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12x Estes Alpha III 8x Estes GeminiDC 14x Estes GeminiDC 8x Custom Rocketry Tristar 4x LOC Starfighter 6x Fliskits Drake

Commentary by Jay Some kits just scream "UPSCALE ME!". The Drake is one of those kits. Larry Foster beat me to the punch with his 3x upscale. Never one to pass up a challenge, I decided if Larry could make a 3x, I had to make a 6x. This is one of the insanely stupid projects that come up while gathered around the campfire. I honestly never expected this rocket to survive the first flight, so there are very few pictures of the build. I fully expected the fins to shake themselves to pieces during the boost. Jacob even advertised it on the PlasterBlaster website as "flapping its way into the sky". With such a pessimistic outlook, I decided to spend as little on the project as possible. With the exception of the nosecone that I took from our Thumper, everything else came from the hardware. Vital Statistics: Length 14ft Lower Tube - 6" Upper Tube - 14" Wingspan - I never checked Motor - M1315 (minimum) Obviously the biggest challenge with upscaling a kit with these types of fins is keeping them in one piece. On the kit, both the fins and the tail are surface mounted. On my version, they are all through the wall and epoxied to motor mount. The wingtips are attached using piano hinges. The hinges serve two purposes: first, they provide solid mechanical fasteners; second, they allow the fins to be folded for transport. After the fins, the second most interesting part was breaking down the airframe. 14 foot long rockets are hard to store and even harder to transport. The transition section allows the rocket to be broken down, the electronics to be installed and provides a solid connection point for the chutes. It also allows for us to install charges large enough to pressurize the 5 foot long, 10" tube. (You really don't want to know how much powder is in each charge) Once built, the wings were firmly attached to the airframe but did have an unsettling tendency to "flap". We experimented with various ways to stabilize them, and ultimately settled on guy wires. Once completed, the cables gave it a real Wright brothers feel. The following picture was shamelessly lifted from our buddies at Rubr Duky Rockets. Ready to go, check out the cool flames. - Photo Credit: Don Scott VIDEO - The launch and our exciting recovery were filmed Tim Scott. Available at YouTube The above sequence was taken by Jen Berger