Scratch U.S.S. Fred G Sanford Original Design / Scratch Built

Scratch - U.S.S. Fred G Sanford {Scratch}

Contributed by David Mackiernan

Manufacturer: Scratch
(Contributed - by David Mackiernan - 07/06/08)

T' followin' be t' HTML interpretation o' David's PDF submission.
Please see t' full PDF HERE (0.4M)

Constructin' the USS Fred G SanfordFor 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, arrr, or dented. Avast, me proud beauty!

This gave me an idea o' t' size and shape I could accomplish. Ahoy! My basic concept was for a long and tall rocket. Cluster power was a must. I LOVE clusters!

Parts To this

Nose ConeT' Nose Job

I messed around with Nose Cone possibilities. Well, blow me down! Blimey! A rocket's nose really determines t' "flavor" o' the build. Blimey! Blimey! So with t' cones I received I did some cutting, sandin' and gluing. T' results are photo #2. Lookin' a bit like a command module, perhaps windows lookin' out over a nose. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Well I guess I'm buildin' a Spacecraft o' sorts.

This is a "BERTHA" BT-60 plastic Nose Cone . Avast! Aye aye! Turned backwards. Begad! Purple BT-50 nose cone. Begad! Base is sawn off and glued t' t' bottom o' t' Bertha cone. Well, blow me down! Hopefully this will look somethin' like a Starship cockpit.


StackT' Body Stack

Go big or go Home. Ahoy! Arrr!

I took stock o' all t' possible body tubes I could use t' go as tall as possible. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! This photo shows t' Top and Middle sections test fit together.

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. Avast, me proud beauty! T' mid section break allows t' rocket t' recover on two separate recovery devices. Arrr! This was necessitated by t' limited recovery options that came in me Box-0-stuff. (more on this later.)

Centering RightSome o' t' steps t' build t' top stack: Short one centerin' ring. So I modified one 20/60 rin' t' a 50/60 ring. Ahoy! Ahoy! Blimey! Trace inner circle and cut out


BT-60Make a BT-60 adapter sleeve. Blimey! Slice a section o' BT60 tube t' reduce diameter. Blimey! Well, blow me down! Use t' sliver that was removed t' brace t' inside o' t' new inner sleeve and glue together. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! This makes t' whole Top Section like one long nose cone. Well, blow me down!


More Top Section Assembly. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast!

Middle RingThe BT50 Stack Middle Rin' is Just for looks (pictured left)

Recovery would be t' biggest issue. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! My Box-O-Stuff had One fat elastic cord. Blimey! Ya scallywag! (below right)

I want t' go BIG.... Ya scallywag! so, me bucko, I split t' cord in half Lengthwise, givin' me two thinner elastics but still have the longest possible length. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Blimey! In this photo (below center) one half o' this cord is pushed through a slot in t' BT50 body tube. Tie a fat knot in t' elastic and I'm off t' t' next step. Blimey!

Recovery Recovery
Recovery

Next I have t' fill t' top BT50 section so it will separate at ejection. So I tore up some o' t' shippin' box. Soaked t' torn bits in water, then mixed t' wet pulp with glue. Stuffed t' glue/pulp mixture in t' base o' t' tube to form a plug (above right). Blimey! Blimey! This method works well. Ahoy! Blimey! You have t' watch t' moisture in t' pulp mix so it does not warp t' tube. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! This also takes a wile t' dry. Begad! Blimey!

Top ViewLookin' into t' bottom o' t' top stack. Avast! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! You see t' BT60 adapter sleeve, me bucko, matey, t' Elastic Cord and t' bottom of t' BT50 centerin' rin' and Glue/shredded box WAD. Begad! Blimey!


On t' t' Bottom section assembly. Ya scallywag!

Bottom

Well, for t' lower section I have t' connect some BT60 tube t' some BT70. Aye aye!

No 60/70 centerin' rings in t' Box-O-junk, me hearties, matey, so I whip out me trusty, rusty compass draw and cut some rings from t' shippin' box. Aye aye! Arrr!


Motor Mount

Coffee Cup With shred-obox soakin' in water. Avast, me proud beauty!

Cup

My Box-o-goodness did nay contain any 18mm tube. Ahoy! So this one gets 24mm main motors (three o' them). Begad! Aye aye! Just for kicks I added three 13mm mounts along side. Aye aye! Test fit t' motor tubes. Then started shreddin' t' Shippin' box again. Ahoy! I use the shreds,soaked in water t' soften them up, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, then rin' them out and soak them in glue. Avast! Gluey shreds are then used to stuff t' voids betwixt t' Motor tubes and Main body tube. Aye aye!


