Brief:
The Mustang Jr. is a half-scale version of the single stage mid-power Mustang from AeroTech. I've always thought the Mustang was a great kit--slender rocket, good looks, and great performer. I always wanted to fly here at home in my front yard, but that was out of the question with the tree lines all around. So, I decided to scale her down and create the Mustang Jr.

Construction:
The initial Mustang, like most of AeroTech's kits, was a straightforward build and the Jr. is no exception. Here's the parts list:

• 1 BT-50 Body Tube, 16.625"
• 1 BT-20 Motor Tube, 2.75"
• 1 Estes NC-50 Nose Cone, 4" Parabolic
• 1 Engine Block
• 1 Motor Hook
• 2 BT-50 to BT-20 Centering Rings
• 1 12" Parachute
• 1 Launch Lug, 1/8" x 1.5"
• 1 Kevlar® Thread Shock Cord, 40"
• 1 Fins, 3/16" balsa

The Jr. goes together easily, I finished mine in 2 days including the paint job. Following the RockSim guide, the motor mount is constructed first. The centering rings are mounted 1/2" from each end of the motor tube. I cut a small slit in each to accommodate the motor hook. The shock cord is tied around the center of the motor tube and passed under the forward centering ring. The engine block is glued in next and then the whole assembly is glued in the main airframe with the motor tube flush with the rear of the main airframe.

The fins are cut from 3/16" balsa and surface mounted using the double glue technique.

The original Mustang has a pointed, more ogive shaped nose cone than the NC-50 cones that come from Estes. However, since I had a bunch of the NC-50s around I simply fashioned a paper cone to the tip of the NC-50 which extended it about a half inch (closer to scale length) and then soaked it in thin CA for strength. After some wood filler and sanding she looked great. If you use the Estes NC-50, don't attach the shock cord to the little tab on the nose cone shoulder as it is sure to break off on your first flight. I simply screwed in a small screw eye just off to the side of the tab.

Finishing:
The Jr. was primed with one coat of Krylon white primer then painted in the white, gray and black color scheme. Since I wanted the Mustang Jr. to look as close as possible to the original, I created some scale templates for the design using Paint Shop Pro and printed them on clear ink jet label paper. Once these decals were applied I sprayed the whole rocket in clear coat.

Flight:
The Jr. is designed to fly with all standard 18mm motors, although to keep her in my front yard I tested her on 1/2A6-2 and A8-3 motors. All flights were wonderful.

Recovery:
The 12" parachute is more than enough for the Jr. Recovery on my test flights were nominal. Ejection on both 1/2A and A8 were at or close to apogee.

Summary:
If you like the original Mustang, this 1/2 scale version is sure to please.