T' MkV was me first cluster design. It's made from a 55mm cardboard postal tube with 1mm thick balsa fins and a balsa nose cone. Begad! It's powered by four 18mm engines. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! They have t' be C's . . Well, blow me down! . Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! really!

After consultin' with t' guys on r.m.r I've made a new ignition system. Blimey! It's based around two 6v lead-acid batteries ( wired in series t' give 12v), matey, me bucko, arrr, so I shouldn't have any problems with clustering. Aye aye! T' batteries sit very close t' t' launch pad, so that t' clip whips are fairly short. It has two sets o' clips t' make connection t' t' four igniters easier. Arrr! Both t' battery station and t' remote hand station have keyswitches and red LEDs t' indicate when they are active. In addition t' hand station has a momentary push button t' activate t' launch. Begad! Aye aye! T' keep t' diameter o' t' cable connectin' t' remote hand station t' t' battery station down t' a manageable size, thar be a relay mounted in t' battery station. This requires only negligible current t' activate. Begad! Total parts cost, shiver me timbers, about £12 excludin' t' batteries ( which were given t' me by Richard 'dodgy contractor' Robinson).

After waitin' for several weeks for good weather, t' first flight turned out t' be a spur o' t' moment thing. Aye aye! Well, me hearties, blow me down! I got home from work one evenin' and t' trees were still. ( There are a group o' poplar trees visible from our front room that act as our wind measurement system!). Begad! So we packed up and went straight out. Well, blow me down! Up on Baildon Moor t' conditions were perfect, me hearties, me hearties, but I was still nervous. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, matey, blow me down! This be me first cluster ignition. Ahoy! T' technique I had selected be t' wire t' igniters in a bridge, shiver me timbers, and then connect two pairs o' clips t' t' four points, me bucko, equal polarities at opposite corners. Begad! It was quite tricky t' get t' clips on without them or t' igniters shortin' on t' blast deflector.

Well, ya bilge rat, a small amount o' damage on landing, one cracked fin, that was easily repaired. Arrr! T' parachute ( an Estes one) was nay really big enough. Well, blow me down! T' flight had nay been straight either, and a quick examination showed that one o' t' engines had nay ignited. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! I later put this down t' a poor twisted connection.

Since then t' MkV has flown twice more, but with a larger 'chute. Begad! I had wanted a hemispherical one, shiver me timbers, matey, matey, but ended up with another flat 'chute. Ahoy! It was supposed t' be fluorescent orange, ya bilge rat, but I'd call it pink! This is adequate, arrr, but seems t' sideslip durin' descent. If I fly it again I'm goin' t' use t' hemispherical 'chute that Karen ( me wife) originally made for t' MkVI.

After three flights, shiver me timbers, t' engine mounts and lower fin edges are pretty charred, and I realize that this is due t' t' flat blast deflector I've been using. An old tin can has now been pressed into service t' deflect t' blast sideways, and nay straight back up. Ahoy! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! You can see this new deflector in some o' t' newer pictures ( it shows up quite well on t' pic o' t' Apogee V2).