possibly the ugliest rocket ever!

[stevem]

I am getting lots of ideas/inspiration from
Designation Systems

here is one I thought would be unique - a Rockwell GBU-15 , quite possibly the ugliest rocket ever made! a great candidate for a scratchbuild.

attached is a photo showing what I've done so far.
I worked on the main fins last night - I am trying to incorporate new building techniques into my scratchbuilts. For this rocket I decided to make fins out of 1/16 balsa and laminate the balsa between sheets of light cardstock. I hope this will provide enough strength while keeping weight to a minimum.
This is also the first time I have used shrouds to this extent. The VCP program made making the shrouds a breeze.

Tonight I'll make the forward fins and begin mounting.

I had a 3.125" chunk of postal mailing tube that I used for the wide middle section, BT-80 tube runs the entire length of the rocket. I made centering rings to center the 3.125 tube on the BT-80 by cutting the 3.125 tube into 1/4 pieces and then basically slitting them and fitting/gluing them into each other until it would fit snuggly over the BT-80. I used the same technique to make the tail cone assembly.

 

[stevem]

almost forgot - rocket is 27" long, 3.125" dia. at widest point and 10.5" 'fin' span.

I need to come up with something for the clear 'dome' on the nose cone - or some way to finish it so it gives the appearance of being a clear dome. Any ideas on that?

 

[rbeckey]

Perhaps the plastic from a soda bottle or a piece of acrylic from the craft or hobby shop could be warmed and molded over a preshaped piece of wood.

 

[stevem]

rbeckey- now that's an idea! I'll do some experimenting with that. I already have the 'dome' turned into the nose cone so I'll try to see if I can mold a piece of a plastic soda bottle over the end. If it works I'll paint the back side of the dome with a briliant silver and then glue it on the fornt of the nose cone.
thanks!

 

[Austin]

Steve,

I REALLY like the GBU-15...it has a unique fin pattern that adds a bit of a challenge to the build. It looks like you are having fun with it so keep us up to date on your progress.

As far as the lens goes, I have had very good success making my own lens. Find a small flexible plastic bowl and carefully mix up some epoxy, then pour it in until you achieve the correct diameter. I use a bit of alcohol dripped across the top of the epoxy in the bowl and stir it lightly to remove bubbles. The most difficult part willl be finding a bowl to use...but don't give up. I have attached a pic of the lens I made for my 4" AGM-65A Maverick, which flies well on I211W's. The lens is completely fabricated from West Systems 30 minute Epoxy.

<a target="_blank" href="reviews/epoxylens.jpg">Epoxy Lens</a>

Hope this helps,

Carl

 

[rstaff3]

I personally think it looks great, so I think you are ALL WET! But, the model seems to be coming along nicely

 

[stevem]

well Dick I guess ugliness is in the eyes of the beholder!
I actually think it looks cool but you have to admit it is not the most graceful looking bird

Carl - thanks for the epoxy idea. I have some West Systems epoxy left over from my canoe project - its a couple years old but its been kept tightly capped - do you think it will still be OK to use? Does unmixed epoxy have a shelf life? and where can I see a picture of your 4" Maverick?

 

[sandman]

Hey!

The VW beetle was ugly! It outsold the Model - T Ford!

But...It's not ugly!

It looks mean!

sandman

 

[firemanup]

Steve it's looking great so far... will definately follow your progress here.

Carl that thing looks awesome too.... give ya 20 bucks for it

Actually i'd give a bit more but i know it's not for sale..

 

[vjp]

Here's another ugly rocket thing I found today,
at the new Udvar-Hazy museum in Virginia.

Looks like a poor cousin to yours!

 

[rstaff3]

Hey Vince, start a thread and post a quick trip report. Ease of getting there, parking, food, what was there other than the obvious big displays (Shuttle, Backbird, etc) I'm going this week or next.

 

[DPatell]

VJP - Thats a Talos Missle...the one my dad loves He'll be building a 4" version of it soon, possibly with the Terrier booster, as well. Ugly, yes, but it's unique thats for sure!

 

[sandman]

Specifiacally the Tlaso RIM-8G upper stage.

A ram jet missle with a rocket booster.

Looks better with a booster!

A Color picture about the middle of the page.

https://www.designation-systems.net/dusrm/m-8.html

sandman

 

[vjp]

Originally posted by rstaff3
Hey Vince, start a thread and post a quick trip report. Ease of getting there, parking, food, what was there other than the obvious big displays (Shuttle, Backbird, etc) I'm going this week or next.

Done!

I'll have it posted in a minute or two in the coffee house.

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

Originally posted by DPatell
VJP - Thats a Talos Missle...the one my dad loves He'll be building a 4" version of it soon, possibly with the Terrier booster, as well. Ugly, yes, but it's unique thats for sure!

