The Ultimate Armageddon Project began back in the fall of 2006 when we received a very generous gift from one of our club members. He donated several tubes of sizes ranging from around 4 inches up to 8 inches, plus a partially constructed D&G Armageddon kit.

After looking over the bounty, an idea emerged from several members. Why not take some of that 8 inch tube and build an Armageddon upscale clone? We all agreed that the Armageddon has some of the coolest fins around. How great would it be to build one that is 8 inches in diameter and over 14 feet long.

Another member ponied up with a nose cone that would work out just great. The idea had started coming together and plans were started.  It was decided that our goal should be to hold the inaugural launch at our High Frontier 4 launch in Pawhuska, Oklahoma on October 20-21, 2007.

Construction didn’t actually begin until January 2007.  The first order of business was to cut the two tube sections to the proper length. and get them glassed and primed.  The fin patterns were created and once again we used Norbond for the fins to save weight.  A router was used to cut the fins and then any imperfections were corrected by sanding.

Next thing was to cut the fin slots.  The forward tube had four small fins that went through the wall about a half inch where they would be bonded on both sides of the tube.  The rear fins would need slots that went all the way through the end of the tube.  This was needed since the motor mount with fins glued in place would be slid into the rocket from the rear before the whole assembly was epoxied into place.

The edges of all the Norbond fins had dowels glued into place to give them a nice rounded profile.  Then the fins were attached to the motor mount.  We used a laser lever to assure that we had the fins perpendicular to each other.  Once all that had cured, the fins were glassed from tip to tip for extra strength.  Aeropoxy Light was used to create fillets on all the fins.

Around this time we decided to fly the rocket in honor of the state of Oklahoma’s 100th anniversary of statehood.  To that end the rocket was named “Oklahoma Spirit”.

While all this was going on the altimeter bay was being constructed.  This rocket would have dual deployment since we expected an altitude of over 5000 ft on an M motor.  The altimeter bay was epoxied into place and then it was time to start applying a primer coat to the bird.

We were lucky enough to have club member Dan Littmann get permission for us to use the Flight Safety paint booth to paint the rocket.  Corky Borgman did a masterful job painting the rocket.  Doug Harrison created some very nice vinyl decals of the rocket name, which he applied after the paint had cured.

The rocket was now ready for it flight at High Frontier 4.  The Tulsa Air and Space Museum also told us that they would like to display the rocket.  Wow, now we would have two of our club projects hanging in the museum.

The flight went well with only minor damage occurring to the base of the rocket when it landed on one of the many Osage county rocks.  A few weeks later the rocket was hung at the museum.  It would come down one more time when we flew it at LDRS 27 in Argonia, KS.  After LDRS it was placed back in the museum where it still sits today.

You can see some construction photos on the Construction page.  Note that in one of the pictures from the museum, you can see our Phoenix missile still hanging on the F-14 Tomcat.