Art Applewhite Rockets - Stealth 13mm (Plan)

Manufacturer: Art Applewhite Rockets

Construction Rating:
Flight Rating:
Overall Rating:

Contributed by John Lee

Brief:
The 13mm Stealth is a paper rocket based upon Art Applewhite's Qubit design. It is a free rocket and all that is needed is to print the design available from his website. The basic stealth design is found here,but I used the Black Stealth variant. The only difference is that the black version is "pre-blackened" so it will print out with the finish. The rocket is designed to use plugged 13mm motors and recover by flipping over at apogee and using aerobrake recovery.

Construction:
The component is really simple. It consists of printing out the PDF file on a piece of 8.5" x 11" cardstock. The instruction are printed on the same page. Other than that, you need some white glue, a razor knife and a straightedge. The build is very simple.

The first step is to cut out the indicated holes for the launch lug. These are small enough that they can be cut without the use of a straightedge by using an X-Acto.

The second step is to cut out the motor mount. It is best cut out by running an X-Acto along a steel straightedge to keep the lines straight. It is then folded along the dashed lines and the tab is used to glue it into a triangular prism. The motor mount is then set aside to form the body.

Art Applewhite 13mm Stealth The body is cut out of the same sheet using the same method. Care needs to be taken that only solid lines are cut--dashed lines are for folding. When the body is cut out (tedious), the lines are pre-folded by creasing along the straightedge. The three "square" pieces are then folded to make a corner and the shape is held by the use of a glue tab. The remainder is folded into the interior to add strength and form an aft bulkhead. All is glued in place and the rocket is almost complete.

The final stage is to insert the motor mount through the aft bulkhead and glue it in place. With that, construction is done.

PROs: Free, simple, and takes only 30 minutes to build.

CONs: The trailing edges of the stealth design are tedious to cut out. Several places in the instruction refer to the rocket as the "Qubit", the design from which this one is derived. (That may confuse some who wonder what a Qubit is).

I suppose it could also be painted but that would add a lot of weight. The black version is pre-finished. It's black like a military stealth vehicle. It looked fine but I did not like the white from the fold lines or from the edges. That was easily fixed by applying a black magic marker. My Stealth was now completely stealthed.

PROs: Simple

CONs: White is just boring

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight and Recovery:
I launched this at a club event that was almost over for the day. I had 2 plugged motors left so I only got to make one flight with this rocket since I wanted to launch another one as well. I inserted the A10-PT and off she went. It was an impressive flight as the rocket spun all the way up, inverted, and spun gently down. It spun more than the Qubit but less than the Scimitar.

PROs: impressive flight

CONs: Only one suitable motor

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
PROs: Extremely simple, free, and different from all the FNCs

CONs: None

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

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