Group projects often struggle for uniqueness, something to make them stand out from the crowd. With the collective genius of group projects already dipping into the local talent pool, why not do something different to make your project really outstanding? Summit City Aerospace Modelers (SCAM) of Fort Wayne, Indiana, did just that, making their latest project really unique by going with a very unusual theme.

The project is a 6X upscale of the FlisKits ACME Spitfite model rocket kit, an unusual craft with an appearance that comes straight from the head of the ruthlessly persistent Wile E. Coyote perusing his ACME Company catalog. A completely cattywompus airframe consisting of airframe tubing of a variety of differing shapes, mated together and completed with a conical nose cap and fins of dissimilar size and shapes would be a pretty accurate description. But stranger things have proven aerodynamic and flight worthy, so the FlisKits ACME Spitfire has turned into somewhat of a cult classic, with a large following at model rocket launches around the country.

The Summit City team cutting out centering rings.

Here, Travis Troyer prepares the airframe tubes.

Mike Gross whipping the Spitfire fins into shape.

Charlie Humphries tackles shaping centering rings.

Mike Law and Dennis Watkins applying the fins.

The Spitfire is starting to take shape.

VIDEO: Video of the NSL2007 launch.

Upscaling existing model rocket designs is another activity which has engendered somewhat of a cult following itself. So it only made sense that combining the art of upscaling with a unique and unlikely rocket design would create a group project that was fun and unique. The brainchild of Dennis Watkins, the project's chief designer and project leader, Watkins flew a smaller upscale of the ACME Spitfire at LDRS25 in Amarillo, Texas last year, so he already had a warm spot in his heart for the unlikely-looking design. The ACME Spitfire was the first club project undertaken by SCAM since their beautiful Honest John project of 2002, and provided a great opportunity for the team members to affordably participate in a large scale, high power rocketry project.

Working with a computer simulation program, the 6X upscale version was created and laid out to determine the key dimensions of the rocket. The overall length worked out to be just shy of 108 inches, with the diameter just over 18 inches and a fin span diameter of 50 inches. The computer-simulated weight was almost 50 pounds.

With this baseline information, construction on the project began with the goal for a completion date sometime in the Spring of 2007 and to have the rocket ready for launch at the NAR National Sport Launch (NSL 07) held in Muncie, Indiana on June 2-3. Converging on the home of team member Mike Laws in December of 2006, the twelve team members launched the project with a budget of $600, which worked out to be a meager $50 from each team member, collected, massaged, stretched and managed by project treasurer Charlie Humphries.

Travis Troyer, assisted by Dave Wyss, enlarged the initial drawings of the project, picked up some 12-inch Quick-Tube concrete form tubes for the various sections of the airframe and secured a source for fiberglass cloth for use in laminating the nose cone. Dean Bobay supplied an essential amount of marine-grade plywood, based on the premise that it is both lighter and stronger than the Baltic Birch that would normally be used for the necessary centering rings and bulkhead plates.

With such a squiggly exterior shape to the Spitfire, there had to be some common denominator to build from, so running right down the centerline of that unique profile is a 6-inch central motor mount tube, supplied by Mike Hollman, that serves as the backbone of the rocket.

The exterior airframe sections were cut from the 12-inch concrete form tubes and were attached at the various and sundry angles to the center motor mount tube with centering rings cut with a router from the 1/2-inch marine plywood. Fins were cut from 3/8-inch composite material. Since the rocket was going to follow the original Spitfire design's apogee deployment of a single-stage recovery system, this construction method made for a strong yet uncomplicated vehicle.

The fin can section was constructed in a similar manner, with a section of the 12-inch concrete form tube serving as the central mounting point for the composite fins, with an 18-inch centering ring at the rear and a 15-inch centering ring in the middle to support the fin can's tapered shroud. Using copious amounts of West Systems epoxy throughout to glue it all together, the entire airframe was later covered in 6oz. fiberglass cloth, supplied by Mike Law.

The unique asymmetrical conical nose cone was constructed by rolling a template around a centering ring that mounted a coupler tube positioned to fit inside the 6-inch central motor mount tube and then laminated with 20oz. fiberglass cloth, again using West Systems epoxy. Inside the coupler tube was home to the rocket's recovery electronics. Once all of this was completed, it time for the always enjoyable task of sanding, filling and filleting. And then more sanding and filling and priming. And then more sanding before painting!

Working on a project this large demands tools of equal size and the access to automotive spray guns and a paint booth made the project turn out that much better. After laying on a base coat color of metallic gold, the Spitfire was treated to a cool masking job in preparation for a beautiful purple topcoat. Once dry and carefully unmasked, the rocket was covered with the deep shine of several layers of clearcoat.

Out at the National Sport Launch, Saturday morning found the team prepping the Spitfire for it's maiden voyage. Electronics were prepped, the Animal Motor Works M2200 Skidmark was assembled (after all, it's a Spitfire, so the Skidmark motor was only appropriate!), recovery charges installed and parachutes packed. Jim Flis of FlisKits, the inspiration for this project, stopped by and brought his own special gift in the form of upscale FlisKits Spitfire decals for the rocket.

After an initial electronics snafu at the pad, which was tracked down to a loose battery connection on the recovery system electronics, the time to launch had finally come. The local fire department said grace on the event by hosing the area around the Spitfire down with water to prevent the knobby Skidmark from starting a forest fire, followed by a countdown and a launch.

The team was rewarded by a perfect flight, with the recovery systems working as designed, and the nose cone and airframe coming down on separate parachutes. Both parachutes opened as planned with the nose cone landing approximately 65 yards away from the rest of the rocket. A quick check of the altimeter reported an altitude of 1463 feet, proof of the rather drag-inducing shape of the Spitfire. While the rocket suffered from some minor bumps and bruises along with a cracked fin, everything is easily repairable, giving hope for another flight of the Spitfire sometime in the future.

Team Spitfire members: Dennis Watkins, Charlie Humphries, Dean Bobay, Joe Isca, Mike Law, Travis Troyer, Ryan Lawrence, Mike Hollman, Mike Gross, Edward Hardy, Mark Rogers and Dave Wyss.

Mike Law goes about the task of assembling the nose cone. This is the view from the rear, showing 6" motor tube.

The tedious task of filling all the joints is time-consuming. Power tools came in handy when sanding around the motor mount.

After the fiberglassing, it's time for sanding the airframe. Airframe and fin sanding calls for the power tools.

The Spitfire gets its nudity covered with a coat of primer. After the primer dried, it's back outside to start sanding.

After a gold basecoat, Travis starts applying the purple. Sitting in the prep area at the NSL 07 launch site.

The Summit City Aerospace Modelers Spitfire team. The Spitfire takes to the skies on an AMW M2200.