T' followin' be t' HTML interpretation o' David's PDF submission. Avast! Begad!
Please see t' full PDF HERE (0.4M)

Constructin' the For t' EMRR BOX-O-Parts Contest

Muddle through t' Mess

I started by separatin' body tubes in t' groups that could be used as airframes and tubes that where crinkled,dinged, ya bilge rat, or dented.

This gave me an idea o' t' size and shape I could accomplish. Ahoy! My basic concept be for a long and tall rocket. Cluster power be a must. Begad! Well, blow me down! I LOVE clusters!

T' Nose Job

I messed around with Nose Cone possibilities. Ya scallywag! A rocket's nose really determines t' "flavor" o' the build. So with t' cones I received I did some cutting, matey, sandin' and gluing. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! T' results are photo #2. Blimey! Lookin' a bit like a command module, perhaps windows lookin' out over a nose. Well I guess I'm buildin' a Spacecraft o' sorts. Blimey!

This is a "BERTHA" BT-60 plastic Nose Cone . Turned backwards. Purple BT-50 nose cone. Base is sawn off and glued t' t' bottom o' t' Bertha cone. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Hopefully this will look somethin' like a Starship cockpit. Avast! Ya scallywag!

T' Body Stack

Go big or go Home. Avast, me proud beauty!

I took stock o' all t' possible body tubes I could use t' go as tall as possible. Ahoy! This photo shows t' Top and Middle sections test fit together. Ahoy! Avast!

I sorted through t' various centerin' rings in me stack o' stuff and pieced together several sections o' body tube t' assemble t' top stack.

This rocket is intended t' separate for recovery at t' point o' t' two different colored BT60 tubes. T' mid section break allows t' rocket t' recover on two separate recovery devices. Begad! This was necessitated by t' limited recovery options that came in me Box-0-stuff. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! (more on this later.)

Some o' t' steps t' build t' top stack: Short one centerin' ring. So I modified one 20/60 rin' t' a 50/60 ring. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Trace inner circle and cut out

Make a BT-60 adapter sleeve. Slice a section o' BT60 tube t' reduce diameter. Ya scallywag! Avast! Use t' sliver that was removed t' brace t' inside o' t' new inner sleeve and glue together. Well, blow me down! This makes t' whole Top Section like one long nose cone.

More Top Section Assembly. Well, blow me down!

The BT50 Stack Middle Rin' is Just for looks (pictured left)

Recovery would be t' biggest issue. Well, blow me down! My Box-O-Stuff had One fat elastic cord. (below right)

I want t' go BIG.... Well, blow me down! so, ya bilge rat, I split t' cord in half Lengthwise, givin' me two thinner elastics but still have the longest possible length. Ahoy! Ahoy! In this photo (below center) one half o' this cord is pushed through a slot in t' BT50 body tube. Tie a fat knot in t' elastic and I'm off t' t' next step.

Next I have t' fill t' top BT50 section so it will separate at ejection. Arrr! Ya scallywag! So I tore up some o' t' shippin' box. Soaked t' torn bits in water, then mixed t' wet pulp with glue. Arrr! Stuffed t' glue/pulp mixture in t' base o' t' tube to form a plug (above right). This method works well. Begad! You have t' watch t' moisture in t' pulp mix so it does not warp t' tube. Begad! This also takes a wile t' dry. Avast!

Lookin' into t' bottom o' t' top stack. You see t' BT60 adapter sleeve, matey, t' Elastic Cord and t' bottom of t' BT50 centerin' rin' and Glue/shredded box WAD. Well, blow me down!

On t' t' Bottom section assembly. Ahoy!

Well, for t' lower section I have t' connect some BT60 tube t' some BT70. Ya scallywag!

No 60/70 centerin' rings in t' Box-O-junk, so I whip out me trusty, rusty compass draw and cut some rings from t' shippin' box. Begad! Blimey!

Motor Mount

Coffee Cup With shred-obox soakin' in water. Avast, me proud beauty!

My Box-o-goodness did nay contain any 18mm tube. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! So this one gets 24mm main motors (three o' them). Ahoy! Just for kicks I added three 13mm mounts along side. Begad! Test fit t' motor tubes. Arrr! Then started shreddin' t' Shippin' box again. I use the shreds,soaked in water t' soften them up, me bucko, me bucko, me bucko, then rin' them out and soak them in glue. Avast! Aye aye! Gluey shreds are then used to stuff t' voids betwixt t' Motor tubes and Main body tube.

