(Contributed - by Bill Eichelberger - 02/09/06)

Brief:
This project be started with t' intent o' puttin' t' legendary Centuri Taurus more in line with t' way I had imagined/remembered it back in t' late '70s. While clonin' t' Taurus recently, arrr, one thin' I was surprised about was t' rocket's size relative t' t' Centuri Super Kits.

In short, arrr, shiver me timbers, I had expected t' Taurus t' be quite a bit bigger than it actually was, me hearties, me bucko, but t' size o' t' components and t' subsequent dry-fit told t' real story. Well, blow me down! With this project I set out t' change all that. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Usin' parts from BMS, shiver me timbers, Red Arrow Hobbies, me bucko, FlisKits, and Thrustline, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I scaled up t' Taurus up so that it could claim it's rightful place as one o' t' Super Kits. Ahoy! (In me mind at least, shiver me timbers, and when you get down t' it, ya bilge rat, what else matters?)

Construction:
T' parts list:

• BNC-70AJ nose cone (BMS)
• 2 TA-6070 transitions (BMS)
• 3 BNC-20B pod cones (BMS)
• 3.7" T-70 upper body tube (BMS)
• 9.5" BT-60 center body tube (Red Arrow)
• 13.2" T-70 lower body tube (BMS)
• 3 6.6" BT-20 pod tubes (Red Arrow)
• 3 x 18mm cluster motor mount for BT-70 (Thrustline)
• 36" length Keelhaul®©™® shock cord
• 36" length 1/8" sewin' elastic shock cord
• BT-60 sized ejection baffle (FlisKits)
• 1/8" balsa fin stock
• Medium screw eye
• Large snap swivel
• 18" nylon parachute (Thrustline)
• decal

Construction began when t' BT-70 tube, transitions and cones arrived from BMS. Blimey! Well, blow me down! I immediately started t' work hollowin' out t' transitions with me Dremel tool. Avast! I managed t' get two fairly decent lookin' holes with t' Dremel while at t' same time stirrin' up enough balsa dust t' make t' front steps looked like they'd been hit by a sudden snowstorm o' talcum powder. Ahoy! Arrr! When t' hollowin' be finished, I dry fit t' collected parts together. Begad! T' result was pretty much what I had hoped for: a Taurus sized along t' Super Kits.

At this point I assembled t' Thrustline 3 x 18mm cluster engine mount. Aye aye! Arrr! Blimey! T' holes on this mount are laser cut and t' tubes slip in without any trouble whatsoever. T' fit is firm, and t' best part is that thar are no holes t' stuff with t' messy glue and recovery waddin' mixture that I've used on me other clusters. Ya scallywag! Another advantage be t' unit's great looks, shiver me timbers, which are almost too good t' consider coverin' up with a body tube. T' Thrustline kit comes with two laser cut centerin' rings, three motor tubes, me bucko, three engine blocks, ya bilge rat, matey, three engine hooks, and a length o' Keelhaul®©™®. Ahoy! I used everythin' except for t' engine hooks, matey, arrr, which I put aside for use on future vintage projects, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and t' Keelhaul®©™®, matey, shiver me timbers, because I was also incorporatin' a baffle from FlisKits.

T' FlisKits baffle is sized for a BT-60, so I planned t' fit it into t' center section o' t' rocket. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' recovery system be completed with a 36" length o' 1/8" sewin' elastic and a medium sized screw eye, shiver me timbers, me hearties, which was epoxied into t' nose cone. Aye aye! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' 18" nylon chute, ya bilge rat, also a Thrustline product, ya bilge rat, was attached usin' a large snap swivel.

I attached t' fins t' t' bottom tube, shiver me timbers, dry fit t' pieces together, ya bilge rat, and sprayed t' whole structure with a coat o' Valspar primer t' toughen it for t' sandin' and sealin' t' come. Well, blow me down! Sealin' be done usin' several coats o' thinned Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish and t' rocket was sanded after each coat.

T' fins and pod supports were cut from a sheet o' hard 1/8" balsa and attached usin' gel CA, then given a double fillet treatment with Elmer's wood glue. After this I sprayed t' whole rocket with another coat o' Valspar primer, then several coats o' Valspar gloss white. Avast! (Because o' t' trouble I had maskin' me 1:1 clone I decided t' wait until after t' paintin' was finished t' mount t' finished pods onto t' supports.)

With t' white base coat in place, me bucko, I masked off t' appropriate areas on t' bottom section usin' good quality maskin' tape, matey, then sprayed t' remainder o' t' section with Valspar Gloss Black. T' center BT-60 section, me bucko, includin' one o' t' TA-6070 transitions, matey, was sprayed with Valspar Silver Metallic, while t' other TA-6070 was sprayed Gloss Black. Well, blow me down! This left only t' nose and pod cones, all o' which were sprayed with Valspar Harvest Orange. Arrr! After t' masks were removed from t' bottom section I prepared t' begin final assembly.

Then t' whole project went into t' toilet.

While walkin' through me room in t' basement after retrievin' a can o' paint for some touch-up on t' project, matey, I noticed me Taurus clone sittin' on t' old Hoosier cabinet. Well, blow me down! As me foot touched t' first step on t' way upstairs, a horrible realization hit me like a club. T' original Centuri Taurus had been built with a combination o' ST-8 and ST-13 body tubes, but somehow I had figured all o' t' numbers for me upscale out usin' t' Estes BT-60 t' BT-70 size difference as a startin' point for figurin' out t' tube lengths involved in t' upscale. Worse yet, arrr, I had also sized t' fins usin' this number. What made this so disastrous be that t' Taurus was originally built usin' t' ST-13 (Estes BT-56) instead o' t' BT-60. This meant that instead o' a 1.36x upscale, ya bilge rat, I should have been buildin' a 1.65x upscale. My tubes and fins were all too small.

