I was first intrigued by the look of a Quest Rocket Aurora T3 when browsing the Net for just another kit to build. Totally bored with big kits out of the bag - I look to the challenge of an up-scale. Having failed miserably at a club launch in boost glider competition - the Aurora T3 looked like a glider possibility. Not long before I gave up the idea of glider competition - the upscale idea hit.

The kit was purchased from Value Land and arrived in great shape like all their deliveries.  I gotta say it because everything is individually bubble wrapped.  Inspection of the kit showed all parts in the bag and whole.

I went straight for the glider parts to make sure this was do-able at the scale I wanted.  I simply laid out the laser cut balsa parts and traced them on graph paper.  Next I had Kelli at my work scan in the page and she factored it up for the plotter.  It was pretty much a 4:1 ratio coming in at 4.05% enlargement.  The upscale plotted dimensions work well with the available parts on the market now. 

For actual construction of the rocket I generally plan to follow the kit instructions concerning dimensions and placement of parts allowing for the upscale ratio.

To make sure that upscale Aurora 4.0  would fly well, I had to first build the model in RocSim. I measured all parts of the Quest kit and using the supplied kit instruction sheet, upscale the placement dimensions of parts. The problem with RocSim 3.0 is designing any parts to attach to the exterior much less design a glider. I simply tried to add more parallel fins to replicate the surface area of the glider.  In a later construction step I will weigh the rocket to balance the real weight of the rocket and the glider in design simulation.  A test throw of the glider will be necessary to trim it for flight.

          BOOSTER

          GLIDER

Glider Assembly
The first construction activity was the sizing and cutting of the glider parts.  I used 3/32" 12"x24" popular sheets for the wing parts. Cutting the parts was easy using a utility knife, straight edge and the template developed above.  The nose cone is balsa and I ordered it from Balsa Machine Service.  It is a BNC70AJ and fits a BT-70, sand the shoulder lightly and it fits a 54 mm body tube.  For added durability I lightly coated the cone with finish epoxy and sanded.  Figure 1.

My biggest fear was the wing span of the glider not fitting on one sheet of material.  As luck would have it each wing fits the 4.0 ratio and works great with the 3/32" 12"x24" popular sheets available locally at MRS Hobbies. Carefully laying out the templates I was able to use only two sheets for all the glider wing parts. Test fitting the parts together revealed not stray edges. I fretted in getting this joint right as the wings were slightly warped.  I had pressed the wings for a while and had to go for it. The best idea was to use two sided fiberglass carpet tape.  The tape would provide an instant bond and hold while epoxy sets. Critical to the joint is also the angle of the wings. A ten degree angle from plane for both wings was necessary. Center the glider body tube and there you have the beginning of the Aurora 4.0 glider.   Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 4, shows the addition of the top and bottom stabilizers.  Before placing the bottom stabilizer, I cut a groove, the width of the stabilizer, along the joint seam. Before adding the bottom stabilizer I laid a single layer of 3/4 oz. fiberglass and added the bottom stabilizer on top of the glass. This added just enough rigidity to the wing surface to hopefully protect it in landing.  A layer of 3/4 oz. glass was also added to the bottom stabilizer.
 

Figure 1  Parts	Figure 2  Glass tape joint	Figure 3  Body Tube	Figure 4  Glass bottom surface

Packed inside the glider will be an altimeter bay, recovery parachute and 24 mm motor mount.  Why all this if it is glider recovery?  Well In the interest of public safety - I am designing the glider for glide descent with an altimeter controlled chute recovery during the final approach.  Additionally for balance and realism on the glider, I am adding a 24 mm motor mount to hold an Aerotech 24/40 rms motor with just a delay charge. The delay charge, ignited at apogee, will hopefully discharge tracking smoke to aid in spotting the glider.  Figure 5

Critical to the recovery portion of the glider is the altimeter bay construction.  To keep weight down I halved a BT-70 balsa nose block from Balsa Machine Service and crafted an altimeter mounting board in between. Wiring tunnels were drilled forward and aft on the blocks to pass through e-match leads from the the altimeter to ejection charge and delay charges. The altimeter bay will be screwed into place inside the glider body tube prior to launch.  Figure 6. 

The most complicated construction of the glider has been the attachment of the rear flaps.  I toyed with using the fiberglass tape again, however it is two sided and did not want the upside sticky.  After yet anther trip to MRS Hobbies, I obtained aileron control tower, connector rods and wing hinges from the RC airplane part selection.  The intent is to have a sturdy flap that can be modified. Figure 7.
 

Figure 5  Glider Rear	Figure 6  Glider Altimeter Bay	Figure 7  Glider Flap Assembly

Booster Assembly

Several tries of painting the nose cone on the booster with light sanding and repeated paint and sand brings a great smooth paint finish.  Epoxied into the cone is a 1/4"x 4" eyebolt. The assembly seems sturdy, but will also loop kevlar thread into the bolt using the normal cord attachment eyes holes on the cone.

The motor mount is a LOC 38 mm paper tube 17" in length. Three 3/16" plywood centering rings are added to create the fin can assembly.  A PML 3.9" diameter by 48" length tube is utilized for the booster body. Ron Weigel at Rocky Mountain Rocketry was the source for cutting the centering rings and slotting the body tube.  The fins are upscale from the Quest Aurora kit pattern. I cut the fins from 3/16" plywood.  One exception is the outboard or center fin.  I intentionally added 20% more surface area to the fin to offset the glider surface area which would hang on the opposing side of the booster. The intent is to equalize the drag and provide best as possible vertical launch. A U bolt is added to the forward centering ring for connection of a 24" bridle. The bridle is 1" tubular nylon cord looped at both ends. A kevlar cord sheath will cover the bridle.  I made the bridle because I can't reach down the 4' body tube to connect a reusable shock cord each time for flight.  Figure 7.  The body of the booster is simple.  No payload section - just fin can, body tube and nose cone. Total length five feet.  Figure 8.
 

Figure 7  Booster Fin Can	Figure 8  Booster

 Planned flight will be with a I-154J-6. It should loft to about 1,500' feet and detach the glider at apogee. The booster will deploy only a main chute and return under a 54" canopy.  The altimeter on board the glider should fire an e-match in the glider mounted motor casing to ignite an inverted Estes D12-0 motor to create tracking smoke as the glider returns.. The glider will trim out and at 150' deploy a 54" recovery chute to eliminate the possibility of spectator or property damage.

Ready for flight at the October 2001 UROC launch. 
Simple prep and load of the motor and chute in the booster. The arming of the altimeter and final chute packing of the glider has to be accomplished at the pad. Figure 9.  Double check the installation of the igniter wire and give the OK to launch. Figure 10.  Flight Ready Figure 11.
 
 
 

Figure 9  Arm Glider	Figure 10  Launch Prep	Figure 11  Flight Ready

Oh to rebuild - many discussions were held as to a fix. Stay tuned. 
  

Figure 12 Smoked Glider