I was actually using something that came with the Samsung external DVD drive I got to share between my wife's and my Acer netbooks - one of the Nero programs - but now it won't open the file anymore (even a freshly downloaded copy) and I don't know why. I also got a good printout from Preview on my 12 inch Powerbook (a Mac) by just choosing "print entire image". I'm going to print it again on cardstock from there so as to have something more useable as a template. All the computers in the house talk to my Brother HL2070N laser printer (one of the best $100 I ever spent on computing hardware) pretty well.

I'm still rethinking and now leaning toward building the Sky Bird II pretty much as designed (save for some motor mount and shock cord details) but maybe using some ST-9 tubing rather than BT-50 for a little more durability - since I have both on hand and the IDs are the same.

Added later: the Brother didn't like the cardstock....so I printed on an inkjet. This time I had Preview show the image at "actual size" (which is 72 dpi) then scaled it to 24% (72/300) for the print. This print seems to be the best match to the dimensions Greg posted of the ones I've tried yet and is close enough for me .

Added still later: speaking of "close enough" - I bought a piece of Quest T-25 in my last order and find that it's "close enough" fit to both the one BT-50 stage coupler I have on hand (from Fliskits) and my AR-2050 centering rings (from Semroc). All of this now has me thinking of making a slightly modified Sky Bird II with a Quest T-25 plastic ogive nose cone (slightly longer than the BNC-50K) and using the T-25 tubing. Strangely enough the worst fit in the T-25 tubing is the nose cone - it is quite loose. But that's easy to deal with.

If I get on it maybe I can have a January 1, 2010 launch with this (though it would have to be "nekkid").

Attached are PDF's of the plans for the Sky Bird II, Mitosis and the Arrow-C, which includes the Li'l 'Tinker plans on the same page. I have PDF's of the others, too, but they are too large to include as attachments in YORF. The nice thing about converting the plans into Acrobat files is that you never have to worry about whether the templates will print at the correct size; just set Page Scaling to "None."

It's pretty late here now, but tomorrow I will create PDF's of just the template pages of the other plans and see if they are small enough to post as attachments in this thread.

MarkII

Attached Files

	eirp002 Estes Sky Bird II.pdf (97.5 KB, 139 views)
	eirp040 EIRP Mitosis.pdf (78.8 KB, 139 views)
	eirp001 Estes Arrow-C.pdf (69.2 KB, 140 views)

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SAM # 0011

So far, everything I've seen is straightforward. What I'm looking for is a "verticle break apart system," that I can apply to a MMX rocket to fit a "large parachute." In other words, the seam for the two halves of the rocket run "vertically".Any ideas out there??

Thank you very much! Printing the PDFs is a heap easier than using the triangles, protractor, French curve, and ruler to create scale-ups of the undersized fin patterns.

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

One of the rockets in the old Science Fair/Logix Enterprises Aeronautical Lab Kit (see: http://www.samstoybox.com/toys/Aeronautic.html for an illustration of the box cover) had a long, vertical "hatch" that opened to release the parachute. The Quercetti (Italian-made, but sold worldwide, including in the USA) "Orbital Adventures" and "Tor II" rockets (see: http://www.flyingtoys.com/index.php?categoryID=2 and http://www.quercetti.com/ita/prodotti-linee-estivi.php ) also use a hatch of this type.

These rockets are all launched using rubber band catapults, but there is no reason why a solid propellant model rocket could not also use this type of parachute stowage/release system. The motor's ejection charge could be used to activate a hatch release mechanism, perhaps by sliding backwards (but being retained in the airframe, as in the Estes Scout kit) and disengaging a lock pin that would hold the hatch closed during ascent. Such an arrangement might be useful for parachute duration and streamer duration contest models. (Also, the Quercetti rockets might be convertible for use with rocket motors, and their smaller rockets may be light enough for a Micro Maxx motor to lift.)

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

This link might be what you're looking for:
http://plans.rocketshoppe.com/cmr/cmrC1/C1.pdf

It's the CMR "Breakaway" kit.
There's a lot of unconventional building in the CMR kits.
The instructions talk of strengthening the interior of the tubes. The CMR tubes were thinner than most and lighter for competition. The vacu-form nose cones (I understand are made from the same Vacu-form machine that Col. Howard Kuhn used at CMR) are available from Pratt Hobbies.

