Brief:
For t' EMRR Stagin' Challenge, I decided t' build a two-stage rocket with composite motors. Aye aye! Since I had done a 2-stage before, I figured it would be easy. Arrr! WRONG... I decided t' do a 3-inch bird with dual deploy and a 19-inch booster with motor deployment.

Construction:
This time I decided t' use alignment rods in t' stage coupler t' keep t' rocket aligned. Aye aye! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I didn't have any 'sleeves' for t' rods t' slide through, so I went with spaced centerin' rings with holes t' guide t' rods. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I've discovered that I really need a drill press. Because I be usin' a handheld power drill, shiver me timbers, I wasn't that accurate in drillin' holes through t' 2 sustainer centerin' rings and t' stagin' coupler. It still works, but it isn't pretty. Avast! Blimey!

There are holes in both centerin' rings that are supposed t' be aligned. Avast! That didn't work out as smoothly as I had hoped.

T' motor mount is recessed into t' sustainer t' provide a connection for t' top half o' t' stage coupler. Since a 3" tube won't allow me t' get me hand in t' connect t' shock cord, shiver me timbers, I made t' fin can on both the sustainer and booster removable. Well, blow me down! Arrr! T' sustainer fin can is held in place by small screws. Well, blow me down! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! T' booster fin can will eject and deploy t' booster chute. Well, blow me down! T' whole project is about 83 inches tall, matey, about 3.5 lbs empty, shiver me timbers, matey, and can fly on 38mm motors.

Finishing:
T' fit/finish betwixt t' booster and t' stage coupler is a little rough, but once it's painted it might nay be that noticeable. It *certainly* won't be noticeable on t' pad.

Flight:
Electronics will be a PerfectFlite timer for staging, and a PerfectFlite MAWD for deployment. Begad! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! RockSim says it will get t' a little higher than 2000 feet with a CTI 153 stagin' t' a CTI G79ss.

For t' 2-stage challenge, ya bilge rat, I decided t' build one that used composite motors. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Since I have done stagin' before, shiver me timbers, I didn't expect thar t' be a problem. Boy, me bucko, arrr, was I wrong... Begad! T' main problem be t' size o' t' new project. T' previous 2-stager be almost a 4" tube. Avast, me proud beauty! That left room for t' timer betwixt t' sustainer fins, and a standard-type ebay. This one is a 3", shiver me timbers, and thar's no room in t' fincan. Arrr! So I put t' timer in t' ebay, me bucko, and ran a connector wire down t' ignite t' sustainer motor. Begad! I had t' splice t' wire so it would disconnect when t' apogee event fired. Blimey! Ya scallywag! T' next issue I ran into was t' stage connector. Blimey! I decided t' use metal rods t' connect and align t' sustainer t' t' stage connector. Blimey! I don't have a drill press, ya bilge rat, so me holes through t' centerin' rings are...less than exact. Last issue was t' 3" bay was too small t' use switches t' power on everything, so I had t' run all t' wires through a hole in t' e-bay and twist them t' connect. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! That posed a problem t' first time I tried t' launch. Aye aye! Ahoy! I test fit t' electronics when I built t' bay, arrr, me hearties, matey, but nothin' was connected. Blimey! Aye aye! In t' field, matey, I sadly discovered thar wasn't enough space for all the wires t' fit and route t' t' outside. I had t' rebuild t' sled t' avoid that problem for t' next attempt. Blimey!

T' field we used has a waiver o' 5000', matey, but I wanted t' make sure I kept t' flight much lower than that. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! RockSim 7 showed an altitude o' about 3800 feet on a CTI H143/G79ss combo. Aye aye!

Electronics: ARTS board for apogee/main deployment o' t' sustainer, arrr, shiver me timbers, PerfectFlite timer for sustainer motor. Ya scallywag! T' booster recovers under its own chute by motor ejection. Payload: BoosterVision GearCam taped t' t' side. Crude, but effective. Ya scallywag!

Launch day: I racked t' rocket, set up t' breakwire, and twisted t' wires for power. Begad! Since I didn't have enough room t' push t' wires back into t' bay, arrr, shiver me timbers, I taped them t' t' outside. Ahoy! That was a mistake... Arrr! T' launch was beautiful! Straight, shiver me timbers, matey, and staged on cue. Ahoy! T' booster chute came out and it drifted down safely. Avast! T' sustainer had a good apogee event(drogueless), shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but I lost sight o' it while followin' t' booster. There was no main deployment, matey, and fellow club members pointed me in t' direction they saw it fall. While walkin' out for recovery, me bucko, me bucko, I tried t' figure out what went wrong. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Too many sheer pins? Nay enough BP? When I got t' it, I immediately knew what happened. Well, blow me down! T' armin' wires were taped t' t' bottom o' t' sustainer. Arrr! When t' apogee separation occured, arrr, it ripped t' wires out o' the altimeter, killin' power. Blimey! Well, matey, blow me down! AUGH! I powered up t' ARTS board later, matey, matey, and t' data showed 1700 ft accel, me hearties, 1500 baro. Begad! WAY short o' Rocksim's prediction, so t' loss o' power probably scrambled t' data. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! But other than t' ebay being crunched, and t' booster bein' scorched by t' sustainer motor, arrr, it didn't come out too bad. I can replace t' ebay and fly it again.