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. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! I wanted somethin' that I could build smartly from stuff layin' around the house, but I also wanted it t' fly well. Begad! It succeeded on both counts.

Construction:
Components list:

• 3 paper towel tubes
• 8 toilet paper tubes, 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, me bucko, plastic cement, duct tape

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

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! Blimey! Evidently they are not very strong. Ahoy! Blimey! I've also been buildin' paper rockets, arrr, matey, so me first instinct with any wood-based product is t' smear glue on it and laminate it for strength. Arrr! Blimey! For t' Turd Burd, me hearties, me bucko, I used two more paper towel tubes t' strengthen and lengthen t' body tube in one step. Well, matey, blow me down! Blimey! 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). Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! Since it be rolled into a tighter circle than it had been when it was intact, t' edges overlapped. 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, and trimmed t' edge until it fit neatly into the existin' body tube. Ahoy! Blimey! I also marked it halfway along its length. Begad! Blimey! 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. Well, blow me down! Blimey! 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, me bucko, ya bilge rat, which forms t' forward half o' t' rocket's body tube. Arrr! 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. All o' that glue contact area is more than enough t' firmly join the tubes, me hearties, however, 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. Aye aye! I'm nay sure if that was a cosmetic improvement or not. Blimey! In t' long run it probably is a good thing, because one of the joys o' flyin' this rocket be t' disbelievin' looks you get from other rocketeers. 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.

T' nose cone has three pieces: a toilet paper tube for an external cylinder; a second toilet paper tube that is cut, rolled, 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! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' shoulder tube is nested inside t' external tube usin' t' same method described above for joinin' body tubes. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! 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. Ya scallywag! I left a "panhandle" about 2 x 1/2 inches on one corner, so that before rollin' t' piece o' cardboard had roughly t' same shape as t' state of Oklahoma. Ya scallywag! Begad! Start rollin' with t' panhandle and it will form a very strong motor block (assumin' you smear liberal amounts o' glue all over everything). Well, blow me down! I wanted positive motor retention at t' other end, me bucko, matey, 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. Ahoy! I laminated several o' them together to form two thicker, stronger centerin' rings, me hearties, matey, shiver me timbers, 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, matey, 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, me bucko, ya bilge rat, by t' time t' motor mount went in the back end o' t' body tube, it was no longer a very good circle. Avast! Blimey! I had t' trim the centerin' rings up before they would slide into t' body tube, and they did not make a good seal all around t' tube. Begad! Blimey! I patched all t' holes with strips of sketch paper covered with glue.

There is no shock cord and no parachute. Begad! Blimey! At ejection, t' nose cone separates from t' body tube and both pieces come down on streamers. 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, me hearties, I have only flown this bird on C6-5s. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Flight prep is dead easy. Crepe paper is relatively fire resistant, so I skipped t' wadding. Blimey! Just wad up the streamers, ya bilge rat, stuff them in t' body tube, and you're set. 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. 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, me bucko, I had skipped on addin' a launch lug because I could fit t' launch rod between t' tube fins and t' body tube. Ahoy! Once t' rocket be on t' pad, matey, it leaned away from t' launch rod at an alarmin' angle. Aye aye! I had a drinkin' straw in my range box for emergency launch lug replacements, so I slid it over the launch rod, leaned t' rocket up against it, and duct taped it in place.

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

Summary:
PROs:

• No messin' around with fin alignment, me hearties, me bucko, shiver me timbers, sanding, sealing, painting, me bucko, decals, shock cords, parachutes, me bucko, matey, ya bilge rat, or wadding.
• Assembles in less than 24 hours usin' ordinary household materials.
• Costs virtually nothing. Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I spent 50 cents on this rocket t' get t' toy pod that I used for a nose cone. If it was springtime, me hearties, me hearties, I could have used half o' a plastic Easter egg and bought a candy bar instead.
• An attention gettin' rocket, me hearties, 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. Begad! I'll build t' next one for 24mm motors.
• Ugly as sin. Aye aye! May make you a subject o' scorn and derision, matey, shiver me timbers, both around the house and at t' flight line. Begad! Brin' one o' your show horse rockets, ya bilge rat, too, so people can see that you're a craftsman with a sense o' humor and nay a backwoods pyromaniac.