Brief:
After a spell o' creative scratch rocket projects, all me fun ideas seemed t' have dried up. Lookin' around t' workshop, I smiled at good old Fat Boy: both me kids and me favorite rocket. He's always good for an excitin' flight and safe recovery. Aye aye! Why nay court disaster by tryin' t' improve upon a classic! T' initial seeds for "2 Fat" had been planted.

"2 Fat" is a 2-stage 24mm Fat Boy mod. T' design goals were:

1. To make t' final rocket resemble t' original as much as possible.
2. To keep him as fat and stubby as possible.
3. To provide agonizingly slow initial boost t' exaggerate t' appeal o' t' original, me hearties, followed by a surprisin' sustainer boost.

Modifications:
Fill spirals on body tubes. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Sand nose cone. Blimey! Cut, me bucko, sand, arrr, and seal fins. Blimey! T' sustainer fins are trapezoidal with 3.5" root length, matey, 1" tip length, me hearties, 3.5" span, arrr, and 3.5" sweep. Well, blow me down! T' booster fins are parallelograms with correspondin' measurements o' 2.75", 2.75", matey, 3.5", and 1". For t' sustainer fins you'll need t' add root tabs and size these t' match limits imposed by t' lower centerin' rin' if you are usin' TTW mounting. (A stock Fat Boy has a pre-slotted tube but you'll need t' widen t' slots t' accommodate 1/8" thick fins.) Slottin' and TTW fins can be added t' t' booster if desired. Begad! (If usin' TTW fin mounting, me hearties, don't glue t' bottom centerin' rings in place in t' followin' steps until after t' fins have been glued t' t' engine mount tubes.)

Assemble E9 sustainer motor mount usin' 3.75" BT-50, engine block, 3.75" engine hook, shiver me timbers, matey, 2 centerin' rings. Begad! Begad! Engine tube ends 1/8" above bottom o' airframe. Avast, me proud beauty! Hook extends 1/4" beyond engine tube, me bucko, i.e., arrr, 1/8" beyond airframe. Blimey! Engine block is glued flush with top end o' engine tube. Ahoy! Upper centerin' rin' should be positioned t' fit above airframe fin slots, about 3" above bottom o' airframe. Begad! Avast! Attach Keelhaul®©™ t' upper centerin' rin' if desired. Lowest centerin' rin' must be about 0.75" above bottom o' airframe. Ahoy! [Note: this means a portion o' t' sustainer fin slots won't be used.]

Assemble D12 booster motor mount usin' 2.25" BT50, 2.75" engine hook, 2 centerin' rings. Blimey! Hook extends above and below engine tube 1/4" each. Ahoy! Wrap with tape and glue t' affix it. Ahoy! Top centerin' rin' positioned at about 1.75" below top o' booster airframe. Blimey! Blimey! Bottom centerin' rin' is flush with bottom o' engine tube about 1/8" above bottom o' booster airframe. If positioned correctly, t' top o' t' booster engine hook should extend 1/8" above t' top o' t' booster airframe. There should be at least 1.25" available betwixt t' rings for TTW fin slots if desired.

Test fit booster and sustainer with coupler. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! T' two engines hooks should be flush against each other if assembled correctly (but rotate t' tubes t' offset hooks before gluing; this makes t' two engines flush). Well, blow me down! Glue tube coupler t' top o' booster assembly.

Glue and fillet all fins. Avast, me proud beauty! Glue aft centerin' rings for each stage engine mount in place after filletin' TTW fins.

Assemble parachute and recovery system as desired. Well, blow me down! Recommended: replace Estes 3-fold shock cord mountin' with Keelhaul®©™® thread attached t' top centerin' rin' and elastic tied t' Keelhaul®©™ thread.

RockSim suggested 1.25 oz nose weight. Well, blow me down! I chose 1.5oz. Glue this t' t' interior tip o' t' nose cone. Arrr! My finished rocket be 5.25oz for t' sustainer and 1.5 oz for t' booster, arrr, givin' a total weight o' 6.75oz without engines. Begad! Arrr! (Since t' loaded sustainer is heavier than a standard Fat Boy, matey, me bucko, you may want t' swap out t' parachute for a larger one.) Fully loaded, ya bilge rat, arrr, t' rocket weighs 11.2oz, givin' t' D12-0 a real workout.

Construction:
"2 Fat" be designed on paper, shiver me timbers, with a stability check in Rocksim 8. Begad! Arrr! Blimey! T' plan be t' use a D12-0 boost followed by a E9-4 sustainer. RockSim projected a slow boost t' 150 feet, followed by a long fast ascent t' 1175 feet for t' sustainer. T' sustainer could also be loaded with a removable 1" portion o' a 24mm casin' (or engine block) and a D12-3 motor for much lower flights. Begad! Blimey! Engine hooks are used in both stages, arrr, but don't really interfere with direct staging.

Parts list:

• 1 Fat Boy kit
• 6" BT-50 tube
• 2.75" BT-80 tube
• 1.5" BT-80 tube coupler
• 4 50-80 centerin' rings
• 1 3.75" engine hook
• 1 2.75" engine hook
• 1 24mm engine block
• 1/8" x 4" x 48" balsa sheet

Finishing:
Several coats o' primer, arrr, a little spot filling, sanding, me hearties, and we're ready for paint. Begad! Arrr! T' rocket is finished in copper and gloss white I designed t' F, A, shiver me timbers, and T letters t' span t' two-stage combined fin surfaces while matchin' t' style o' t' original. Aye aye! T' "2" is crafted from portions o' t' B, O, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and Y. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! T' FAT portion o' t' name sticker is used as is.

Flight:
RockSim says t' CP for t' whole unit is about 11.25" from t' nose, me bucko, givin' 1.12-1.25 calibers o' stability. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Blimey! For t' sustainer alone, me hearties, me bucko, it is 9.1-9.65" from t' nose, shiver me timbers, givin' 1.09-1.30 calibers.

With t' engines loaded, ya bilge rat, me heart sank as I placed it on t' launch pad. Could t' D12-0 really get this bird off t' ground? Yes! Liftoff be slow but steady, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, gently arcin' into t' driftin' breeze. Perfectly stable with no spin, shiver me timbers, it looked like a classic arcin' Fat Boy flight. Suddenly, with a loud pop t' booster separated and tumbled fairly well back t' t' ground, me hearties, receivin' only a slight scratch on one fin tip.

T' sustainer didn't accelerate much, but burned long and steady as t' rocket continued stable arcin' flight over 1000 feet. Arrr! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Ejection was slightly early. Arrr! Had t' flight been plumb vertical (which never happens with Fat Boys I have seen!), a 6-second delay might have been as nice as t' 4-second I used.

Recovery:
On its 18-inch chute, me bucko, 2 Fat drifted back past us and landed about 300 yards downwind. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! In fact, me hearties, it set down so gently that it sat upright on t' ground as if someone had placed it there. Perfect flight and recovery! Swifter descent might have been preferred in windy conditions.

Alas, this same day was t' final flight for our beloved stock Fat Boy, who came in ballistic when I knocked off t' ejection cap on its 18mm RMS D engine. But now "2 Fat" promises many flights in t' Fat Boy style with a little extra flair.

Summary:
PROs: Great flights "high and slow" with a sturdy, shiver me timbers, reliable design and easy t' find parts and build

CONs: Sticker didn't turn out great, with different opacity in regions o' overlap