On a cold day this winter, I discovered this rocket plan amongst my papers that was shipped with an order from Apogee. Looking through my parts I had everything I needed, as well as some Apogee Micro Motors. So I built The Paper Chaser.

The Paper Chaser's fins are the only unique feature. They are constructed of "index card-stock" and extend more than half of the length of the rocket. They are essentially long triangles once they are folded in half. They are given gradual width along the progression toward the back of the rocket by using "Aft Support Pieces" which are also cut from card-stock.

Outside of the fins, the rocket is a 13mm body tube and nose cone, a 10.5mm motor mount, centering rings and motor block. Add a launch lug, a Kevlar® shock cord and a streamer and you have The Paper Chaser. (Note: all the parts can be purchased from Apogee and the only variation to my rocket was that I used a balsa nose cone.)

I didn't finish this rocket (which is a first) and set off in a rush to get a launch or two in.

The plans include recommended motors of 1/42-2, 1/2A2-4, A2-5, and the B2-7. I had some B2-9's and decided to go for it. I didn't load a streamer, simply left the nose cone attached to the kelvar shock cord.

As I got my launcher all prepped and loaded the B2 into The Paper Chaser I received my first clue that something was not right. I had forgot to attach a launch lug. Out came an extra from my field box along with super glue. Now it was ready. 5, 4, 3 , 2 ,1 swoosh! loop-d-loop, bam into the ground, loop-d-loop, bang, swoosh straight up . . . arc, straight down, bam . . . then finally pop went the ejection change. This was my second clue.

Yes, after such an impressive flight, I realized that I hadn't set up the CG. The Paper Chaser plans show were the CP should be and instruct you to set up the CG forward of the CP with the motor installed.

For its first flight, I must say, it was interesting to see the effective CG move during the exhaustion of the motor. If the rocket was completely unstable it would have continued to bounce and loop, but at one point after a bounce it shot straight up into the air as stable as could be. With the length of the B2 and the burning of the powder from the bottom up, the CG effectively moved toward the nose of the rocket allowing it to become stable. Interesting.

Well, I added weight to the nose cone to move the CG up and after a few days prepared for another flight. Prepped again with a B2-9 and off she went. Straight (with a little oscillation) up and up and up. With 2.8 seconds of burn time, this motor doesn't seem like it is going to stop. Excellent smoke trail, but wait . . . no ejection. Landing in tall grass, the rocket was recovered and will fly again.

In summary, this little Paper Chaser was fun to build and fly and the plans were simple and easy to follow. If you are looking for something a bit different and don't have balsa, The Paper Chaser is a good choice. Just be sure to set up your CG and you will have a nice little flyer for Micro Motors and easily converted to use Mini's.