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T' followin' be t' HTML
interpretation o' David's PDF submission. Ya scallywag! Blimey!
Please see t' full PDF HERE (0.4M)
Constructin' the
For t' EMRR BOX-O-Parts
Contest
Muddle through t' Mess
I started by separatin' body tubes in t' groups that could be used as airframes and tubes that where crinkled,dinged, ya bilge rat, matey, or dented.
This gave me an idea o' t' size and shape I could accomplish. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! My basic concept be for a long and tall rocket. Cluster power be a must. I LOVE clusters!
T' Nose Job
I messed around with Nose Cone possibilities. Avast! Ya scallywag! A rocket's nose really determines t' "flavor" o' the build. Begad! Blimey! So with t' cones I received I did some cutting, arrr, me bucko, sandin' and gluing. Ahoy! T' results are photo #2. Avast, me proud beauty! Lookin' a bit like a command module, ya bilge rat, perhaps windows lookin' out over a nose. Begad! Well I guess I'm buildin' a Spacecraft o' sorts. Arrr!
This is a "BERTHA" BT-60 plastic Nose Cone . Well, blow me down! Turned backwards. Ya scallywag! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Purple BT-50 nose cone. Well, blow me down! Base is sawn off and glued t' t' bottom o' t' Bertha cone. Hopefully this will look somethin' like a Starship cockpit. Ya scallywag!
T' Body Stack
Go big or go Home. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad!
I took stock o' all t' possible body tubes I could use t' go as tall as possible. Blimey! This photo shows t' Top and Middle sections test fit together. Ahoy! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty!
I sorted through t' various centerin' rings in me stack o' stuff and pieced together several sections o' body tube t' assemble t' top stack.
This rocket is intended t' separate for recovery at t' point o' t' two different colored BT60 tubes. Begad! T' mid section break allows t' rocket t' recover on two separate recovery devices. This was necessitated by t' limited recovery options that came in me Box-0-stuff. Ahoy! Ahoy! (more on this later.)
Some o' t' steps t' build t' top stack: Short one centerin' ring. Blimey! Avast! Blimey! So I modified one 20/60
rin' t' a 50/60 ring. Arrr! Trace inner circle and cut out
Make a BT-60 adapter sleeve. Aye aye! Slice a section o' BT60 tube t' reduce diameter. Use t' sliver that was
removed t' brace t' inside o' t' new inner sleeve and glue together. Well, blow me down! Begad! This makes t' whole Top Section like one long
nose cone. Begad!
More Top Section Assembly. Arrr!
The
BT50 Stack Middle Rin' is Just for looks (pictured left)
Recovery would be t' biggest issue. My Box-O-Stuff had One fat elastic cord. Well, blow me down! (below right)
I want t' go BIG.... Begad! Well, blow me down! so, me bucko, matey, I split t' cord in half Lengthwise, ya bilge rat, givin' me two thinner elastics but still have the longest possible length. Aye aye! Aye aye! In this photo (below center) one half o' this cord is pushed through a slot in t' BT50 body tube. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Tie a fat knot in t' elastic and I'm off t' t' next step. Begad! Begad!
Next I have t' fill t' top BT50 section so it will separate at ejection. Begad! Arrr! So I tore up some o' t' shippin' box. Soaked t' torn bits in water, me bucko, then mixed t' wet pulp with glue. Stuffed t' glue/pulp mixture in t' base o' t' tube to form a plug (above right). Avast! Begad! This method works well. Ya scallywag! You have t' watch t' moisture in t' pulp mix so it does not warp t' tube. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! This also takes a wile t' dry.
Lookin' into t' bottom o' t' top stack. Ya scallywag! You see t' BT60 adapter sleeve, t' Elastic Cord and t' bottom
of t' BT50 centerin' rin' and Glue/shredded box WAD. Begad!
On t' t' Bottom section assembly. Begad!
Well, arrr, for t' lower section I have t' connect some BT60 tube t' some BT70.
No 60/70 centerin' rings in t' Box-O-junk, arrr, arrr, so I whip out me trusty, me hearties, rusty compass draw and cut some rings from t' shippin' box.
Motor Mount
Coffee Cup With shred-obox soakin' in water.
