Brief:
Loosely based on t' Star Trek inspired Klingon Bird o' Prey, me bucko, the Klingon Targ was supposed t' be a civilian ship designed for trainin' pilots. It features two large wings, ya bilge rat, small fins and two tube fins, a thin neck, me hearties, and a large forward compartment housin' t' parachute.

Construction:
Components consist of:

• BT-5 tubing
• BT-55 tubing
• BT-60 tubing
• BT-60 Big Bertha Style Nose Cone
• 24 mm motor mount with 18 mm mount adaptor (with engine hooks)
• Cardboard centerin' rings
• balsa/basswood/lite ply for fin construction
• paper for cockpit and fin detail
• two wire connectors for detail
• mylar parachute and shock cord

As part of t' 2005 EMRR Challenge, I wanted t' build a rocket based on a concept I had developed in t' past few months. Ya scallywag! I also will indicate in this report t' two tips that I used in me construction. I had a vision o' creatin' a rocket based loosely on t' Bird o' Prey design. I began with t' long thin neck, matey, consisting of a section o' BT-5. Ahoy! I added centerin' rings, me hearties, arrr, and then created t' paper transitions. Ahoy! Next, me bucko, I glued t' BT-60 tubin' on t' top o' t' BT-5 and glued the BT-55 on t' bottom. Aye aye! I marked t' BT-55 for fin alignment and then began workin' on t' motor mount.

One o' t' tips that I decided t' use was t' suggestion t' use the yellow spacer tubes t' build a baffle system for t' rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! I punched a few holes in t' yellow spacer, me bucko, me hearties, glued this directly on top o' t' motor mount, shiver me timbers, and then glued a balsa bulkhead t' t' top o' t' yellow spacers so that t' hot gases would be forced around t' bulkhead, t' then be pushed up t' BT-5 neck. Aye aye! Avast! I had my doubts that this technique would work, but later flight tests revealed absolutely no damage whatsoever t' t' mylar parachute. I removed t' shoulder from t' nose cone so that thar would be room in t' nose compartment for the mylar parachute and t' shock cord. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! In addition t' this, me hearties, me bucko, since I was usin' a baffle, I used t' tri-fold method for attachin' t' shock cord t' t' upper body tube o' t' rocket.

Finishing:
I designed t' rocket in RockSim, and thus used t' fin templates t' help me trace t' patterns on t' light ply and balsa I had for t' fins. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' second tip I used was t' use thinned yellow glue or white glue t' seal t' fins. Blimey! I first attached t' fins to the body before worryin' about sealin' them. Well, blow me down! Again, ya bilge rat, I was skeptical about this technique as I prefer Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' method works fine, but I found it t' require far more than just 2 applications. More like 5 or 6 applications seem t' work t' fill all t' grain I had in me fins.

I also added some detail t' t' rocket includin' a cockpit, some raised detail on the fins, me hearties, and two phaser cannons on either side o' t' main wings. Blimey! After I had filled in all t' grooves and sealed t' fins, shiver me timbers, I gave t' rocket a few shots of Krylon primer, ya bilge rat, sandin' in between.

After I be satisfied with t' priming, shiver me timbers, I gave it a good single coat o' a kind o' strange minty green o' Krylon I had in storage for probably 5 years. Begad!

Next, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I added more detail by way o' a Sharpie pens (black and silver) and decals, me bucko, usin' some created by myself on white adhesive labels and others from a decal sheet from me old Aerotech Warthog.

Flight:
Since I used RockSim t' design and build t' rocket, I had data that told me the rocket was stable on a D12. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! I decided t' do a swin' test t' see if this was so. I found that t' swin' test was nay conclusive for t' D12, me bucko, but did indicate that a C6 would be a suitable motor for a stable flight. Unfortunately, while performin' me swin' test, ya bilge rat, matey, ya bilge rat, an inordinate amount o' stress was placed on t' BT-5 neck o' t' Klingon Targ, causin' it t' fold over. Ya scallywag! I printed up a sheet o' paper similar in color t' me paint scheme and ended up wrappin' this around t' neck with yellow glue.

T' next day was a beautiful day, and I decided t' launch t' rocket. First flight was on a C6 and then I graduated t' a C11 flight. I wrapped t' mylar parachute carefully, placed a little waddin' in t' BT-5 neck, nay bein' too certain t' baffle be goin' t' work. Blimey! I wrapped a sheet around t' parachute as well.

T' C6-5 got t' Targ into t' air, shiver me timbers, but thar was a little squirrelly in flight after motor burn out. Aye aye! T' delay was very long and ejection occurred way past apogee, as t' rocket was nosin' t' t' ground. Parachute deployed perfectly and I be ready for flight two.

On flight two, arrr, I decided t' try t' C6-3 before tryin' t' C11. Aye aye! I prepped t' rocket was before and launched it again. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! T' flight seemed t' be much better than the first, matey, shiver me timbers, but t' rocket had more o' an arc flight t' it this time, matey, probably due to t' odd gusts o' wind that were blowin' durin' t' launch. Blimey! Aye aye! Unfortunately, when t' ejection charge arrived, arrr, t' parachute did nay fully deploy, causing the rocket t' do a kind o' tumble recovery. It landed on grass, but thar was definite damage includin' a broken fin (repairable) and a major bend/tear at the neck just below t' BT-60 portion o' t' rocket. T' rocket is nay flyable as is and is currently retired. Avast! I need t' rethink t' BT-5 since it failed on me twice. Aye aye! Also, I be nay too pleased with t' rocket's flight being squirrelly. Aye aye! With that in mind, t' design and t' rocket really need t' go back to t' drawin' board.

I would definitely nay launch this rocket on a B motor. Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I think t' C11 and D12 would put in a good performance, but I won't be able t' tell on me current rocket.

Summary:
PROs: Unusual design. Arrr! Baffle system is great. Begad! On two flights, me hearties, t' parachute shows nay signs whatsoever o' damage or scorching

CONs: T' BT-5 neck needs some rethinking. Ya scallywag! It became t' point o' failure two different times. Arrr! Either I enlarge t' BT-5 neck t' a BT-20, ya bilge rat, or I need to reinforce t' neck with a sheet o' fiberglass, which is nay me style.