Brief:
This is an 18mm tube-finned garbage rocket with streamer recovery. I built it to take a break from a serious rocket project that I'd been workin' on for a month. Aye aye! Begad! I wanted somethin' that I could build smartly from stuff layin' around the house, arrr, but I also wanted it t' fly well. Ya scallywag! Arrr! It succeeded on both counts.

Construction:
Components list:

• 3 paper towel tubes
• 8 toilet paper tubes, shiver me timbers, 6 for tube fins, 2 for t' nose cone
• cardboard from a cereal box
• a paperclip
• a plastic drinkin' straw
• a plastic pod from a 50 cent toy machine
• crepe paper
• Elmer's glue, matey, plastic cement, me bucko, duct tape

I probably should have put t' motor mount in first, but I decided t' start buildin' with t' fins. Ahoy! Blimey! I love tube fins because thar are no alignment issues--you just stand t' tubes on end and glue them together. Begad! Blimey! I added thick glue fillets betwixt adjacent fin tubes and betwixt t' fin tubes and t' body tube. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

I've been surfin' a lot o' rocketry websites lately and seen a couple of warnings about nay makin' rockets out o' paper towel tubes. Begad! Ahoy! Evidently they are not very strong. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! I've also been buildin' paper rockets, me bucko, matey, so me first instinct with any wood-based product is t' smear glue on it and laminate it for strength. Well, arrr, blow me down! For t' Turd Burd, I used two more paper towel tubes t' strengthen and lengthen t' body tube in one step. Ya scallywag! Begad! I cut one o' t' tubes along its entire length so that it could be rolled up more tightly and inserted into t' aft body tube (without glue). Blimey! Since it was rolled into a tighter circle than it had been when it be intact, ya bilge rat, t' edges overlapped. Well, blow me down! T' get maximum contact between this tube and t' two body tube sections, I marked t' extent o' t' overlap, pulled out t' cut tube, shiver me timbers, and trimmed t' edge until it fit neatly into the existin' body tube. I also marked it halfway along its length. Arrr! I didn't want to put glue on t' coupler piece or it would get scraped off as I slid it into the body tube, so I smeared glue down inside t' existin' body tube with a piece of scrap wood. Ahoy! Then t' coupler piece went into t' body tube t' its halfway mark.

I repeated t' process on t' other end t' attach t' other paper towel tube, which forms t' forward half o' t' rocket's body tube. Aye aye! Blimey! T' cut tube inside nay only creates an exceptionally strong bond betwixt t' two external tubes, it also has enough overlap with both t' ensure that they stay lined up correctly. Avast! Blimey! All o' that glue contact area is more than enough t' firmly join the tubes, however, shiver me timbers, I did nay like t' look o' t' naked tubes butted up against each other so I put a couple o' turns o' duct tape around t' joint and then glued down t' edges o' t' duct tape. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I'm nay sure if that was a cosmetic improvement or not. Blimey! Blimey! In t' long run it probably is a good thing, shiver me timbers, because one of the joys o' flyin' this rocket be t' disbelievin' looks you get from other rocketeers. Arrr! Blimey! With t' duct tape on it looks fragile, yet t' fact that it is far stronger than their blister packed "instarocs" can be your little secret. Begad!

T' nose cone has three pieces: a toilet paper tube for an external cylinder; a second toilet paper tube that is cut, rolled, shiver me timbers, and trimmed t' form the shoulder; and a plastic bubble pod from one o' those coin-op toy dispensing machines that you find in supermarkets and drug stores. Begad! T' shoulder tube is nested inside t' external tube usin' t' same method described above for joinin' body tubes. I glued t' lid o' t' bubble pod onto t' base with plastic cement and glued t' base t' t' top o' t' external tube with CA followed up with generous fillets o' Elmer's both inside and outside the external tube.

T' motor mount and centerin' rings are cut from cereal box cardboard. Avast! T' motor mount is a piece o' cardboard smeared with glue and rolled around an 18mm motor casing (be sure t' pull out t' motor casin' right away so it doesn't get glued in). T' piece o' cardboard is about half an inch longer than a motor casing. Arrr! I left a "panhandle" about 2 x 1/2 inches on one corner, matey, so that before rollin' t' piece o' cardboard had roughly t' same shape as t' state of Oklahoma. Blimey! Aye aye! Start rollin' with t' panhandle and it will form a very strong motor block (assumin' you smear liberal amounts o' glue all over everything). Avast, me proud beauty! I wanted positive motor retention at t' other end, so I used a bent paperclip to make a motor hook.