Motor mount continued.

Motor mount fillets dryin' (above right). In t' "custom" motor mount dryin' apparatus a.k.a. Aye aye! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! a Dunki'n Donuts cup! Blimey!

A lovely Gluey mass o' shredded box applied t' t' motor mount and lower body tube.

I better make some fins for this thing.

Looks like I have a full set o' pre-cut "Bertha" fins. Begad! (Actually I think I have at least one whole bertha)

But those Balsa fins may nay be strong enough for a cluster. Begad! So I use a precut fin as a template t' cut out some fins from t' balsa sheet in t' box. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! Then I laminate these fins so they are double thickness and hopefully quite strong. Begad!

Fins t' t' left, matey, fins t' t' right.......

T' lower section nearly complete. Aye aye! Avast!

More lower section. Blimey! Begad!

In these photos you can see t' detail o' t' "Warp Ring"

Warp Rin' is made up o' a plastic garden light fixture. Aye aye! (I know this because I got some o' me own parts back!)

T' inside diameter o' t' plastic rin' is much larger than t' bt70 tube. Ya scallywag! Avast! So I pulled some small body tube that I believe is BT-4 and cut it t' several short lengths. This BT-4 was squish-fit betwixt t' Plastic rin' and t' outside of t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! With t' small tubes and plastic rin' in place it was actually easy t' slide t' whole assembly (not yet glued together) down t' BT70 body tube. Avast! Arrr! Once I had everythin' where I wanted it I glued it all in place. Well, blow me down! With some patience and a few toothpicks o' course. Well, blow me down!

Recoverin' from Recovery

Official shop shot o' t' "parawing-gle"

My box-0-stuffin' be kind o' short on recovery options. Blimey! Aye aye! It did have two plastic chutes. Avast, me proud beauty! But only had shroud lines for one! I will brin' t' top half down on t' regular 18 inch plastic chute that was in t' box-o-lovely. Avast! But the lower section... that would be harder. Aye aye! Avast! Hmmmm? Streamer, me bucko, shiver me timbers, boring! How about some sort o' para wing?

O.K. Blimey! Ya scallywag! this made me get creative. Blimey! Blimey! Some where in t' TRF discussions it was asked if addin' tape would be legal. Avast! Ahoy! Tape was o.k.ed so with ample amounts o' scotch tape I fashioned this "Parawing-gle" type thing. Aye aye! Begad!

Parts for t' Parawing-gle thing:

• One 24inch plastic chute. Avast, me proud beauty! Sliced in half and then one half quartered. Well, blow me down!
• T' quarter chute is used for t' lower rudder type piece. Blimey! Blimey!
• Several Chopsticks are utilized as t' leadin' edge and rudder stiffeners. Avast!
• That now famous thick black elastic cord was again sliced length-wise t' make t' rigging. Well, blow me down!

Many hours were spent on this. Mostly worryin' time rather than workin' time. My greatest hope was that this would work at least as good as a streamer. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey!

T' big payoff!!

Launched 07-06-08 From Cape Cod Space Center

Nothin' like pushin' that deadline!

Nice liftoff, nice flight! Loaded in three C11-3's and three A10PT's. Begad! Blimey! This rocket really needs "D" power but this be good for t' small field we where on. Ahoy! Five o' t' six motors lit. Aye aye! All but one A-10.

O.k. recovery. Top half was just fine on a regular chute. Bottom half came in a bit fast on t' Parawingle -thingle. Arrr! Which became more like a big para wad o' molten doom! But it did slow it down.

T' aftermath. Minor damage. Arrr! Blimey! One "fin ring" slightly bent. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! One detail on that fin fell off

Overview and final thoughts.

This be a very cool contest. Arrr! I would definitely try this again.

My only real wish is that we could add strin' (shroud line) if we needed it. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! But hey, no one said this was easy!

Over all Flight ratin' 4... it could use more power.

Overall Recovery ratin' 3. Aye aye! Needs proper chutes

But this is a far better performin' rocket than I thought it would be. Well, blow me down! It will definitely fly again. Well, blow me down! Avast!

Things I will change, shiver me timbers, (with me own parts):

• Bigger Launch lugs 3/16"
• Better Parachutes
• Three "D" motors for a nice high flight. Ahoy!