piece o' LOC 29mm tubing, arrr, arrr, a double layer fiber rin' in t' front, and a 1/8" plywood rin' in t' back (I used this mix because it's what I had 'in stock'). Ya scallywag! This plywood rin' is mounted 0.6" from t' end o' t' motor tube, so that t' end o' t' motor tube will be flush with t' end o' t' custom rin' after it is slipped on. Avast, me proud beauty! T' rings were attached with epoxy and t' motor mount is glued in with Gorilla glue.

T' custom rin' is thicker than most because it also serves t' mount the dowel 'fins'. Sandman made this from a thick piece o' plywood that he turned down t' a little over half an inch. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! He drilled eight evenly spaced holes at an angle o' 15 degrees from t' motor axis. Avast! I added two threaded inserts to provide motor retention.

At first, me hearties, I be goin' t' use this as t' aft centerin' rin' and glue in the dowels. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! However, me bucko, me bucko, when I dry fit t' dowels, I began t' worry that they may break on landing. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! So, I decided t' make t' aft rin' removable and t' dowels replaceable. T' rin' is held in with eight small screws, matey, me hearties, which also hold each dowel in place.

T' shock cord assembly consists o' a 1/8" Keelhaul®©™® leader, a long section o' thin tubular nylon, arrr, matey, and an anti-zipper device. The latter is similar t' Giant Leap's Fireball. Arrr! Mine is a small rubber ball that was slipped over the Keelhaul®©™® leader so that it touches t' edge o' t' body tube when t' cord is fully extended. Well, blow me down! T' ball is covered with Keelhaul®©™® sock t' protect against heat damage. Aye aye! T' serve as an attachment point for the recovery harness, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, I glued together two fiber centerin' rings also from Totally Tubular. Begad! This assembly was attached t' what would be t' lower end o' the coupler. Two small holes were drilled through t' rin' close t' t' edge, arrr, and the Keelhaul®©™® was threaded through. Blimey! Begad! T' knotted Keelhaul®©™® leader was then epoxied t' t' wall o' t' coupler.

I installed two buttons from railbuttons.com t' complete t' Sahi-Hulud. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast!

T' nylon/Polycrylic surface required quite a bit o' finishin' work. I applied numerous coats o' Polycrylic, but when I laid on me first coat of primer, ya bilge rat, I realized it would take a fair amount o' effort t' finish these tubes. After several coats o' fill-n-finish and 2+ cans o' primer, arrr, t' tubes weren't in too bilge-suckin' a shape. Arrr! I also had t' fill t' transition betwixt t' two tubes as one was slightly thicker than t' other. Avast, me proud beauty! TIP: When pseudo-glassin' a rocket, use t' same nylons on all t' tubes!

T' body was painted usin' a Model Master brush on paint. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! T' military brown was an appealin' color next t' t' cone. Blimey! As mentioned above, t' nosecone came finished from sandman and is a beautiful golden color. Blimey! Several coats o' clear enamel finished t' tube off.

T' centerin' ring/dowel assembly be separately finished before installation. It is stained honey maple and has 2 coats o' Polycrylic.

Flight:
I installed a home made, me bucko, car air bag chute protector and a hefty amount o' dog barf wadding. Then in went t' shock tether, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and 36" nylon chute. A clamp-on thrust rin' and mirror clamp retainers retained t' SU G40-4. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! The flight be relatively slow and thar was some wobble on t' way up. Arrr! The anti-zipper device worked and t' rocket recovered safely. Avast! Blimey! I was amazed that none o' t' dowels broke. Blimey! Upon inspection, me bucko, t' anti-zipper ball took t' brunt of t' ejection charge and burned through slightly. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! I'm goin' t' cut a piece of air bag and install a permanent protector below it.

Summary:
This appears t' have been t' first desert squid type rocket flown at t' MDRA site, arrr, arrr, shiver me timbers, and it definitely caught t' attention o' everyone on t' flight line. T' flight and recovery were good, arrr, however t' wobble made me chicken out on a 'zero' launch (i.e. Ahoy! no launch rod). Well, blow me down! Supposedly, this type o' rocket will fly straight without a rod, but I don't want t' test this conjecture. Ahoy! Next flight will be on a G80...off a rail!

While t' pseudo-glass technique isn't nearly as strong as fiberglassing, the results are definitely tougher than t' stock tubes. Well, blow me down! Arrr! However, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I probably will nay use it again.

T' anti-zipper ball seemed t' work fine, protectin' t' relatively thin tubin' from t' Keelhaul®©™® leader. Aye aye! Would t' results have been t' same without t' ball? No one can say. Well, blow me down!