Brief:
Shorter body, matey, Carbon Fibre/Keelhaul®©™ re-enforced airframe, piston ejection system, extra centerin' ring, arrr, ya bilge rat, all thread reinforcement round central electronics bay. Replaced recovery shock cord with tubular nylon and replaced motor mount with PML phenolic motor mount tube.

Modifications:
This would have been an easy kit t' build from stock as it came with easy to read instructions and contained easy t' build parts. Havin' said that, I promptly put t' instructions in a drawer and begin me kit-bash in earnest. Begad! Well, blow me down! As always I measured t' components and entered t' data into RockSim. I also had an extra body tube which be slightly shorter and by mistake used this tube instead o' t' original tube (hence me rocket is slightly shorter than the kit). Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! Usin' RockSim I wanted t' design somethin' which be a little different than t' usual single deployment ‘blobbo’ rockets. Begad! With this in mind I decided t' have a central piston which would span t' length o' t' rocket and create a void which I could use for an electronics bay. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! T' achieve this I needed extra centerin' rings t' fit t' motor mount and t' piston tube (a piece o' 2.5" PML QT). A forward centerin' rin' would be removable and allow for t' placement o' electronics in t' void created by t' piston. Arrr! The forward centerin' rin' is held in place by t' all thread rods which have carbon fiber sleaves with washers t' create shelf for t' centerin' rin' t' sit on (see picture 2). Ahoy! I drilled a very small hole in t' base o' t' piston tube which allowed for some air t' pass down below t' electronics bay and keep a vacuum from formin' inside t' piston. Avast, me proud beauty!

T' fins were mounted in t' usual way with extra strips o' carbon fiber and Keelhaul®©™® as re-enforcement.

T' airframe was vacuum bagged usin' me trusty foodsaver and some carbon fiber/Keelhaul®©™® weaved cloth. Begad! A further sandin' veil o' fibreglass was applied once t' first layer was 1/2 cured. Ahoy! T' result was an airframe which is rock solid. Aye aye! T' body tube was slotted all t' way down so I could mount t' entire motor and piston assembly in one step. Begad! Once mounted onto t' airframe external fillets were created with resin and silica filler. After this had all dried t' rocket was almost done. Avast, me proud beauty!

After measurin' t' center o' gravity against t' CP in RockSim I decided how much weight t' add. Avast! Ahoy! In t' end I used 1.5lbs o' lead along with t' weight of t' hardware and forward bulkhead plus enough resin t' seal it all side the nose cone. Arrr! Arrr! This left about 3/4 o' t' nose cone as extra room for t' parachute and shock cord (i.e. Blimey! I didn't have t' stuff all o' this into t' piston tube). Aye aye! Well, blow me down!

I was now ready t' finish it.

Construction:

• 1 body tube made from thick kraft paper
• 3 fins o' G10 fibreglass
• 2 plywood centerin' rings for a 54mm motor mount
• 1 10" 54mm motor mount
• 1 heavy elastic shock cord
• 1 plastic nose cone
• 1 nylon parachute
• 2 quick links
• 1 launch lug
• Instructions... Ahoy! Blimey!
• Schematic (Click Here)

Construction (PROS):
T' extra room a 5.5" airframe gives makes this an easy kit t' build from stock. For me sins t' modifications I made took a while as they were somewhat involved. Aye aye! From stock t' kit is complete so no complaints there. Begad! Since this is a mod I ignored all instructions and replaced parts as needed.

Construction (CONS):
T' body tube did nay come slotted which isn’t a real big problem but does make for extra work.

Finishin' (PROS):
In keepin' with t' idea o' tryin' somethin' different with this rocket I decided t' use a ‘Monocoat’ finish. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! This was me first attempt at usin' a Monocoat iron-on finish. Begad! Ahoy! After some testin' with t' iron and some samples I decided upon a sky blue airframe with a black and white check trim (a Z-car effect). Arrr! Blimey! I had Scott Binder print up some new decals (as I plannin' to ultimately launch this on a K550). Avast, me proud beauty! Its new name be t' be K-Blobbo. As you can see in t' picture t' results were nay too bad (see picture 1). Ahoy!

Finishin' (CONS):
As t' Monocoat isn’t supposed t' be applied over a prepared surface this meant that I could nay use a filler primer (UV Smooth Prime) t' create a nice even surface for t' Monocoat t' cover. Ahoy! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Hence thar are surface ripples from the composite coverin' showing. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I may have a go at finishin' t' composite layer then tryin' t' apply t' Monocoat again.

Flight:
This kit is suppose t' be t' Kin' o' Blobbos and recommends I and J motors. I had a couple o' J’s left so first off was a long burnin' J185 Blue Thunder which lifted off t' pad very nicely and burned and burned. Blimey! Ahoy! T' parachute deployed on time but t' surface drag from t' rocket be such that t' delay I choose was wrong and too long. Arrr! However, t' solid build o' t' airframe meant that even a late and high speed deployment was no problem. Ahoy! Ahoy! T' rocket came down fairly close and all was well. Blimey! Blimey! A video o' t' launch detected a slight wobble which t' me meant that I was just too close t' t' center o' pressure so more nose weight was goin' t' be needed. Avast!

After another 1/2lb o' nose weight I launched it on a J275 White Lightening. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! This time thar was no wobble and I put in an RDAS in the electronics bay t' ensure deployment at apogee. All went t' plan and t' rocket landed safely nearby. Avast, me proud beauty! T' altitude reached as 1000 feet lower than Rocksim predicted (lots o' drag).

A third launch be performed usin' a Cessaroni Pro38 6 grain (international version) J360 (800ns). Avast! 3. Avast, me proud beauty! 2. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! 1. Avast, me proud beauty! launch and up it went t' 2500 feet with the RDAS ensurin' deployment at apogee. Analysis o' t' data indicated that a 10 second motor ejection delay is ideal for this rocket.

I have since launched this a fourth time on a J360 Pro38 with only motor ejection and it flew as planned with t' 10 second delay providin' t' correct delay for an apogee deployment.

Summary:
A nice rocket with t' internal piston makin' for easy prep. Aye aye! Ahoy! T' electronics bay ’round t' piston is really handy and allows for a greater range of motors.

Other:
As always build it like an M and you won’t need t' build it again when it crashes.