It uses only the Deuce kit parts
and leaves several parts for other projects.
| 1. Take
the body tube and mark several lines on it. All
lines will be the length of the tube. Using
your Deuces wild template mark all five lines(the four fins and the launch lug.) Now turn the fin template 180 degrees and line up
all the fin marks with the template. When it
is lined up mark the launch lug line again. The
second launch lug line should be 180 degrees opposite the first launch lug line. The launch lug lines are the top and bottom lines
of the rocket. You now have 6 lines, but you
will only use four: the top and bottom for centering the motor mount wedge, and the two bottom fin lines for the fins. |
2. Find the center of the tube on the top and bottom lines. Mark it well.
|
| 3. Take the Motor mount from the kit and get the cute little wedge. Mark center of the bottom of the wedge. Now cut a slot on the |
 |
 |
bottom line in the center just big enough for the center wedge to fit in. You will also have to cut a little slot in the top
tube line centered about |
| 2mm long. The wedge should just
reach from bottom to top being flush with the tube. Glue
it in. 4. Cut circles right next to the wedge
to accommodate the motor mounts. (see picture) Repeat on top and bottom.
5. Glue motor blocks in tubes and install tubes in the body tube. |
6. Cut the
bottom of the nose cone off and save it for a
nose block on another project. (The recessed
part that fits inside the BT-60 tube)
7. Cut a radius in the bottom of the
nose cone to fit the BT-60 tube. Sand well to
get a nice fit. (See Picture)
8. You will notice that the motor tubes
stick out the top of the body tube. You must
cut recesses in the newly formed nose cone to accommodate this. Now glue the nose cone on. I taped the top of the motor mounts closed and
then used jell epoxy as to add nose weight and not create voids in the nose. |
 |
Another view showing the modified nose cone
and the motor mounts sticking up through the tube.
|
9. Make two fins from the Deuce pattern sheet and glue them on different fin
lines on opposite ends of the tube. |
|
10. Now we need a launch lug. Drill a hole as close to centerline as you can up
from the bottom through the nose cone. (see
picture)
11. Paint, fly, etc.
I used B6-0 engines and had 3 great
flights. I did not paint it because quite
frankly, I did not know if it would be stable and I could not figure out how to put this
rocket into RockSim. The first flight was a
beauty and I got a great picture of it leaving the pad.
You can see the swirls in the
exhaust as the rocket has already made a revolution.
It peaked out at about 150 feet as a guess and then tumbled about 4 times
before it started spinning its way back to the ground.
All landings were soft and close. The
first one was about 20 feet from the launcher, the second two feet from the launcher, and
the third 15 feet from the launcher. |
Now
it is painted a beautiful yellow (OSHA warning color for rotating hazard) with one black
fin so you can see it rotate. Maybe I’ll
send a picture of the painted product.
Thanks
Matthew McFarland
Below are some flight photos! |
On the pad, ready for launch!
LIFTOFF!
Swirling on her way up!
 
Here she is on her return to earth!
Starting her roll at apogee
Up in the air she shows her stuff
WAY up in the air!
|
