Brief:
1:1 scale model o' t' original Atari 2600 joystick. Designed for looks and laughs--and o' course, me hearties, ya bilge rat, me bucko, flying!

Construction and Finishing:
Work started with a 6" length o' BT-20 body tube, some scraps o' balsa cut into 4" strips t' form t' handle and a box made from mountin' board (the stuff that framers use around photographs).

Six strips o' balsa are glued t' t' top o' t' body tube t' give t' classic hexagonal shape. Blimey! Blimey! Workin' out t' width o' t' strips took a few minutes and in t' end I just eye-balled it.

I built up t' box at t' base usin' scraps o' mountin' board sourced as off-cuts from a local framin' company. Ahoy! Arrr! I used a craft hole cutter t' cut t' disks t' give t' appearance o' t' rubber moldin' around t' base o' t' handle.

An engine block was mounted in t' body tube, a hole drilled top and bottom o' t' box for t' launch rod and then pained with gray undercoat followed by black.

T' red fire button and yellow dashes were hand-painted.

Flight and Recovery:
I've flown this 4 times on C6 motors. T' first flight be picture perfect with tumble recovery startin' just after motor burnout. Avast, me proud beauty! It landed without any damage due t' t' very light weight and poor aerodynamics.

T' second flight was very unstable, arrr, loopin' through t' air, matey, but again landed without damage.

Third and fourth flights were again picture perfect, just like t' first flight. Avast, me proud beauty! I suspect that t' second flight may have been unstable as when reviewin' t' video and comparin' with t' first flight, matey, t' rocket was further up t' launch rod. Arrr! For t' third and fourth flights, ya bilge rat, I positioned t' rocket much further down t' rod.

On t' two launch occasions (two flights on two different weekends) thar be a little wind but nothin' too strong, and it had no effect on t' launch.

Summary:
PROs: It's an OddRoc! Everyone loved seein' somethin' different and all were impressed with t' fact that it actually flew. Ya scallywag! I really enjoy bein' able t' launch somethin' that stands out. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I was able t' build it for virtually nothin' as all parts except for t' engine block and paint were scrap. Oh, me hearties, and t' best comment o' t' day from another flyer be "Oh, me bucko, is that your new launch controller??" His jaw dropped when I said no and proceeded t' send it skyward!

CONs: None. Well, arrr, blow me down! I achieved what I set out t' do with this project. Arrr! I turned an iconic gamin' device into a stable flyin' rocket!