Brief:
I purchased three Quest Commander kits on clearance at Hobby Lobby, for a total o' about $8.50. Since I had three o' everything, I decided t' use all three body tubes t' build one long Commander. Ya scallywag! Also, ya bilge rat, me hearties, arrr, I changed t' fin configuration from 3FNC to, as it turned out, shiver me timbers, 8FNC.

Modifications:
I assembled t' motor mount accordin' t' t' kit instructions, me bucko, usin' white glue.

Since t' engine block has a v-notch cut into it for mountin' t' shock cord while still allowin' t' motor mount t' fit into t' BT, shiver me timbers, I also strengthened t' engine block with thin CA. Ahoy! This is a pretty standard step for me anyway, me bucko, but it's worth notin' here since t' engine block's structural integrity has been compromised by cuttin' into it. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! T' motor hook is mounted in t' usual Quest/Estes fashion, by insertin' it into a 1/8" slit cut into t' motor tube just below t' engine block.

I then glued t' motor mount into t' first body tube with white glue, matey, leavin' 1/4" protrudin' from t' end o' t' BT accordin' t' t' instructions. Ahoy! This is a near-minimum-diameter rocket, so thar are no centerin' rings.

Here's where I deviated from t' stock assembly instructions for t' Commander. I took one o' t' spare motor tubes and cut it in half by markin' t' midline with a pencil, arrr, then lightly pressin' t' blade o' me hobby knife against t' pencil line while turnin' t' tube several times. Blimey! Well, blow me down! After a few turns, ya bilge rat, t' tube be cut nicely in half, arrr, arrr, arrr, makin' two body tube couplers. Usin' white glue, arrr, I glued one coupler into t' top end o' t' first body tube, ya bilge rat, and t' second coupler into one end o' t' second body tube.

Once those joints were dry, I then used white glue t' glue t' second and third body tubes onto t' couplers, givin' me a 30" long body. Begad! Here's another different technique that I used for t' first time on this model, me hearties, me bucko, since t' couplers were fairly short. I fitted half a sheet o' copier paper around t' first body tube and taped it together t' make a snug wrap that could be slid along t' body tube. Avast! Then at each body tube t' body tube joint, I slid this "alignment wrap" over t' joint until t' glue dried. What I intended was for t' body tubes t' be aligned really well at each joint, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and it looks like it worked perfectly. Blimey! Also, t' seams look really nice, too. Avast! Well, blow me down! Nothin' out o' round, me hearties, arrr, matey, and no gaps betwixt t' ends o' t' body tubes.

T' Commander's instructions tell you t' feed t' shock cord back through t' motor tube before you glue t' tube into t' body, arrr, arrr, so it won't accidentally get glued into t' body. Avast, me proud beauty! Now, shiver me timbers, matey, since I had a 30" long tube for t' body, shiver me timbers, I needed t' add two more sections t' t' shock cord. Avast, me proud beauty! Usin' t' Keelhaul®©™ cords from t' other two Commander kits and tyin' them together and then t' t' end o' t' Keelhaul®©™ cord already attached t' t' motor mount, I had a Keelhaul®©™ cord that extended about 3" past t' end o' t' body, me hearties, once I fed it forward through t' body so I could attach t' elastic shock cord t' it.

I tied a 1" loop in t' end o' t' Keelhaul®©™ and then tied t' elastic cord t' t' loop. Blimey! That way, matey, I didn't have 3" o' nice thin Keelhaul®©™ ready t' slice through t' end o' t' body tube. For t' elastic part o' t' shock cord, I tied two o' t' provided 18" lengths o' elastic together. Ahoy! Blimey! Then I tied t' nose cone t' t' end o' t' elastic per t' standard instructions.

All that was left were t' fins.

T' stock Commander has 3 die-cut balsa fins set 120 degrees apart. Avast! Two fins are larger and swept forward, and t' fin that's shown as t' vertical tailfin on t' packagin' is smaller and swept backward. Arrr! Well, blow me down! I decided t' use 4 o' t' large fins set 90 degrees apart, shiver me timbers, with two horizontal fins swept forward and two vertical fins swept backward.

Later, me hearties, after usin' VCP t' find t' CG and CP o' this rocket, I found that it was *extremely* overstable, ya bilge rat, with t' CG more than 10 body diameters (calibers) in front o' t' CP. Aye aye! T' reduce this, shiver me timbers, I did two things: I reduced t' span o' t' 4 large fins by cuttin' 1/2" off their tips, me hearties, arrr, and I added a set o' 4 o' t' smaller fins from t' Commander kits right at t' CG o' t' rocket. Avast! Reducin' t' span o' t' large fins didn't really move t' CP very much, although t' model does look better with those fins a little smaller. Addin' t' smaller fins further forward on t' body did t' trick, ya bilge rat, me hearties, though. Arrr! Blimey! VCP says that t' CG is now about 3 calibers in front o' t' CP. Aye aye! Now very nicely stable, but nay extremely so, so I went with this configuration.