\


Oh the RIM-8 Talos. One honking big ugly missle. You say your dad is building a 4"? If he needs some research drop me a line. I've been researching a 3" sport scale scratch built I plan to build in the future, and would be happy to share what I have.

I am trying to decide:

1) Should the nose allow airflow through it?

2) one stage or two

3) Nuclear or conventional?

 

[teflonrocketry1]

I love those forward fins! This might be the model rocket I try to make to demonstrate non-steering forward fins. I had a model rocket that had large forward fins that pivot about their leading edge attachment point so they are non-steering. This allowed large forward fins to be used with no added nose weight to achieve a stable flight.

Bruce S. Levison, NAR #69055

 

[Rocketmaniac]

Originally posted by Hospital_Rocket
3) Nuclear or conventional?

Hard decision..... You might have to build one of each.....

 

[Hospital_Rocket]

Just for the record

The first picture "thing.jpg" is the non-nuclear variant of the Talos. you can tell by the small antennae around the nose. These were the terminal guidance system receivers to guide the HE warhead to within it's kill radius.

Seems that the powers that be felt that "close enough" worked OK for the version that used the 2-30KT W30 warhead.

Of course I did check the NAR and tripoli codes and can't find anything about whether or not fissile payloads are acceptable at a scanctioned launch....

 

[stevem]

I just finished up my GBU-15 - and I need some help from you scale guys. My bird is naked!

None of the pictures I can find on the web are clear enough to make out what the markings are.
Can any one give me some idea of where I might find info on this?
My GBU-15 is 27" long (roughly 1:5.75 scale. I think) and weighs in at 14 oz. I put a baffle in it and that added a little more weight than I wanted but I really like the idea of not having to rely on wadding. First flights will be on AT E18-4w.

Here's a couple pics of the rocket, as you can see, it will look much better with some markings. I still think its ugly (but I like it!)

 

[stevem]

next picture is the nose cone - I really lucked out on this.
For the clear dome window on the rocket nose I tried to form some clear plastic but was not pleased with my results. I then tried to cast the part using some old West Systems epoxy I had sitting around. I used an old glass Christmas tree ornament as the mold. I used a needle nose pliers to break away small pieces of the glass until I had bowl. The casting turned out very yellow, almost amber and somewhat opaque. I guess the epoxy is too old and gone bad. I think that this method would have been fine if I had some good epoxy.
Being the pack-rat I am (Ok now, can I see a show of hands for how many pack-rats we got on this forum?) I started looking through everything I had. I tried a plastic lens out of an old toy binoculars but it scratched too easily. I came upon an old 35mm Zoom Lens for a camera I no longer have. The front lens had a big chip in it but the rear lens looked interesting. I took the thing apart and I couldn't beleive the luck! the rear lens was the exact size to fit right into a BT-50 coupler. I used a hole saw to make a hole in the front of the nose cone the same depth as the coupler and epoxied the coupler into the cone to form a well. The glass lens fit perfectly!
I quickly ran and showed my wife so I was sure she would realize the value of my pack-rat tendencies. She acted impressed!

heres a pic

 

[rstaff3]

Looks great, good job!

 

[sandman]

I found one for ya. Not mach in the line of markings on it.

https://www.photovault.com/Link/Military/AirForce/show.asp?tg=MYFVolume07/MYFV07P07_17.1700

sandman

 

[sandman]

Found a few more.

https://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/gbu-15.htm

and here.

https://www.wpafb.af.mil/museum/arm/arm4a.htm

I found about ten pages of links when I did a quick Yahoo search.

sandman

 

[stevem]

thanks sandman - I had done the yahoo search thing and pretty much found the same pictures.
From the pictures I just cannot make out what it says on the thing - there is some yellow lettering towards the aft near the leading edge of rear fins and it also looks like some kind of round insignia near the nose. I just can't make out what they are.

I guess it's time to improvise!

 

[stevem]

thanks Dick - once I get some decals on this maybe it won't be so ugly

 

[teflonrocketry1]

Which one is the missle with the clipped delta forward fins? Are there any more detailed measurements available on that one? I would like to simulate and perhaps build this model if it simulates to be unstable.

Bruce S. Levison, NAR #69055

 

[DPatell]

Teflon - Do you mean the Talos? If so, here's a good scale drawing.


https://yellowjacketsystems.com/alway/images/talos.gif

 

[teflonrocketry1]

Thanks for the details on the Talos! I will definately look at the simulation for this one.

Actually I was hoping to get details on the GBU-15 missle that is the top picture in Sandman's first link in his last post.

Bruce S. Levison, NAR #69055

 

[stevem]

what a coincidence Bruce! that's what I'm looking for too!