Motor mount continued.

Motor Mount

Motor mount fillets dryin' (above right). Avast! Blimey! In t' "custom" motor mount dryin' apparatus a.k.a. Ahoy! Blimey! a Dunki'n Donuts cup! Blimey!

Gluey MassA lovely Gluey mass o' shredded box applied t' t' motor mount and lower body tube.


I better make some fins for this thing.

FinsLooks like I have a full set o' pre-cut "Bertha" fins. Begad! Arrr! (Actually I think I have at least one whole bertha)

But those Balsa fins may nay be strong enough for a cluster. Ya scallywag! Begad! So I use a precut fin as a template t' cut out some fins from t' balsa sheet in t' box. Arrr! Aye aye! Then I laminate these fins so they are double thickness and hopefully quite strong. Well, blow me down! Ahoy!



Fins t' t' left, matey, fins t' t' right....... Avast, me proud beauty!

Fins


T' lower section nearly complete.

Nearly Complete


More lower section. Ya scallywag!

In these photos you can see t' detail o' t' "Warp Ring"

Warp Rin' is made up o' a plastic garden light fixture. Well, blow me down! (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. Aye aye! This BT-4 be squish-fit betwixt t' Plastic rin' and t' outside of t' body tube. Avast! Arrr! With t' small tubes and plastic rin' in place it was actually easy t' slide t' whole assembly (not yet glued together) down t' BT70 body tube. Avast! Once I had everythin' where I wanted it I glued it all in place. Aye aye! With some patience and a few toothpicks o' course.

Warp Rings Warp Rings Warp Rings


Recoverin' from Recovery

Parachute

Official shop shot o' t' "parawing-gle"

My box-0-stuffin' was kind o' short on recovery options. Aye aye! It did have two plastic chutes. But only had shroud lines for one! I will brin' t' top half down on t' regular 18 inch plastic chute that was in t' box-o-lovely. Ya scallywag! But the lower section... that would be harder. Hmmmm? Streamer, shiver me timbers, boring! How about some sort o' para wing?

O.K. Well, me hearties, blow me down! this made me get creative. Some where in t' TRF discussions it was asked if addin' tape would be legal. Ya scallywag! Avast! Tape was o.k.ed so with ample amounts o' scotch tape I fashioned this "Parawing-gle" type thing. Aye aye!

Parts for t' Parawing-gle thing:

  • One 24inch plastic chute. Aye aye! Sliced in half and then one half quartered. Aye aye!
  • T' quarter chute is used for t' lower rudder type piece.
  • Several Chopsticks are utilized as t' leadin' edge and rudder stiffeners.
  • That now famous thick black elastic cord was again sliced length-wise t' make t' rigging.

Many hours were spent on this. Mostly worryin' time rather than workin' time. My greatest hope was that this would work at least as good as a streamer.


T' big payoff!! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Arrow


Launched 07-06-08 From Cape Cod Space Center

Nothin' like pushin' that deadline!

Ready to LaunchLaunches

Nice liftoff, nice flight! Loaded in three C11-3's and three A10PT's. Ya scallywag! This rocket really needs "D" power but this was good for t' small field we where on. Five o' t' six motors lit. All but one A-10. Aye aye!

O.k. recovery. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Blimey! Top half was just fine on a regular chute. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Bottom half came in a bit fast on t' Parawingle -thingle. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Which became more like a big para wad o' molten doom! Blimey! But it did slow it down.

Recovery

T' aftermath. Minor damage. Aye aye! Aye aye! One "fin ring" slightly bent. Ahoy! Ahoy! One detail on that fin fell off



Overview and final thoughts.

This was a very cool contest. I would definitely try this again. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

My only real wish is that we could add strin' (shroud line) if we needed it. Begad! But hey, no one said this be easy!

Specs

Over all Flight ratin' 4... Avast! it could use more power.

Overall Recovery ratin' 3. Aye aye! Blimey! Needs proper chutes

But this is a far better performin' rocket than I thought it would be. It will definitely fly again. Arrr!

Things I will change, (with me own parts):

  • Bigger Launch lugs 3/16"
  • Better Parachutes
  • Three "D" motors for a nice high flight. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

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