__________________
Hans "Chris" Michielssen
Old/New NAR # 19086 SR

www.oddlrockets.com
www.modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com
http://www.nar.org/educational-reso...ing-techniques/
Your results may vary
"Nose cones roll, be careful with that."
Every spaceman needs a ray gun.
Look out - I'm the Meister Shyster!

Very interesting...the CMR Break-Away used a forward-hinged body tube parachute hatch arrangement not terribly different from that used in the catapult-launched Science Fair/Logix and Quercetti rockets (except that the Break-Away's hatch completely separated from the rest of the rocket). The Break-Away would also, with minor modifications, make an excellent classic break-apart recovery rocket if built this way:

The body tube could be a 12" length of Quest 20 mm (T-20) tubing, with 2-1/8" of it cut off to form the rear section with the fins that would separate at ejection. The nose cone would be the plastic nose cone used in the Quest Starhawk, Novia, and Q E-Z boost-glider kits, and it would be glued into the front end of the 9-7/8" long forward section of the rocket's body tube.

The front end of the yellow Quest motor mount tube would protrude 1/2" beyond the front end of the 2-1/8" long rear section of the T-20 body tube (an equal length of Estes BT-20 would be a more durable alternative to the thin-walled Quest motor mount tube), and it would act as a coupler to align the two sections of the rocket when they were assembled for flight. A length of Kevlar shock cord would connect the two sections of the model together. A streamer could be added to the model if desired, but "as is" it would be a very good break-apart recovery rocket that would be a real contender in spot-landing contests. (A scaled-down mini motor version could use a Quest 15 mm (T-15) body tube and a Quest 15 mm plastic nose cone, along with a length of BT-5 or ST-5 tubing for the motor mount tube.)

__________________
Black Shire--Draft horse in human form, model rocketeer, occasional mystic, and writer, see:
http://www.lulu.com/content/paperba...an-form/8075185
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6122050
http://www.lulu.com/product/cd/what...of-2%29/6126511
All of my book proceeds go to the Northcote Heavy Horse Centre www.northcotehorses.com.
NAR #54895 SR

Here are just the fin patterns and marking guides for the other models that Black Shire mentioned, in Acrobat format. There are more pages than I can attach to one post, so there will be two more posts following.

First up:

0815 Estes Super Flea (and Javelin) fin pattern and marking guide
0866 Estes Mini Tri Pack fin pattern
0866 Estes Mini Tri Pack fin alignment guide
0866 Estes Mini Tri Pack fin marking guide

MarkII

Attached Files

	est0815 Estes Super Flea_Javelin fin patt.pdf (25.2 KB, 115 views)
	est0866 Estes Mini Tri Pack fin patt.pdf (30.1 KB, 103 views)
	est0866 Estes Mini Tri Pack fin alignment.pdf (55.5 KB, 155 views)
	est0866 Estes Mini Tri Pack fin marking guide.pdf (88.0 KB, 94 views)

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SAM # 0011

Next up:

0872 Estes Sparrow fin pattern
0872 Estes Sparrow fin marking guide
0873 Estes Hawkeye fin pattern
0873 Estes Hawkeye fin placement guide

MarkII

Attached Files

	est0872 Estes Sparrow marking guide.pdf (45.4 KB, 79 views)
	est0873 Estes Hawkeye fin patt.pdf (8.8 KB, 85 views)
	est0873 Estes Hawkeye fin placement.pdf (209.5 KB, 74 views)
	0872 Estes Sparrow fin pattern.pdf (14.9 KB, 130 views)

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SAM # 0011

Finally, the Estes Jammin' and Lumina patterns. These two models are actually the very same rocket, with different decals and paint patterns. But I have attached fin patterns from both sets of plans, just for the halibut.

0890 Estes Jammin' fin pattern
0890 Estes Jammin' fin marking guide
0897 Estes Lumina fin placement guide
0897 Estes Lumina fin pattern

MarkII

Attached Files

	est0890 Estes Jammin'-fin patt.pdf (12.6 KB, 89 views)
	est0897 Estes Lumina fin guide.pdf (255.4 KB, 81 views)
	est0897 Estes Lumina fin patt.pdf (8.6 KB, 84 views)
	est0890 Estes Jammin' fin marking guide.pdf (150.1 KB, 82 views)

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SAM # 0011