I traced t' front o' t' body tube and t' motor mount onto another piece of cardboard t' make centerin' rings. Blimey! I laminated several o' them together to form two thicker, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, stronger centerin' rings, glued these onto t' motor mount, and glued t' whole thin' into t' rocket.

I should have put t' motor mount in before I put t' fins on, because I could have traced t' right end o' t' body tube t' make t' centerin' rings. As you can see in one o' t' photos, by t' time t' motor mount went in the back end o' t' body tube, it be no longer a very good circle. I had t' trim the centerin' rings up before they would slide into t' body tube, ya bilge rat, matey, and they did not make a good seal all around t' tube. Begad! Avast! I patched all t' holes with strips of sketch paper covered with glue.

There is no shock cord and no parachute. Well, blow me down! At ejection, arrr, shiver me timbers, t' nose cone separates from t' body tube and both pieces come down on streamers. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! The streamers are pieces o' crepe paper that are glued t' t' inside o' t' body tube and t' nose cone.

Flight and Recovery:
So far, matey, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I have only flown this bird on C6-5s. Ahoy! Flight prep is dead easy. Begad! Crepe paper is relatively fire resistant, so I skipped t' wadding. Aye aye! Just wad up the streamers, me bucko, me bucko, shiver me timbers, stuff them in t' body tube, me bucko, and you're set. Blimey! Aye aye! Make sure that the streamer for t' nose cone is packed into t' body tube o' t' rocket, otherwise it may just stay up in t' nose cone. Well, blow me down! Begad! Nay that t' nose cone would probably be hurt if it just fell, but toilet paper tubes can be hard t' spot on the ground and a good length o' brightly colored crepe paper makes recovery a lot easier.

Oh, arrr, matey, I had skipped on addin' a launch lug because I could fit t' launch rod between t' tube fins and t' body tube. Well, arrr, blow me down! Once t' rocket be on t' pad, matey, it leaned away from t' launch rod at an alarmin' angle. Well, blow me down! Arrr! I had a drinkin' straw in my range box for emergency launch lug replacements, so I slid it over the launch rod, arrr, leaned t' rocket up against it, and duct taped it in place.

This rocket is a real crowd pleaser. Begad! I've only taken her t' one launch, but I had three straight, stable flights on t' Cs. Begad! Ahoy! T' liftoff is satisfyingly slow and noisy, and she only goes up t' about 300 feet. Begad! Ahoy! There be a steady breeze blowing, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but she didn't weathercock at all and t' wind didn't carry her very far either. Begad! At t' end o' each flight, me bucko, she landed within 100 yards o' the launcher with no visible wear and tear other than some soot on t' crepe paper streamers. Arrr! When they wear out, matey, I will just glue some more in.

Summary:
PROs:

• No messin' around with fin alignment, shiver me timbers, sanding, sealing, painting, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, decals, shock cords, matey, me bucko, arrr, parachutes, ya bilge rat, or wadding.
• Assembles in less than 24 hours usin' ordinary household materials.
• Costs virtually nothing. Begad! Ahoy! I spent 50 cents on this rocket t' get t' toy pod that I used for a nose cone. Avast! If it be springtime, I could have used half o' a plastic Easter egg and bought a candy bar instead.
• An attention gettin' rocket, me hearties, me bucko, both on t' flight line and in t' air.
• Good carrier for Poop-a-troopers (little plastic men with parachutes).
• Probably a good carrier for parasite gliders although I haven't tested that yet.
• An essentially disposable test vehicle if you want t' try potentially rocket-losin' activities like CHAD staging.
• Flies straight even in a stiff breeze.
• Durable.

CONs:

• Doesn't fly very high. I'll build t' next one for 24mm motors.
• Ugly as sin. Avast! May make you a subject o' scorn and derision, both around the house and at t' flight line. Brin' one o' your show horse rockets, too, shiver me timbers, so people can see that you're a craftsman with a sense o' humor and nay a backwoods pyromaniac.