Contest between my dad and I

[rocketkyle]

My dad works at a Lowe's Home Improvement here in Huntsville. They had some left-over "toy's" from a kid's building workshop. This time it just happened to be wooden space shuttles. So, my dad and I both got one, and we will be turning them into rockets, of course! Alot of sanding and rounding corners will have to be done, but thats part of it. We have a contest going, here are the rules:

º Must use all the parts in the kit (except nails)
º Must be complete by the October launch in Manchester where we'll fly them
º Must have some means of deployment (no tumbling)
º Must have rail buttons
º Must be painted to scale
º Must have a 24mm motor mount
º Must have 2 stabilizing fins on bottom (I gave 2 to my dad and kept 2 for my self-- they're the laser cut plywood things in the picture)

We both signed a sheet of paper to make the contest official.

Whoever gets the most points wins. Here is the point table.

Construction: 10 pts.
Looks: 10 pts.
Flight: 10 pts.

All of you lucky MC2/HARA people get to see this hallarious drag race at the October launch. Here are some pictures of the kiddie kit.

 

[rocketkyle]

Here it is all put together. Dosn't look too bad.

 

[rocketkyle]

just glued mine up. Another thing, my dad and I are keeping our "deployment device" secret. We won't get to see each other's rocket until we are both finished.

 

[Steward]

Great idea...!!! What a cool thing to do...
I'll pull for you, but remember... dad's are usually really smart, and can sometimes be sneaky... Good Luck...!!!

Steward

 

[rocketkyle]

Thanks, Steward. The glue is still drying on it. I'll post updates whenever I do something. I'll also have pictures every once in while. The real challenge will be to get a recovery device in there due to it's length...or lack of. My recovery system will be a 1" diameter hole drilled from the bottom, untill it meets up with the motor mount tube. I can then stuff in some Kevlar and a nylon chute and be done .

Thanks,
Kyle

 

[WiK]

Sounds like a fun contest! How heavy are those things?

Phil

 

[rocketkyle]

they're solid pine...i'm not good with measuring weight without a scale, but i would guess about a quarter of a pound--4 oz maybe more...

 

[rocketkyle]

I just "shaped" the block on the front of the kit into what resembles the nose on the real shuttle. Didn't turn out bad at all, cause I used "man's best friend" to shape it-- the Dremel. Now I have to use sandpaper to make that shape smooth.

Forgot to mention, whoever wins this contest gets to make a fiberlass mold. If all is stable with the fiberlass version, I might hire a couple of beta-testers and make this thing a kit.

 

[brianc]

Originally posted by rocketkyle
We won't get to see each other's rocket until we are both finished.

You'll need to do a 'arms crossed, backwards cap, Master Blasters' pose for your
"reveal" photos...

 

[rocketkyle]

My dad will have to teach me how to use the drill press )) so I can drill my motor mount and recovery mount.

 

[WiK]

Originally posted by brianc
You'll need to do a 'arms crossed, backwards cap, Master Blasters' pose for your
"reveal" photos...

Rofl, I could just see that happening. Don't forget your dark shades!

 

[rocketkyle]

Originally posted by WiK
Rofl, I could just see that happening. Don't forget your dark shades!

got 'em ready! (the shades...not quite the rocket)

 

[WiK]

How's this coming along?

Phil

 

[rocketkyle]

well, it turns out my dad could not get one before they were gone. Both my dad and I will work on this rocket. Instead we both modified an Art Applewhite Ultra Delta flying saucer to a 29mm mount. We have already finished these. Mine flew on an F23FJ and my dad's flew on two F22J's.