BAR Rocket Fleet - #107 Carlisle Mark II 'Rock-A-Chute'

Sport Model
 Scratch-built per published plans 

In Model Rocketry Magazine, May 1970

Designed by: Orville Carlisle

Single Stage
13mm Engines
Parachute Recovery
Length:  9.50”  241mm
Diameter (BT-50):  .98”  24.89mm
Weight empty:  .80oz.    22.7gm

Fins: (3) Tapered
Nose Cone: Cylindrical, Rounded

Launch Lug for 1/4” to 5/16” wooden dowel rod

Color Scheme: 
Main Body and 2 fins - White
Nose Cone and 1 fin Bright Red
Checkerboard Roll Pattern –  Black & White Estes Decal
Model Number – Dry Transfer Decals
Lettering:  Dymo Clear Labels
Finish: Pledge w/Future / Simple Green
(Gloss Sauce)

Completion Date:  2016, August 26th

A Thing of Beauty….A Butt-Ugly Model Rocket….

Being a consummate history buff, I am interested in all things old, historic, and antique.
And, now that I am a full-fledged BAR, it is only fitting that I should build and fly a rendition of the Carlisle Rock-A-Chute Mark II model rocket, the one that got the hobby really rollin’ back in the day. 

Working mainly from the plans published in the May, 1970 issue of Model Rocketry Magazine, in the “Old Rocketeer” column, I built this version of the Mark II from modern BT-50 tubing. 

This is such a far cry from all the other model rockets I’ve ever constructed. 

Back in the seventies, being a ‘cool’ 20-something young man, I would only build models that were sleek, drag-efficient, high performance contest grade (and a number of not-quite-so-pretty boost/gliders, too).  

No butt-ugly rockets for this cat! 

I recall seeing the Carlisle Mark II article back in that era, but I never gave it more than a passing glance, thinking “Why would I ever waste my time building such a horrible thing as this? “
Even Mr. Stine reflected this in his article, describing the MII as “Brutish and draggy, compared to today’s (1970) super-sophisticated standards”.

Time passed and my perspectives on life, the universe, and everything also changed significantly. I have since acquired a keen interest in historical things, and some of the old ways of doing stuff.  My other major hobby is woodworking, where I have completely eschewed power tools and embraced “Neanderthalism”, using only antique and vintage hand tools.

In returning to the ranks of model rocketeers, I have carried this appreciation for all things historical right smack dab on to center stage of my BAR ventures. 

Hence, the driving need to build my own Carlisle Rock-A-Chute Mark II.

In addition to this particular model, my near-future build list also includes a Carlisle Mark I, a Mark II ½, a Dirty Bird, an MMI-style Aerobee-Hi, an MMI Arcon clone, and repros of the first model rockets from the earliest Estes and Centuri catalogs.

Anyway, back to the Mark II……

Since the crayon sharpeners that Orville used originally for nose cones are pretty scarce these days, I turned my own nose cone out of balsa on the wood lathe.  On this version, I made the decision to exclude the finger grip ‘ribs’ that were on the originals.  Lazy? Deemed un-necessary? Contributors to overall ugliness?  Take your pick.   Plus, they are not emphasized in the Stine article.

For the engine mount, I used a standard BT-5 type mount for Estes mini-engines, except that the centering rings are fashioned out of pine – sort of a nod to the original models.  The rings were hand-cut from one of those paint stir sticks obtained from Home Depot’s paint desk.  (An article for later discussion:  those paint stir sticks are high on my list of the most wonderful things ever invented.  I can’t even begin to count the various uses I’ve found for them, both on my model rocket work bench, and in my woodshop.  They even come in handy for stirring paint!  Best part is that they’re free for the purloining…er…. asking!)

The Mark II’s BIG UGLY LAUNCHING LUG is made of a 1/2A3-2T mini-engine casing, though it’s a full half-inch shorter than the “Rock-A-Chute” engine casing affixed to the prototype models.  Fittingly, the casing I am using on my model is the very engine that powered my first BAR launch on July 13^th,   2016!  I intend to launch the Mark II using a 1/4” wood dowel launch rod, just like Orville did with the originals.  You know how difficult it is to find a STRAIGHT ¼ x 36 inch dowel these days?

Of course, the launcher for this rocket cannot be the spiffy camera-tripod affair that I use for my other models.  Nope – it’s gotta be a piece of scrap wood with a hole for the dowel launch rod bored somewhere near center.  Fashioned with a handsaw, a smoothing plane, and an antique hand drill, of course…

Oh, and I must not forget the blast deflector cut out from a piece of roof flashing!

I do draw the line at using a fuse or Jetex wick to launch this thing, so I will be employing a more modern electric launch control system and modern igni…I mean, ‘starters’.  I am, however, toying with the idea of building a controller made from an old doorbell button, some cloth insulated lamp cord, and a couple of paper clips – just for history’s sake. 

Back to the model itself….

Of course, the shock cord MUST be nothing short of a piece of elastic tied into a big knot and threaded through a hole in the body tube.  Butt ugly…..

My other major deviation from the originals is the exclusion of the paper fin reinforcement and staples.  I don’t feel that these additions are necessary to the inherent strength of the fin construction, plus they add extra ‘ugliness’ to the finished model….I did, after all, promise my significant other that, on this go-around, I would refrain from building ugly model rockets.  The Mark II is already dangerously borderline.

One other item of note is the ‘Rock-a-Chute’ Logo. I used a DYMO label with clear backing to make a reasonable facsimile.  The labeler model I use has an option for an ‘arrow’ shaped box around the lettering, except that both ends point away from the lettering. Not like the original, but close enough.

A 15” square cut from a dollar store sheet plastic (RED) table cloth is just the ticket to fashion a reproduction of the type of parachute used on the early Mark IIs.

I do believe everything is now officially Golden….

It’s time to don my nerdy 50s clothing; plaid button-down shirt, pleated, cuffed high-water pants, loafers, bright white socks, and perhaps wrap a little white tape around the corner of my reading glasses, and head off to the flying field to re-create my own interpretation of what it might have been like to be one of those late-1950s model rocketry pioneers.

A Little Mark II History…..

The Rock-A-Chute Mark II was developed in 1957 by Orville Carlisle, a shoe salesman of Norfolk, Virginia. Carlisle was also a pyrotechnic hobbyist, and invented a method of producing hand-made solid propellant black powder rocket engines which consisted of a thrust charge, delay charge, and ejection charge. He built small model rockets made of paper, wood, and plastic to go with his engines.

At the time, the space race between the United States and Russia was in full swing, and many young people were attempting to build their own rockets, constructing them out of metal pipes, metal fins, and every concoction of explosive material to propel them.  Many of these experiments resulted in serious injury and death to the participants.   A professional rocket engineer, G. Harry Stine, was working at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico at the time, and published articles about the dangers of these ‘basement bombers’ and their hazardous rocketry activities.  Carlisle read one of these articles and wrote to Stine, saying that he had developed a small rocket that might provide the solution to this ‘youth rocketry problem’.   Carlisle sent some of his Mark II models and some engines to Stine, who was able to conduct test flights.  He was impressed, and also agreed that this was indeed the solution to the youth rocketry problem.  Stine subsequently went on to found his own model rocket manufacturing company (Model Missiles, Inc.), as well as starting what became the National Association of Rocketry.  Carlisle and Stine were NAR member #s 1 and 2.  Even though the Mark II is not Carlisle’s first design, the model stands in history as the one that started the hobby of model rocketry as we know it today.