Boost: I mis-read the instructions for the assembly of the motor, and it was missing a gasket. When the motor came up to pressure, it blew-by the delay element, and hit the ejection charge, which popped the chute, and made the rocket do summersaults to the ground.

Recovery: To prevent drift, I had cut the Estes Logo out of a 10" chute to make a spill hole. The chute was shredded into six individual pieces of plastic with a shroud line attached to each one.

I like the shape, and design of the Exocet Missile, but before that, I liked the Estes Rocket kit. When it came to making this rocket, I didn't pay any attention at all to any kind of scale data, because I know that the Estes version is modified slightly for increased stability, and the lack of active guidance. I had an Estes Designer's kit, and a couple of nose cones, and body tubes left over, and I wanted to make something that would be powered by an 18mm mount, as I had an excess of 18mm motors, and a lack of rockets to fly them in. I very easily could have made this a 24mm powered rocket, which would have gotten much higher altitudes, but it would have required more nose weight, and I wasn't confident that I could stuff a larger chute into the body tube. So the plan was, make a BT-50 sized Exocet scaled down from the Estes model, and use a nose cone that I currently had as surplus from the designer's kit. I know the Nose Cone isn't a perfect match, but it is fairly close, and was certainly the closest thing I had access to at the time.

The Exocet's large forward fins make it slightly difficult to make it stable, because the center of pressure (CP) moves forward with the addition of the forward fins, interrupting the balance. In the Simulation File, you can see that the CP is just at the front of the motor mount, but without the forward fins, it moves to about 0.25" behind the front of the motor mount. Obviously, this plays a large role in stability, and I didn't want to have to further tweak the size of the fins to make things work, so I did have to add just a little bit of nose weight. It wasn't originally meant to fly on an Aerotech reload, so in the field, I added a bit more 'nose weight' (dirt) to it for stability's sake to be safe.

The very first thing I had to figure out (or guess at) is the length of the major body tube in the original kit. The kit mentions the use of a BT-55 Estes tube, which according to all of my resources is 18" long. Another Grey area was the length of the nose cone, which in retrospect, I under-estimated, and from this I can get a full length. Then I subtract the length of the nose cone I am going to use, and I have the length for my body tube. I came up with 10", but like I said, I think that's a little on the short side. If the nose cones were of proportionate size, my main body tube should have been about 13.5" long, rather than 10". So call it a bad scale of a bad scale. It kinda looks like it.

I had measurements for the fins, thanks to Jim Z's pdf instruction sheet, and the scan of the fins (along with the helpful ruler) contained therein. All I had to do was draw that size (which I did in AutoCAD) and scale it down to match my BT-50 body tube (about 73%) and presto! The markings on this rocket is one of the things that draws me toward it (notice how Certs is painted?) because it is clearly visible, and you can tell which direction it is pointing from a far distance, which helps with analizing the flight profile.

After I had everything gathered, it was really a very simple rocket to construct, and I had most of it done in about a night. Again, using AutoCAD, I made the typical Estes wrap to mark the body tubes with where the fins should be, and how far apart they need to be spaced. Once I discovered how to do this, it became really easy to use this technique for nearly every rocket that I have, including my HPR stuff. It is pretty reliable, and there are cues on the printed sheet that you can use to ensure alignment, and that the wrap is the proper length, which allows you to get proper spacing of all of the fins. It is critical, I should mention, that you mark only in one place, and do so all the way around the body tube (all of your marks, not a ring) and then extend those lines, rather than try to use the width of your wrap to ensure that the lines are straight. I actually bought a piece of Angled Aluminum for this purpose, and it's really easy to use (plus, your wife/mother doesn't get upset with you for leaving pencil marks on the door-jambs) because you simply fit the tube in the open angle, and align a mark, and use your pencil to extend that mark as far as you need to. Rotate your tube, and repeat. With all 9 lines drawn, and all 8 fins cut, I started gluing at the bottom, and I followed the Estes instructions nearly verbatim (I scaled all measurements, of course) and before I knew it, the rocket was complete.

Just like with all of my rockets, I wanted to make sure that this one had enough shock cord, so I did use quite a bit more than Estes would have suggested, but not so much that I don't have room for a parachute. The shock cord is about 5 times as long as the rocket in this case (not stretched) and is made of the nylon elastic from Joann's Craft Stores. I used the same mounting technique that Estes has for years, and I don't think it will have any problems staying attached.

For painting, I did it just like the Estes kit, scaling the measurement to the red/black seam accordingly. I sanded everything smooth, and started with a white base coat (no primer) and then painted nearly the whole thing red, then the black. I did spray a clear coat, but there was no sanding after the first coat of paint. It's quick, and dirty, and easy, and cheap, but hey, it works for the small stuff. Now it's finished. I did not bother with decals, as I am having a bit of trouble finding a good vendor for stickers with wite pigment. It's not impossible to find, but I didn't want to spend the money on this one, it's completely disposable unless it contains a reload casing. But still, it's a cool little rocket that should do 1000' or so on a C6-7, and nearly 2000' on an Aerotech Reload. We'll see.