Luckily me house was only two stories high so jumpin' wasn't an option (although retakin' math obviously should have been at some point.) As you might imagine, ya bilge rat, this set me back a bit, and I considered just addin' on t' t' existin' pieces, me hearties, me hearties, but in t' end I decided t' cut all new BT-70 parts from t' section o' tube I had remaining. Aye aye! I added a piece t' t' existin' BT-60 center section, me hearties, matey, mostly because I had already installed t' FlisKits baffle and glued t' topmost transition t' t' tube. Begad! Begad! It be easier and quite a bit less heart wrenchin' t' just add t' small piece o' BT-60 and do a reseal/resand. I set t' original bottom section aside with t' intention o' buyin' another TA-6070 transition and makin' a Taurus-inspired "supply ship" out o' it. I was able t' squeeze out new upper and lower BT-70 sections from t' piece o' BT-70 I had left over. Ahoy! (I checked these measurements three times. I hadn't paid such close attention t' measurements since Miss February o' 1968 and I didn't understand them either.)

Flight:
After waitin' for what seemed like an eternity, ya bilge rat, I finally found myself with a slim weather window t' get t' big Taurus flying. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Conditions were far from optimal with a cold 10+ mph wind strafin' t' VOA field, shiver me timbers, but as long as I wasn't t' only one t' show up for t' Quark launch that day, I be flying.

For t' inaugural flight o' t' day, ya bilge rat, I decided t' err (if I were t' err) on t' side o' caution and chose a trio o' B6-4s. Arrr! Though it was planned as me first flight that day, me hearties, shiver me timbers, a little blind spot o' mine involvin' launch lugs kept it from its leadoff spot in me launchin' order. Ahoy! When t' time came t' launch I double checked everythin' before headin' out t' t' pad with me clip whip.

When t' time came t' launch, I had another club member push t' button so that I could get a picture o' t' liftoff. Avast! (In case it be t' only chance I ever got. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! A possibility considerin' how unlucky it had been up t' this point.) T' liftoff be slow on t' three B6-4s and every bit as cool as I had hoped it would be with plenty o' smoke and flame. It tipped into t' wind off t' pad, and I was surprised at t' height it attained. Blimey! Ejection occurred quite early and for a second t' big Taurus looked like it had been jerked from a Vaudeville stage by a cartoon hook. Aye aye! T' large Thrustline nylon chute unfurled and it rode t' breeze out into t' vegetation...and toward t' access road. Blimey! Ahoy! For a moment I thought that t' bad luck streak be goin' t' continue, me bucko, but it took a fortuitous turn away from t' road and landed well back in t' weeds. Begad! Blimey! Weeds I could deal with. Begad! Roads I couldn't.

Flight two be t' 3 x C6-5 flight I had planned from t' start. Arrr! T' Taurus left t' pad noticeably quicker and topped out quite a bit higher than on t' three Bs. This flight went due west into t' breeze as it accelerated off t' pad, arcin' toward a large grove o' trees but never appearin' t' be threatened by them. Avast, me proud beauty! T' ejection charges were closer t' true this time as they fired just as t' rocket tipped over. Begad! It rode t' breeze back, arrr, still quite high as it passed over t' flightline. Ahoy! T' recovery walk was a long one, me bucko, and I found it stuck in a tree. Avast! Avast! Luckily it was a waist high tree.

T' third flight came at NARAM 47. Begad! Blimey! Flyin' on a 3 x C6-5 load alongside t' Semroc SLS Laser X prototype, t' flight itself was beautiful. Ya scallywag! T' recovery was a different story. Arrr! Arrr! While t' cameras rolled, t' big Taurus popped t' chutes right on t' loot after a textbook flight. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Then came t' drama. From me spot near t' LCO tent I could see that t' landin' would be close in respect t' t' access road. Avast, me proud beauty! (By close, I mean that I could see that it was goin' t' land dead center on t' access road.) T' jarrin' impact splitered one fin, loosened another, broke off two pods, arrr, and partially crushed t' upper section o' BT-70. Ya scallywag! (T' SLS Laser X wound up with a comparitively soft landin' on t' field and be spared any damage.) I've since tried t' make t' repairs, shiver me timbers, but t' damage is extensive enough that it will always be noticeable. Begad! It kind o' takes t' wind out o' me sails, me hearties, so as o' today, ya bilge rat, it remains in a heap in me shop. Arrr! Maybe someday.

Well, someday arrived in late 2011.  I ordered parts t' rebuild t' Taurus without checkin' t' condition o' t' heap in me shop.  T' nose cone, arrr, both transitions, and t' whole center section o' t' rocket were able t' be salvaged, arrr, ya bilge rat, which meant that I only needed t' two sections o' BT70 t' do t' rebuild.  Since t' fins and pods had been all but destroyed in t' NARAM 47 access road incident, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I scrapped t' whole lower section and started over.  I did save t' cluster mount, shiver me timbers, just in case t' urge t' cluster ever returned, but I had already decided that t' rebuild was goin' t' be Estes E9-4 powered.  I cut t' new fins and pod mounts from 3/32" basswood, shiver me timbers, glued in t' E engine mount, replaced t' short upper section o' BT-70 up top, me hearties, and with t' exception o' paint, arrr, t' big Taurus was ready t' go again.

Summary:
PROs: Overall bulk. Avast! T' Taurus lines upscale well. Begad! Arrr! Cool cluster performance.

CONs: T' apparent curse that has been cast on t' project.