T' success o' the MkV made me start t' think a bout t' bigger tubes I had stacked in t' corner. If I could cluster four engines, why nay six? Why nay use D engines? I had a tube that would hold seven 24mm mounts, but it wasn't really long enough. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! So I decided t' built a rocket reminiscent o' t' MkIV, with a transition, and forward fins. Ya scallywag! Avast! With t' extra weight o' t' engines, t' plywood fins and centerin' rings, ya bilge rat, me hearties, this design turned out nay t' be stable ( Usin' RockSim). Avast! Avast! I increased t' length o' t' upper tube ( forward o' t' transition) and removed the forward fins. Well, blow me down! That be a lot better.

I had heard o' some larger black powder engines available in t' UK form a company called Rocket Services and wanted t' option o' installin' them. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! So I went for a removable cartridge system. T' Fins were mounted through t' body wall and formed runners onto which t' engine cartridge would slide. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! T' cartridge was made up from two discs o' plywood drilled with holes for t' engine mounts. T' cartridge slid in t' t' body on t' runners and was then locked into position by rotatin' the whole thing. Arrr! Avast! In t' end I just went with six engines. Well, blow me down! Thrust rings were made from sawn up spent D engines and epoxied in t' place. Well, blow me down! A stuffer tube be placed inside t' main body, mounted on two centerin' rings. Ya scallywag! Blimey! At ignition t' upper body was t' separate, ya bilge rat, each half with its own parachute. Begad! Ya scallywag! Karen made a red and white hemispherical 'chute for t' lower half, shiver me timbers, and I be goin' t' use t' pink circular 'chute for t' upper half. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! We intended t' fly it at t' International Rocket Weekend, and I had a lot o' help from Brain who made and painted the transition just days before we went. Avast, me proud beauty!

At t' event, arrr, a lot o' doubt be raised about t' engine cartridge system. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! 'Six D ejection charges will blow it out' they said. Avast, me proud beauty! I also couldn't determine how I was goin' t' ensure that both parachutes deployed. In t' end I bought some big shock cord and tied both halves together on t' red & white 'chute. Arrr! Another hitch, me bucko, I had planned to add another set o' clips t' me ignition system, ya bilge rat, but had forgotten ( that last week was hectic as I me work had taken me away from home for several days), matey, shiver me timbers, and I didn't have a large enough launch pad... Arrr!

Luckily I learned o' a new technique for clustering. Begad! Avast! This involves usin' a single igniter t' ignite 'quick match' fuses that are fed into t' individual engines. Ya scallywag! One o' t' organizers, John Bonsor, showed me how t' do this. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I managed t' borrow a launcher and after a wait for t' wind t' die down, we were ready. Avast, me proud beauty! T' ignition and initial flight were perfect, me bucko, except, shiver me timbers, me hearties, what be that? A small object appeared t' fly from the back at ejection, and where was t' 'chute. Begad! T' rocket came in ballistically. What had happened be exactly what t' 'doom sayers' were predicting. Avast! Even though I had staggered t' ejection by usin' a mixture o' D12 delays, the ejection gases pushed t' engine cartridge out o' t' rear, arrr, instead of deployin' t' chute. Avast! T' rocket was a write off. Arrr! T' engine cartridge shattered, t' forward tube like a concertina, me hearties, and t' aft tube a slowly unwindin' spiral.

T' pic o' lift off was t' last shout from me last roll o' film, ya bilge rat, so mercifully thar are no pictures o' t' rocket as we found it. Begad! T' realization of t' hours we had all spent on this rocket, ya bilge rat, matey, which was now trash, me hearties, didn't sink in until later, shiver me timbers, and it was a long drive home from Largs t' Leeds.