Brief:
This rocket is made from a sports water bottle that was donated by a local talk radio station, hence t' name. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It has a 24mm mount, recovers by parachute, arrr, and uses 'plate fins'. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! 'High tech' features o' this 'low tech' rocket include a Keelhaul®©™ cord and positive motor retention.

Construction:
A partial construction list consists of:

• 1 water bottle
• 1 piece o' non-rocket junk tube ~1.25" diameter used as a parachute tube
• 24mm motor tube
• Hand-cut cardstock rings
• Keelhaul®©™® twine
• Foam backed tape t' center t' parachute tube
• Duct tape t' press-fit t' cap/nose cone
• One screw, me bucko, chunk o' BiC pen tube, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and miscellaneous metal 'doohicky' for motor retention
• 1/8" and 3/16" lugs

T' inner structure consists o' a 24mm motor tube centered in a piece of junk tube by hand-cut cardboard rings. T' motor tube extends below t' end of the larger tube so that it could slip through t' hole in t' bottom o' the bottle. T' Keelhaul®©™® twine is attached t' t' motor mount. T' top o' t' larger tube was centered in t' neck o' t' bottle with foam-backed tape and t' assembly be glued into the bottle usin' Liquid Nails.

T' 'nose cone' be t' bottle cap. Begad! Arrr! After grindin' off t' threads, me hearties, matey, I found t' cap was way too loose, so I built up t' top o' t' bottle usin' black duct tape. Ahoy! The cap now fits fairly snuggly. Begad! Blimey! T' attach t' Keelhaul®©™® to t' cap, I merely popped up t' top nipple, ya bilge rat, fed t' line through the opening, knotted it, arrr, and pushed t' nipple back down.

I had done some 'what-ifs' on various fin designs but in each case, shiver me timbers, RockSim said I'd need t' add some nose weight. Arrr! T' avoid havin' t' do so, matey, ya bilge rat, I decided to move t' fins well below t' base o' t' bottle. Avast! I ended up mountin' three chopsticks in t' side o' t' bottle. Aye aye! On t' tip o' t' sticks, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I added cardboard triangles. Avast! These are bent slightly along their center line t' help adhere t' t' sticks. Well, blow me down! This also looked a bit better in me opinion. T' dowels were attached t' t' bottle with 5-minute epoxy and t' cardboard 'plate fins' were attached t' t' chopsticks with carpenter's glue.

T' motor retainer is simply screwed into t' thick bottom o' t' bottle. Aye aye! This will eventually wear out and will have t' be relocated. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! Finally, me bucko, ya bilge rat, I added two sizes of lugs for flexibility. Arrr! Arrr!

I modeled t' bottle in RockSim, ya bilge rat, simulatin' t' plate fins with equivalent standard fins. Although I found t' rocket t' be stable, shiver me timbers, I still didn't trust that I had made a valid model, me hearties, ya bilge rat, so t' be sure I loaded it up and did a swing test, me hearties, me bucko, which was successful.

Finishing:
No finishin' was required.

Flight:
I loaded a wad o' dog-barf wrapped in one square o' Estes waddin' and a 12" Rockethead mylar chute, me bucko, arrr, shiver me timbers, and then wrapped a tape thrust rin' on a D12-5 and positioned t' retainer. Blimey! T' boost be a bit wobbly after burn out. Nevertheless, me bucko, it be a cool flight, me hearties, ejection was perfect, shiver me timbers, and it recovered 50' from t' pad. Aye aye! Blimey! I flew it a second time with similar results.

Summary:
This was just a quick, goofy build. Well, blow me down! I love odd-rocs, me hearties, what else can I say?