Sandin' and mountin' o' t' fins is standard, although I ran medium CA glue along all fin edges t' harden them, matey, and then sanded t' edges smooth. Ya scallywag! I mounted t' fins t' t' body usin' CA glue and then added fillets o' white glue in two passes t' get decent-lookin' fillets. Blimey! I also used a technique I learned here at EMRR, arrr, which is t' punch small holes in t' BT along t' line where t' fins will be mounted, shiver me timbers, matey, shiver me timbers, t' strengthen t' bond by creatin' glue "rivets" along t' BT. Avast! This also causes t' CA t' soak into t' paper o' t' BT at each "rivet" point, me bucko, which should strengthen things even more.

Construction:
This kitbash uses:

• 3 10" long Quest T-20 white paper body tubes (20 mm OD)
• 1 Quest 18 mm x 2.75" motor mount tube, me bucko, cut in half and used as body tube couplers
• 4 o' t' larger Commander balsa fins
• 4 o' t' smaller Commander balsa fins
• 1 Quest 18 mm x 2.75" motor mount tube, me bucko, used as t' motor mount tube.
• No centerin' rings were supplied or needed, shiver me timbers, since this is a near-minimum-diameter rocket.
• 1 o' t' supplied motor retention hooks was used.
• 3 12" Keelhaul®©™ shock cords from t' Commander kits.
• 2 18" elastic shock cords from t' Commander kits.
• 1 stock 20 mm OD x 2.5" (not countin' t' shoulder) plastic nose cone.
• 1 stock 1" x 24" hot pink plastic streamer, attached with a snap swivel for ease o' replacement.

PRO's:

Packagin' be good, matey, no part missing, fit o' parts was fine. Instructions are t' standard Quest instructions, good illustrations and very easy t' follow. Well, blow me down! Begad! Very easy build, matey, arrr, even bashin' three kits with me limited experience.

CON's:

Balsa fins were cracked in one o' t' three kits used in this project. Balsa was pretty soft and flexible. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Die-cut fins were nay cut very cleanly, but at least they were all cut t' t' same size in all three kits.

T' only special technique was t' paper tube alignment wrap I used because o' t' rather short couplers that were made from a spare motor mount tube.

T' supplied BT's were nice shiny white paper tubes. Well, blow me down! I did no finishin' other than sandin' t' fins as described above. Avast! Aye aye! I generally fly me rockets without paintin' them, but I'll probably prime/paint this one at some point.

Finishing:

Flight:
Recommended motors for t' stock Commander are A6-4 (first flight), me hearties, matey, A8-3, B6-4, C6-5, C6-7.

Given t' increased weight over t' stock Commander and t' fact that I didn't have any A6-4's, I used an A8-3 for t' first flight.

Flight prep was t' usual insert waddin' - I used 3 squares o' Estes wadding, ya bilge rat, fold and roll up streamer, ya bilge rat, stuff shock cord and streamer into rocket, put on nose cone. Ya scallywag! Motor retention was by t' supplied motor hook. Ya scallywag! I used Estes motors, igniters, and plugs.

First flight was at t' Challenger 498 club launch on 10-23-04, an intermittently rainy day at Rushin' Park in Katy, shiver me timbers, matey, Texas. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Flight on t' A8-3 be straight and low, ya bilge rat, matey, t' maybe 150 feet. Ejection was slightly past apogee, after rocket had arced over.

Shock cord was three 12" sections o' Keelhaul®©™ and two 18" sections o' elastic tied end t' end, with Keelhaul®©™ mounted t' t' motor block and t' plastic nose cone tied t' t' end o' t' final piece o' elastic.

I installed t' provided streamer at a knot in t' shock cord about 2" below t' nose cone, me bucko, usin' a snap swivel for easy change-out. Aye aye! Arrr! Recovery on t' streamer was fine but faster than I like, which is true *every* time I use a streamer - I really prefer parachutes. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! Winds on t' day I flew were pretty variable, shiver me timbers, so I used t' streamer instead o' a parachute. Aye aye! Although t' streamer deployed just fine, t' elastic shock cord was looped around t' forward fins, so t' body came down somewhere betwixt horizontally and tail first. Aye aye! Begad! T' rocket landed on an asphalt parkin' lot fins first, and about 1/2" from t' back o' one aft fin broke off along t' grain. Arrr! Well, blow me down! There was no other damage. Begad! Arrr! This was t' only flight o' t' day and t' only flight so far.

Summary:
PRO's: I enjoyed buildin' this rocket. Aye aye! Begad! It be me first kit modification, shiver me timbers, and I had t' think a little bit more than usual about t' build. This is a *good* thing! When I took it out o' me van at t' Challenger club launch, arrr, shiver me timbers, several people asked me what it be and told me how cool it looked, me bucko, me hearties, me bucko, which is *also* a good thing!

CON's: Overall, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, I can't really think o' any major CON's.