My Box-o-goodness did nay contain any 18mm tube. Aye aye! So this one gets 24mm main motors (three o' them). Just for kicks I added three 13mm mounts along side. Avast! Test fit t' motor tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! Then started shreddin' t' Shippin' box again. Aye aye! I use the shreds,soaked in water t' soften them up, matey, ya bilge rat, arrr, then rin' them out and soak them in glue. Blimey! Gluey shreds are then used to stuff t' voids betwixt t' Motor tubes and Main body tube. Avast, me proud beauty!
Motor mount continued.
Motor mount fillets dryin' (above right). Begad! In t' "custom" motor mount dryin' apparatus a.k.a. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! Blimey! a Dunki'n Donuts cup! Blimey!
A lovely Gluey mass o' shredded box applied t' t' motor mount and lower body tube.
I better make some fins for this thing.
Looks like I have a full set o' pre-cut "Bertha" fins. Arrr! Blimey! (Actually I think I have at least one whole
bertha)
But those Balsa fins may nay be strong enough for a cluster. So I use a precut fin as a template t' cut out some fins from t' balsa sheet in t' box. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Then I laminate these fins so they are double thickness and hopefully quite strong.
Fins t' t' left, arrr, fins t' t' right....... Begad! Ahoy!
T' lower section nearly complete.
More lower section.
In these photos you can see t' detail o' t' "Warp Ring"
Warp Rin' is made up o' a plastic garden light fixture. Avast! (I know this because I got some o' me own parts back!)
T' inside diameter o' t' plastic rin' is much larger than t' bt70 tube. So I pulled some small body tube that I believe is BT-4 and cut it t' several short lengths. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! This BT-4 was squish-fit betwixt t' Plastic rin' and t' outside of t' body tube. With t' small tubes and plastic rin' in place it be actually easy t' slide t' whole assembly (not yet glued together) down t' BT70 body tube. Once I had everythin' where I wanted it I glued it all in place. With some patience and a few toothpicks o' course. Blimey! Aye aye!
Recoverin' from Recovery
Official shop shot o' t' "parawing-gle"
My box-0-stuffin' be kind o' short on recovery options. Aye aye! It did have two plastic chutes. Aye aye! But only had shroud lines for one! I will brin' t' top half down on t' regular 18 inch plastic chute that be in t' box-o-lovely. Arrr! Aye aye! But the lower section... Avast, me proud beauty! that would be harder. Blimey! Hmmmm? Streamer, boring! How about some sort o' para wing?
O.K. Blimey! Aye aye! this made me get creative. Blimey! Some where in t' TRF discussions it was asked if addin' tape would be legal. Blimey! Tape was o.k.ed so with ample amounts o' scotch tape I fashioned this "Parawing-gle" type thing.
Parts for t' Parawing-gle thing:
Many hours were spent on this. Blimey! Mostly worryin' time rather than workin' time. Begad! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! My greatest hope be that this would work at least as good as a streamer.
T' big payoff!!
Launched 07-06-08 From Cape Cod Space Center
Nothin' like pushin' that deadline!
Nice liftoff, nice flight! Loaded in three C11-3's and three A10PT's. Begad! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! This rocket really needs "D" power but this was good for t' small field we where on. Begad! Five o' t' six motors lit. Aye aye! All but one A-10. Ahoy!
O.k. Blimey! Ahoy! recovery. Aye aye! Begad! Top half be just fine on a regular chute. Aye aye! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Bottom half came in a bit fast on t' Parawingle -thingle. Which became more like a big para wad o' molten doom! But it did slow it down. Begad!
T' aftermath. Minor damage. Begad! One "fin ring" slightly bent. Begad! One detail on that fin fell off
Overview and final thoughts.
This was a very cool contest. I would definitely try this again. Begad!
My only real wish is that we could add strin' (shroud line) if we needed it. Begad! But hey, ya bilge rat, no one said this was easy!
Over all Flight ratin' 4... Ahoy! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! it could use more power.
Overall Recovery ratin' 3. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Needs proper chutes
But this is a far better performin' rocket than I thought it would be. Blimey! It will definitely fly again. Ya scallywag!
Things I will change, (with me own parts):
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