1 Estes Hexagon Parachute with shrouds (52 cm in diameter)
1 rubber shock cord (Approximately 28 cm long)
1 Shock Cord Mount
#1: Engine Mount
Cut a 5 mm slit, 3 mm from the end of the tube.
Insert one of the ending hooks of the Engine hook into the slit.
Glue down the engine hook.
Glue on a centering ring at 2.5 cm from the aft of the engine tube.
Glue on 2nd centering ring on top of the engine hook at the slit
3mm from the forward section of the Engine tube.
Allow to dry.
Wrap piece of masking tape around the Engine Tube securing the Engine hook
to the Engine Tube.
Apply a ring of glue approximately 5 cm inside the Rockets Body Tube.
Place Engine Mount inside Rockets Body Tube until the Engine Tube is
flush with the Rockets Body Tube.
Apply glue to centering rings. Allow to dry
#2: Silly Putty Eggs
Buy 3 Silly Putty Eggs
Cut the connector tabs with a hobby knife.
Then sand the raised writing off the top.
#3: Fins
Using the template provided trace out the wing pattern on a 1/8 balas wood.
Using a hobby knife cut out the fins.
Sand down all jagged edges.
Glue on Silly putty eggs onto the matching shape on the fins. Glue one on
each side of each fin.
Glue on several fillets to ensure that egg-fin contact is perfectly sealed.
Mount the fins flush against the end of the body tube using a fin mount. We
used the fin mount for 3 fins provided in The Handbook of Model Rocketry
7th edition on page 38. The fins should be 120 degrees from each
other.
#4. Nose and
parachute mount.
Cut out a Shock cord mount using stiff paper.
Glue shock cord on to shock cord mount.
Glue Shock cord mount approximately 5 cm inside the forward part of the
body tube.
Tie free end of shock cord to the nosecones eyelet. Apply a drop of
glue to the knot.
Attach parachute to the nosecone eyelet.
#5. Launch Lug
Glue on the h: 0.5 cm, l: 4.0 cm, w: 0.2 cm piece of balsa wood 10 cm from
the forward end of the body tube. Make sure that it is aligned parallel to the
body tube, and also make sure that it is in between the fins.
Attach Launch Lug on top of the strip of balsa wood. (Note: The reason for
the strip of balsa wood is to elevate the launch lug so as to provide the
launch rod clearance from the nose cone. The nose at one section is wider than
the body tube)
#6. Paint job
Spread balsa filler over the fins. Allow to dry and than sand excess off.
Sand all external parts of rocket.
Prime all external parts of rocket
Paint body tube, fins, and nose cone red.
Paint Silly putty eggs gray.
Nose cone
First painted the whole nosecone red
Paint the upper cap white.
Paint 2 keyhole shapes on opposite sides of nosecone.
#7. Body tube and launch lug
Painted body tube red. As well as the launch lug and balsa wood strip.
Paint 3 parallel black rings approximately 2 mm from each other. Paint them
approximately 9.3 cm from the aft end of body tube.
Paint a single gray ring around the aft end of the body tube. It should 3.3
cm from the end of the tube, and it should encircle around the whole tube.
#8. Fins
Paint fins red.
Paint gray rectangle on each side in the corner by the fin root edge. The
rectangle should be 3.3 cm high and should be around 4 cm wide. If it is a
little bit wider than 4 cm it is okay, because the Silly Putty eggs will cover
the excess. (Note: This is easier done if you paint before initial
construction.
#9. Silly Putty eggs
Paint egg shell red.
Once the red paint is dry, paint most of the egg grey. The grey should
cover 5.2 cm of the egg, starting from the bottom. There needs to be 1.4 cm of
red.
#10. Decal
stickers.
Take black sticky paper, and cut into 2.5 cm long by 1 mm strips. Stick 4
of these length wise on each egg.
Then once again using the black sticky paper cut several long 1 mm strips
for the black stripe that runs across the egg and the fin.
#11. Black Dots
Use a black permanent maker to apply 8 dots to each egg shell.
#12. Nose Weight and Motor
Add 25-30 grams of clay to the nose.
We used a B6-4 all of the launches, but a B6-2 would have been better.
Flights
Takeoff off. Flight #1 (above). Landing ..
Success flight. No damage rendered to rocket.
Takeoff off. Flight #2 (above). But disaster strikes when the shock cord
snaps!!
And lawn darts (below). Note: We have not touched the rocket yet in this
picture. It landed exactly like this. Note that the third fan, the one stuck in
the ground, is still intact. Nose and parachute land a couple hundred feet
away. The rocket is now repaired and waits for its next launch.
Here is our video of the 2 launches. Ignore our screams in the background!
Here are two more successful flights of our entry the Red Bolt. We only have
videos for these launches: