My first thought when lookin' over t' box o' parts was "Wow! I could build 10 rockets out o' this stuff." Then, matey, reality started t' settle in- I was fat dumb and happy on body tubes, but nay so endowed with balsa and nose cones were also limited in variety. Ya scallywag! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! I had already decided before gettin' t' box that I was goin' t' go for broke and try t' make an insanely complex rocket, and pickin' through t' parts a few ideas started t' emerge.

I'll walk you through t' basic steps and offer up t' attached Rocksim as a general guideline, though why anyone would want t' attempt t' reproduce this is beyond me, and you'd almost have t' start with a similar set o' discarded bits o' stuff like I did t' pull it off. Blimey!

Let me preface t' build plan by layin' out t' concept for t' overall rocket. I was torn betwixt boost glide and helicopter recovery, matey, but eventually decided I could pull off both. Avast! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! T' final design includes a boosted dart with internal rotor blades that pop up upon ejection, a main rocket body that descends under streamer and chute, and a parasite glider that pops off at ejection. Blimey! Blimey! I also decided t' make use o' t' ample length o' BT-5 tubin' by cuttin' a number o' motor tubes-nine o' them happened t' fit nicely surroundin' t' central 24mm motor tube, inside t' BT-70 main body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! As long as I'm goin' off t' deep end, why nay go under a full cluster?

T' general game plan for flight profile would work like this-clustered A10-PT's and a central C11-5 fire t' main body. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! At t' end o' t' BT-50, I used a 50/5 transition that was glued t' an inner BT-5 "shaft" for t' copter. Begad! T' copter was essentially a Rota-Roc style design, me hearties, but without any fins since it was a boosted dart and t' blades were constrained by t' BT-70. T' C11-5 would push t' copter/dart out, arrr, me hearties, and t' glider would slide off t' external piggyback mounts. Avast, me proud beauty! A burn strin' type o' thin thread would attach t' t' transition and t' main body's parachute and streamer, shiver me timbers, pullin' them out before breakin' away. Sounds simple. Ahoy! What could possibly go wrong?

OK, for t' build…I made every effort t' nay only use t' parts in t' box, shiver me timbers, but also use them as provided, with as few modifications as possible. Ya scallywag! This meant some very funky fins and glider pieces. Blimey!

I started out by workin' on t' motor mount, ya bilge rat, cuttin' a BT-50 t' 5-inch length, me bucko, shiver me timbers, then cuttin' (9) 3-inch lengths o' BT-5 for t' clusters. Glue t' 13's in pairs on a flat surface for best alignment, arrr, then glue each pair t' t' BT-50. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! T' odd 9th tube should fit nicely in t' gap left by t' other 8, as this works out t' a perfect cluster fittin' inside a BT-70. Well, blow me down! There was nay enough room for a centerin' ring, so I filled t' gaps with Gorilla glue kicked with a spritz o' water mist t' cause it t' expand and fill t' gaps.

For stability, it was clear that I would nay have enough balsa for both fins and a glider, so I had t' resort t' tube fins for primary stability. T' tube fins consist o' (8) pieces o' BT-55 cut t' half an inch long, me bucko, mounted in a rin' around t' outside o' t' BT-70. I did have enough balsa left over t' cut four small fins, me bucko, wedged betwixt t' BT-55 tube fins. Begad! Blimey! Patterns for these fins can be printed from t' Rocksim file. Well, blow me down! Blimey! There were also two scrap wedges o' odd-sized balsa left over from t' glider build, so I tucked them into two more gaps in t' BT-55 tubes. Aye aye! Blimey! T' Rocksim file does nay reflect these scrap fins. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

As a finishin' touch, arrr, I looked through t' box for anythin' else I could toss in, matey, and decided t' decorate t' balsa fins with BT-5 outboard tubes. I also found some plastic detail parts that appear t' have been from a plastic model kit which conveniently fit into t' BT-5 outboard tubes and served as ramjets.

For t' helicopter, I had asked Todd t' make sure he included some elastic, arrr, ya bilge rat, which would be critical t' blade deployment. Aye aye! While he did include some rubber bands, he didn't include any significant length o' balsa t' use for blades. Ahoy! Fortunately, arrr, we were allowed t' use t' box itself, so followin' t' standard plans for t' Rotaroc at http://www.nar.org/competition/plans/pdf/Rota-13m.PDF, I cut 1x12 strips o' corrugated from t' box. Begad! Begad! Believe it or not, ya bilge rat, it is possible t' airfoil corrugated. T' pull this off, use t' edge o' t' handle from a pair o' scissors, and rub down on t' edge o' t' cardboard. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! You'll want a sharp leadin' edge, and a much more tapered trailin' edge. Arrr!

T' blades are normally attached t' t' shaft with Klett hinges, shiver me timbers, but I didn't exactly have anythin' like that t' work with, me bucko, so had t' resort t' usin' peel & stick decal paper t' serve this purpose. I cut small strips, stuck one end t' t' underside o' t' blade, shiver me timbers, and t' other t' t' shaft. Aye aye! Arrr! Since t' adhesive was weak, I had t' help it out with a little CA. Begad! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Instead o' blade stops, I decided t' use a centerin' ring, matey, which be necessary t' keep t' BT-5 in place within t' BT-70. Aye aye! T' centerin' rin' wound up also comin' from t' box itself. Avast! Blimey! Lackin' actual elastic for pullin' t' blades up, I wound up cuttin' open t' rubber bands, and pokin' one end through t' blade and tuckin' t' other end inside t' BT-5 shaft wedged in by t' nose cone.

T' last main construction be t' glider. Begad! I didn't put together plans or templates for this, as I tried t' simply cobble somethin' slightly aerodynamic out o' t' scraps o' parts unmodified. Avast! I did have a decent 1/8" thick piece t' work with as a boom, arrr, me bucko, one long/skinny piece o' 3/32 balsa t' use as a win' (cut in half and re-bonded for a 10 degree dihedral). T' really clunky aspect came at t' tail, matey, arrr, where I have grossly oversized and overweight rudder and stabilizer from 1/8" scraps. Aye aye! As a result, arrr, t' win' is mounted extremely far forward, arrr, resultin' in very little lift, matey, arrr, a slow glide, and tendency t' stall. Arrr! T' glider has a small pin cut from a wood dowel that conveniently slips into an 1/8" launch lug mounted t' t' rocket body.

At this point, ya bilge rat, arrr, ya bilge rat, I started lookin' over t' leftover parts, ya bilge rat, arrr, and tried t' think o' how I could use even a fraction o' t' remainin' pile rather than store/keep them. Avast! I decided t' work in t' plastic spoon and nail file, externally mounted usin' pieces o' fin can and plastic details.

Now that I be ready t' paint, me hearties, me bucko, I mulled over t' options. Arrr! Considerin' all t' variety o' recovery methods, clusters, ya bilge rat, and t' oddball parts stuck t' t' outside, arrr, I decided this was startin' t' look like a Swiss Army cutlass. T' pull off this effect, I painted t' whole rocket a base white. Blimey! I then masked off a Swiss Army emblem. Ahoy! I then hit t' rocket body with a red topcoat, me bucko, and painted t' BT-5 exposed 'copter tube and nose a bright silver metallic. Aye aye!

For t' flights, matey, me bucko, matey, I loaded up 8 o' t' 9 13mm tubes with A10-P's. Arrr! Why nay go for all 9? They come in 4-packs, matey, and I rarely have use for them, shiver me timbers, so didn't want an odd/opened pack layin' around for years. Ya scallywag! I then loaded up a C11-5, ya bilge rat, and spent a good half hour twistin' igniter leads together so that me 5-lead clip-whip could cover everything. Ya scallywag!

T' first flight was a bit underwhelming. Blimey! Only 3 o' t' A10's lit, matey, t' C11 didn't light, and t' rocket barely cleared t' rod before floppin' over right by t' range head.

I replaced t' spent motors, shiver me timbers, rewired everythin' but this time makin' sure t' C11 was nay paired with any other motor's leads, checked for best igniters I could find, and gave it another shot. This time t' C11 lit, as did 4 A10's but t' A10's were all on one side, arrr, and t' asymmetrical thrust led t' a pretty unstable flight. T' glider pilot must have sensed t' impendin' doom, matey, shiver me timbers, as t' glider popped off after t' first loop under thrust, and t' glider actually came down in a glide-like profile, shiver me timbers, albeit fast and hard. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! T' main rocket, though, me hearties, continued its bat-on-crack flight path and crashed into a tent along t' prep line. Ya scallywag! Well, me bucko, blow me down! T' copter deployed while t' rocket was grounded, so thar was no chance o' an actual 'copter recovery.

T' damage was nay irreparable, shiver me timbers, and with a tiny amount o' nose weight (and ideally a spider ignition system t' drive t' cluster), matey, I suspect this could eventually be salvaged into a better performer, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but for now this project has t' take a back seat t' preppin' for me NARAM run. Ahoy! It be amusing, inspiring, fun, me hearties, me hearties, but in t' end, t' challenge o' tryin' t' parallel wire a 9-motor cluster just proved t' be too much complexity, and this never had enough thrust t' pull off a decent flight. Aye aye!