Brief:
This is a featherweight rocket made from printed cardstock designed to use 13mm motors.

Click here to download Lemon Drop plans in .PDF format.
[Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.]

Construction:
The Lemon Drop uses a single 13mm body tube, has three fins, and a cardstock nose cone. The thrust ring doubles as the nose cone shoulder.

This is a relatively easy build. The fact that alignment is important when building the parts, and the fact that you actually have to make your parts (body tube, nose cone, etc.) makes it a bit more difficult to build. I feel that anyone with a moderate amount of building skill though can build this rocket.

The rocket includes two pages of instructions and a single page of parts that should be printed on 110# cardstock. The instructions cover the complete construction process and are broken down into two main sections: Building the Parts and Assembling the Rocket. Once the parts are built (and there is a total of seven -- nose cone, body tube, thrust ring, launch lug, and three fins), they are put together just like any other rocket kit.

Probably the oddest tool needed for this build is a soft mouse pad. This is used to roll the curves into the cardstock parts. Other tools needed (all of which are listed in the instructions) are a hobby knife, metal ruler or straightedge, cutting mat, scribing tool (or empty ball point pen), a 1/4" dowel, white glue (not carpenters glue) and masking tape.

Finishing:
In addition to the cardstock and color printer, a piece of bristol board or similar cardboard (cereal box weight) and some sort of enamel spray clearcoat are needed to finish the rocket. Because the rocket is pre-colored, no paint or decals are needed (although the rocket can be painted a different color if desired).

Flight:
Recommended engines are Estes 1/4A3-3T, 1/2A3-4T and A3-4T. All flights so far have been made with Estes 1/4A3-3T engines since I wanted to get the rocket back.

Preparation was simple. The motor fits into the rocket without needing any masking tape to hold it in. Of course, I wanted the motor to come out at ejection, so too tight a fit is undesirable.

Three flights have been made so far with the rocket and all three were perfect. Fast straight boost and good recovery. Each time, the motor returned before the rocket did.

Summary:
PROs: The main pros of a kit like this are that they are simple to build and disposable. If you lose it or it catos, no problem. Print and build another one. For the cost of a sheet of cardstock, a little cardboard, and a little printer ink, you can build as many as you want. And the build is quick--I built this one in a single evening. A couple coats of clearcoat the next day and the rocket is ready to go. Consider how long a two tone (yellow and lime green) paint job would take with several coats of each and the masking involved, however, all of that is eliminated with a paper rocket.

CONs: The same as any other featherweight--the rockets are very easy to lose.