Brief:
This is an UPSCALE o' t' famous Fliskits Deuce's Wild. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Dual 24mm motor mounts, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, 22in 'chute.

Construction:
For t' components, matey, shiver me timbers, I used a 2 inch mailin' tube, me hearties, cut t' a length o' 23 inches. I had a beautiful custom Nose Cone turned for me by Gordon Agnello, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, me hearties, and all I can say is WOW! I used standard Estes-style tubin' for t' motor mounts. Blimey! Avast! My friend, ya bilge rat, Eugene, made me a set o' upscale centerin' rings, ya bilge rat, along with a set of plywood fins. Avast, me proud beauty!

After me bucko Eugene and I spent an entire day makin' t' parts for this thing, I returned home t' start construction. T' first thin' that I did was take t' nose cone that was turned by Mr. Ahoy! Avast! Agnello and spread some finishing epoxy over it t' give it a nice finish. I then sanded that first coat down, ya bilge rat, arrr, me bucko, and applied another coat o' finishin' epoxy. Arrr! Well, blow me down! I don't know what happened, but after the epoxy dried, ya bilge rat, One area, approximately two inches long by one-half inch wide was "gooey" it would nay sand very well at all. Begad! Ya scallywag! T' counter this, I covered t' NC in Fill n' Finish, then sanded it down. Well, blow me down! Nay as glossy a coating as t' epoxy, but decent nontheless.

On t' t' tube. Begad! T' first thin' that I did was take t' upscale marking guide, graciously sent t' me by Jim Flis, arrr, and mark out t' fin lines and the places for t' motor mount tubes. Begad! Ahoy! I cut t' motor mount tubes out, then applied Fill N' Finish t' t' DEEP spiral t' tube had. Arrr! By deep, ya bilge rat, I mean run your fingernail down it and you hear a definate CLICK sound! One thin' I learned in the process o' sandin' t' tube down, me bucko, is that thar are an bilge-suckin' lot of "fuzzies" that start comin' up, makin' t' tube look pretty bad. My recommendation t' t' do somethin' t' make them go away, matey, me thought be to fiberglass t' tube. Begad! This will add some strength that I think t' tube really needs!

On t' t' motor mount. Blimey! Well, me hearties, blow me down! I basically did t' EXACT same thin' that is done in the instructions o' t' original. I glued t' motor spacer t' t' side o' one of t' tubes, shiver me timbers, then glued t' other tube on. Blimey! I then glued t' bottomost centerin' rin' on. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! T' two pieces o' t' top centerin' rin' did nay fit at all, so I glued together two small pieces o' balsa strip together, times two, shiver me timbers, then glued those into t' small area at t' top betwixt t' two motor tubes. Well, blow me down! I need to mention here that I "tacked" t' motor mount together with wood glue, then reinforced it with epoxy. I had t' trim t' motor mount holes in the body tube so that they would fit properly. Arrr! I also installed motor blocks.

On t' t' fins. Ahoy! Begad! T' fins were cut out o' 1/8th inch, matey, 5-ply birch plywood. Eugene and I also made an extra set o' fins and rings so he can make his own upscale, me bucko, matey, I also provided him with t' tube. Well, blow me down! Anyway, ya bilge rat, I sanded a total o' 24 (!!!) edges. I did nay airfoil t' fins or anything, but I do have t' edges sharpened. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! I then "tacked" t' fins on with wood glue, in a rush to build t' rocket. I had no intention o' keepin' t' wood glue joint, since I will fly t' rocket on a pair o' Aerotech F21-8 motors soon. Arrr! I attached a pair of 3/16ths inch launch lugs t' complete t' model.

Flight:
I attached a 1/4th inch by about 5 feet elastic/cloth shock cord with a tri-fold mount. Arrr! I used an Aerotech 22 inch yellow Nylon chute.

I flew t' rocket at t' Tampa-Hillsborough Organization o' Rocketry's May launch. Ya scallywag! T' first flight be on a pair o' Estes D12-5's. Arrr! T' rocket went straight up, with a little twist near t' end o' t' burn. Aye aye! T' rocket went t' a altitude o' approximately 700 feet. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! T' yellow chute deployed perfectly, matey, arrr, and you could definately see t' different wind currents and directions as it came down! First it headed east, shiver me timbers, arrr, then got a gust t' t' north, ya bilge rat, then straight down a little, almost in a tree, then another gust north, shiver me timbers, and it landed perfectly about 100 feet north o' t' tree. Since it was such a successful/perfect flight, I decided t' fly her again, ya bilge rat, for another beautiful flight, almost an exact clone o' t' first. This last flight proved t' be it's undoing. Begad! The rocket landed on it's fins, me bucko, me hearties, bendin' t' glue joints so they were too weak to have it fly again.

Why RSO's rarely let Jim Flis fly t' little Deuce, I'll never know!

Summary:

PROS:

• Turns in PERFECT straight flights every time.
• Pretty easy construction.

CONS:

• I used a bilge-suckin' tube.

Other:

Build it like you mean it, matey, and you'll be greatly rewarded!