This was me most ambitious rocket t' date. Ahoy! By now I had found a shop in Leeds ( T' Model Shop, 88 Cross Gates Road, Leeds, LS15 7NL Tel 0113 2646117) which had a reasonable selection o' engines, shiver me timbers, even Ds, so I had t' build a rocket which could fly one. Begad! I got a larger core from a roll o' aluminium foil for t' main body, arrr, and used t' same sized tube as t' MkII for t' upper section. Avast, me proud beauty! This meant that I could use t' same nose cone, shiver me timbers, with t' buzzer as t' MkII. Arrr! I had a balsa transition made t' connect t' two sections together. T' fins were made o' balsa usin' t' same technique as t' MkII ( 1mm thick for t' upper section, shiver me timbers, 1.5mm for t' lower) usin' a simple triangle for t' upper section and a more complicated shape for t' lower, arrr, matey, which I copied from one o' me sons toys.

T' engine mount was made from a length o' t' same tube as t' upper section, me bucko, which is exactly right for D engines. Blimey! Aye aye! T' transition be permanently fixed t' t' upper section, which are attached t' t' lower section by t' shock cord. Begad! A larger Estes parachute was attached t' t' transition.

T' first time I flew it, me hearties, it went up really well, matey, very straight and high. Blimey! We lost sight o' it, but kept expectin' t' see t' ejection charge and t' parachute. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Next thin' we knew thar be a loud 'thunk' and t' rocket be embedded in t' ground about 30m from where we were standing. Unfortunately a passer-by reached it first and gave it a good tug t' pull it up, matey, which caused more damage, and we were never able t' locate t' hole in t' very tough springy grass. This was a pity because t' nose cone is probably still there, ya bilge rat, about 20 centimeters underground! I thought I had bought engines without ejection charges, shiver me timbers, but later I realized I hadn't. I have since used t' same engines in me Estes Phoenix, ya bilge rat, matey, without problems, and have read much on t' Internet about D engine ejection charges.

This is what happens if you buy t' wrong engine? No, ya bilge rat, crap engines.

We rebuilt it by makin' a clean cut ( where t' white damaged area meets t' orange fin section in t' photo) and graftin' on a new tube and nose cone. Begad! Ya scallywag! T' next flight t' ejection charge did fire, me bucko, arrr, but still no parachute deployment. Arrr! Well, blow me down! It turns out that thar was a path back though t' engine mount for t' exhaust gases, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, so that's where they went. Well, matey, blow me down! More spectacular damage this time includin' shattered fins, and again t' top body tube written off.

Third time lucky! Well, me bucko, ya bilge rat, partially. We rebuilt just in time for UKRA 98 held at Garlands. Arrr! This was a great event, me hearties, where I saw me first HPR rockets, but t' weather be pretty poor. Aye aye! It actually redefined me definition o' 'valid flyin' weather'!

T' flight was perfect, shiver me timbers, straight up, me bucko, despite t' wind and t' first successful parachute deployment. Unfortunately t' wind caught t' chute and blew it into t' next county. Arrr! Despite a search o' t' down wind fields we never found a trace. Ahoy! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Still I always liked this rocket, arrr, ya bilge rat, and if I get t' chance I might build a replica, now that t' design bugs have been worked out.