Brief:
18mm Sport-scale model of U.S. Army's Little John missile.

Construction:

• BT-55, 10.5"
• PNC-55, 4:1 ogive
• G10 fins (4)
• 3/16" LL, 2"
• 18mm MMT (18mm motor tube, 2 carboard C.R.s)
• Kevlar® shock cord
• Mylar streamer
• clay nose weight

Another simple plan from Pete Alway's "Scale Bash". For this rocket I wanted a durable, mach-buster-like rocket to fly on 18mm "D" motors. To add durability I glassed the body tube with some light fiberglass cloth. I used G10 for the fins and mounted them with TTW tabs to the 18mm motor mount tube. I used Kevlar ® for the shock cord, tied around the motor tube for a solid anchor point. Since the rocket was fairly durable and would be flying on "D" motors I used a mylar streamer for recovery.

The plans in the book are simple and provide the body tube length, color scheme for painting, and fin templates for various body tube sizes.

Finishing:
With the glass coating and G10 fins secured with epoxy fillets this rocket came out with a really smooth, sleek finish. I painted the rocket a simple olive green and used vinyl lettering for the white U.S. ARMY lettering. I would recommend decals however over the vinyl lettering.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
For the first flight I chose a lower-impulse C12-7T 18mm Aerotech RMS since we were on a smaller field than usual. The motor lit quickly and the rocket flew about 50' before it veered off-course spinning and zig-zagging erratically. The rocket crashed on its side before spitting out the wadding and streamer at ejection. I was puzzled briefly before remembering that I had forgotten to add any clay nose weight. I went back to my range box, added the necessary weight, and prepped the rocket to fly again. I again used the C12-7T and this time the rocket flew straight up approx. 800', albeit with a bit of tail waggle (need to add just a bit more clay). The rocket recovered about 50' away, intact.

Recovery:
Recovery is a bit fast with the streamer but with the durability of G10 fins and glassed airframe the rocket is bullet-proof.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
Another nice plan from Scale Bash. With a 24mm motor mount, G10 fins, and glassed airframe this rocket would possibly make a nice scale-model with mach-buster like performance...

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5