I bought this kit back in September of 2000 and didn't start building it until about two weeks before LDRS XX.  This was my first High Power rocket and I wanted something big.  It is 4" diameter, 85" tall, has a 54mm motor mount, and weighs about 6 lbs.

 I modified the stock BSD Thor kit in several ways:

• Added three 9/16" brass tubes around the motor mount to act as staging rod guide tubes so this rocket can someday sit on top of a large booster.
• Ran 3/8" conduit through motor mount section for ignitor leads when used as an upper stage.
• Glued wood blocks to centering rings to anchor threaded inserts for BlackSky rail guides instead of launch lugs
• Used a 1/4" U-bolt instead of the supplied eye bolt for bridal attachment.
• Upgraded the motor retention system to #8 T-nuts and bolts instead of the supplied #6 bolts.  Made larger retention clips from metal mirror clamps.  Used the #6 hardware on the LOC 54->38mm motor adapter so it also has positive motor retention.
• Corrected an error on the fin alignment guide and re-drew the fin slot lines.  Due to the staging guide tubes, it was necessary to mount he rail guides offset from the suggested launch lug mounting line.
• Used plastic rivets (6 per joint) to connect payload sections to couplers and nosecone.  This allows easy disassembly and reconfiguration.  I envision having a variety of special purpose payload sections that can be interchanged for video, ram-air parachute, etc.
• Rocketman R7 parachute with 4" diameter nomex deployment bag rigged to be extracted by the nose/payload section.
• 3/4" tubular nylon shock cord/bridal instead of the grommet punched strap and elastic (actually I like elastic but don't need it in this application).
• Sanded fins with sharp beveled edges instead of airfoil shaped.
• Soaked ends of tubes and all rivet holes and vent holes with CyanoAcrylate glue to give crisp edges that won't fray.
• Painted upper section metallic royal blue instead of black.  Painted lower section metallic silver instead of yellow.  Used Krylon primer with Rustolem color and two coats of clear.

Thor's first flight 8/11/01 at the Tripoli Minnesota launch at North Branch:

Next was a frantic effort to put the finishing touches on my first high power rocket, my BSD Thor (4" x 7', around 6lbs loaded).  This is the one that I brought in pieces to LDRS and worked on 'till the wee hours each morning in hotel rooms but didn't finish in time to fly there.  It was looking like a repeat story but last night I finished the paint job and rigged the recovery system (Rocketman R7 w/deployment bag) and today added the really cool decals.

Alan Estenson helped me order and prep an I161W for it's first flight.  Rocksim suggested a delay of 7.5 seconds which left me in a quandary about what delay to order since a short (6 sec) would be too early.  I went with a medium (10 seconds) and committed myself to using my Magnetic Apogee Detector to try to peg the proper time.  A huge thanks to Mike Maurer for loaning and prepping an ejection charge for me.

I was finally ready to fly around 4:30, about an hour after Mike asked me "So are you shaking yet?" and just made the last rack of the day.  Glen Overby assisted me at the pad with loading and arming the rocket.
 

(phtoto by Alan Estenson)
 

(phtoto by Michael Mauer)

With Mike Vande Kamp videoing and  Alan, Glen, & others photographing, the metallic blue and silver beast finally ignited after a frustratingly long 5-10 seconds.

 It slowly rose to about 1300' and had a perfect ejection right at apogee.  About two seconds later, the puff of the motor ejection could be seen.  The chute deployed cleanly from the bag (thanks Jodi and Ky) and the rocket floated down for a nice soft landing.  Whew, what a relief!
 

(phtoto by Michael Mauer)

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