30 MAY/JUNE 2022 SPORT ROCKETRY
Now came the really fun part: Bending
the ring segments around and fitting them
into their matting slots to create the ring! I
clamped the rocket down to my bench and
proceeded with the organized chaos. As
I fit one ring segment in the slot, another
would pop out. Some CA glue and a bunch
Figure 3.
of clamps were used in an attempt to hold
the ring segments in position. Aer a bit
of wrestling… Success! See Figures 8 and
9. Everything stayed in place as intended.
Healthy epoxy fillets with micro-balloons
were added to reinforce the joints. And,
the ring was actually round (Figure 10)! I
finished by painting the rocket in a similar
paint scheme as in the old catalog although
blue instead of white and, I included a fake
side exhaust hole (Figure 11).
So, like the rest of my new rocket col-
lection, when would we be able to fly the
Sprite?? A "Good News" email from ROC
of Lucerne Valley, California, meant that
the opportunity was knocking on the door.
My buddy David and I decided to seize
the moment and go flying. It was his first
High Power launch, and he is hooked! I
loaded the Sprite with a Cesaroni H133
Blue Streak with a 5-second delay. Rock-
Sim showed that the rocket would go about
700 feet. e goofy looking blue rocket le
the rail straight and true, with the proper
trajectory, up! Just as the rocket attained
apogee and started to arc over, the ejection
charge blew and the 48" chute unfurled.
Recovery was safe and sound although a
Figure 3.
Fiberglass bending test.
Figure 5. Bonding the
through-the-wall fins.
Figure 4. G10 fin with slot for
ring-tail material.
