This is my third Rocket R & D (Cluster 'R') rocket. It comes in a bag with 8 pages of detailed instructions. It comes with a metal cable attachment on one of the two plywood centering rings for the shock cord to connect to, and it uses a 15 foot bungie for the shock cord. The body tube has the fin slots precut, unlike the 2.6" version. It uses 7/32" plywood fins (not quite scale) with through-the-wall mounting into some FIRM (Fins with Internal Root Mount) strips, which are small wood strips that glue to the motor mount with a groove for the root edge of the fins to insert into.
So much for the kit. Instead of plywood fins, I am using 0.125" G-10 fins made for me by Public Missiles Ltd. I screwed up the original 54mm motor mount (the fins sagged while curing), so I tore the fins off, sanded down the TTW tabs, and used a LOC 3" motor mount tube with four homemade 3/16" plywood centering rings. I laminated the body tubes with a layer of 1.8 oz. Kevlar® cloth, followed by a layer of 5 oz. and 2 oz. fiberglass cloth. The rocket will utilize dual deployment, with Missile Works RRC2 altimeter in the coupler. I'm using ROCKETMAN R12C and drogue parachutes, and HeatShield parachute protectors and 5/8" Kevlar® shock cord from Pratt Hobbies. Motor retention is assured by an Aero Pack motor retainer. I used conformal launch lugs from ACME Engineering.
Dia: 4.0"; Length: 89"; Wt: 175 oz. (10 lbs, 15 oz.), 181 oz. with 54mm adapter; Motor (1): 75mm (The stock kit is 84" tall, weighs about 75 oz., and comes with a 54mm motor mount)
Manufacturer recommended motors: I211-6W, I357-10T, J180-10T
Status: Active.
| Flt | Date | Motor | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1) | 5/08/99 | J415-W | Excellent flight, but main chute deployed early. Missile Works RRC2 reported 4124 feet. |
| 2) | 5/08/99 | J570-W | Another excellent flight, but main chute deployed early again. Missile Works RRC2 reported 2616 feet. |
| 3) | 5/30/99 | K560-W | Excellent flight, and dual deployment worked as planned. Missile Works RRC2 reported 8649 feet. |
| 4) | 5/30/99 | L850-W | Excellent flight, and the rocket obviously broke Mach! Dual deployment worked as planned. My first successful L motor flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 10,547 feet. Tore the rear launch lug off. |
| 5) | 6/19/99 | J415-W | Excellent flight, and dual deployment worked as planned. First launch off the blacksky rail. Missile Works RRC2 reported 3556 feet. |
| 6) | 6/19/99 | J415-W | Another excellent flight, and dual deployment worked as planned. Missile Works RRC2 reported 3912 feet. |
| 7) | 7/10/99 | J275-W | Nice flight, and dual deployment worked as planned. Missile Works RRC2 reported 2050 feet. |
| 8) | 8/14/99 | J415-W | Nice flight, and dual deployment worked as planned. Missile Works RRC2 reported 4046 feet. |
| 9) | 9/24/99 | K550-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 5029 feet. |
| 10) | 9/25/99 | K560-W | Excellent flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 8453 feet. |
| 11) | 9/26/99 | K560-W | Excellent flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 8844 feet. |
| 12) | 10/9/99 | K550-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 4907 feet. |
| 13) | 6/10/00 | J275-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 2074 feet. |
| 14) | 7/15/00 | J415-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 3430 feet. |
| 15) | 9/15/00 | K560-W | Great flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 8703 feet. |
| 16) | 9/16/00 | K560-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 8594 feet. Landed in shallow salt lake (what a mess). |
| 17) | 9/17/00 | K560-W | Another great flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 8594 feet. |
| 18) | 10/14/00 | J415-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 4110 feet. |
| 19) | 4/22/01 | J415-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 4018 feet. |
| 20) | 5/19/01 | J415-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 3926 feet. |
| 21) | 6/22/01 | K560-W | Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 reported 8182 feet. Broke a fin off at the root during drag on ground. |
| 22) | 6/24/01 | K560-W | Fin repaired. Nice flight. Missile Works RRC2 battery came loose during drag on ground, so no altitude obtained. |
| 23) | 10/11/03 | L850-W | Excellent flight, some fin flutter. Missile Works RRC2 reported 10,971 feet. |
| 24) | 7/17/04 | K695-R | Nice flight. RRC2 reported 5602 feet. |
| 25) | 7/24/04 | K1275-R | Nice flight. RRC2 reported 8378 feet. |
Pictures
Motor mount/fin assembly.
The completed Sandhawk.
The Sandhawk on a J570-W. 5/08/99.
The Sandhawk on a 75mm K560-W at Medicine Wheel 4. 5/30/99.
The Sandhawk on a 75mm L850-W at Medicine Wheel 4. 5/30/99.
The Sandhawk on a J415-W. 6/19/99.
The Sandhawk on a J275-W. 7/10/99.
The Sandhawk on a J415-W. 8/14/99.
The Sandhawk on a K550-W at HellFire 5. 9/24/99.
The Sandhawk on a 75mm K560-W at HellFire 5. 9/25/99.
The Sandhawk on another 75mm K560-W at HellFire 5. 9/26/99.
The Sandhawk on a J275-W 6/10/00.
The Sandhawk on a K560-W at HellFire 6. 9/16/00.
The Sandhawk on a J415-W. 10/14/00.
The Sandhawk on a K560-W at ROC Lake IV. 6/24/01.
The Sandhawk on a L850-W. 10/11/03.
The Sandhawk on a K695-R. 7/17/04.
The Sandhawk on a K695-R. 7/17/04.
The Sandhawk on a K1275-R. 7/24/04.
The Sandhawk on a K1275-R. 7/24/04.
