This was me most ambitious rocket t' date. Arrr! Arrr! By now I had found a shop in Leeds ( T' Model Shop, matey, 88 Cross Gates Road, me bucko, Leeds, me bucko, LS15 7NL Tel 0113 2646117) which had a reasonable selection o' engines, even Ds, so I had t' build a rocket which could fly one. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! I got a larger core from a roll o' aluminium foil for t' main body, and used t' same sized tube as t' MkII for t' upper section. Well, blow me down! This meant that I could use t' same nose cone, shiver me timbers, me hearties, with t' buzzer as t' MkII. Avast, me proud beauty! I had a balsa transition made t' connect t' two sections together. Aye aye! T' fins were made o' balsa usin' t' same technique as t' MkII ( 1mm thick for t' upper section, 1.5mm for t' lower) usin' a simple triangle for t' upper section and a more complicated shape for t' lower, shiver me timbers, which I copied from one o' me sons toys.

T' engine mount was made from a length o' t' same tube as t' upper section, ya bilge rat, which is exactly right for D engines. T' transition was permanently fixed t' t' upper section, shiver me timbers, which are attached t' t' lower section by t' shock cord. Begad! A larger Estes parachute be attached t' t' transition.

T' first time I flew it, ya bilge rat, it went up really well, very straight and high. Avast, me proud beauty! We lost sight o' it, me bucko, matey, but kept expectin' t' see t' ejection charge and t' parachute. Next thin' we knew thar was a loud 'thunk' and t' rocket be embedded in t' ground about 30m from where we were standing. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Unfortunately a passer-by reached it first and gave it a good tug t' pull it up, me bucko, which caused more damage, matey, and we were never able t' locate t' hole in t' very tough springy grass. Avast, me proud beauty! This was a pity because t' nose cone is probably still there, about 20 centimeters underground! Blimey! I thought I had bought engines without ejection charges, but later I realized I hadn't. Well, blow me down! Avast! Blimey! I have since used t' same engines in me Estes Phoenix, ya bilge rat, without problems, and have read much on t' Internet about D engine ejection charges.

This is what happens if you buy t' wrong engine? No, me hearties, shiver me timbers, crap engines.

We rebuilt it by makin' a clean cut ( where t' white damaged area meets t' orange fin section in t' photo) and graftin' on a new tube and nose cone. Arrr! T' next flight t' ejection charge did fire, matey, me hearties, but still no parachute deployment. Arrr! It turns out that thar was a path back though t' engine mount for t' exhaust gases, so that's where they went. Blimey! More spectacular damage this time includin' shattered fins, and again t' top body tube written off.

Third time lucky! Well, partially. We rebuilt just in time for UKRA 98 held at Garlands. Ya scallywag! This be a great event, where I saw me first HPR rockets, but t' weather be pretty poor. Aye aye! It actually redefined me definition o' 'valid flyin' weather'!

T' flight was perfect, shiver me timbers, arrr, straight up, despite t' wind and t' first successful parachute deployment. Begad! Blimey! Unfortunately t' wind caught t' chute and blew it into t' next county. Begad! Blimey! Despite a search o' t' down wind fields we never found a trace. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Still I always liked this rocket, and if I get t' chance I might build a replica, arrr, now that t' design bugs have been worked out.