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

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

Let me preface t' build plan by layin' out t' concept for t' overall rocket. I be torn betwixt boost glide and helicopter recovery, ya bilge rat, arrr, but eventually decided I could pull off both. Begad! Aye aye! 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. Aye aye! Arrr! 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. Arrr! As long as I'm goin' off t' deep end, arrr, ya bilge rat, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! T' copter be essentially a Rota-Roc style design, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, but without any fins since it was a boosted dart and t' blades were constrained by t' BT-70. Avast, me proud beauty! T' C11-5 would push t' copter/dart out, me bucko, and t' glider would slide off t' external piggyback mounts. Arrr! A burn strin' type o' thin thread would attach t' t' transition and t' main body's parachute and streamer, pullin' them out before breakin' away. Sounds simple. Blimey! Ahoy! What could possibly go wrong?

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

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

For stability, it be 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, mounted in a rin' around t' outside o' t' BT-70. Arrr! I did have enough balsa left over t' cut four small fins, wedged betwixt t' BT-55 tube fins. Patterns for these fins can be printed from t' Rocksim file. Avast! 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. T' Rocksim file does nay reflect these scrap fins. Begad! Avast!

As a finishin' touch, I looked through t' box for anythin' else I could toss in, and decided t' decorate t' balsa fins with BT-5 outboard tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! 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. Begad!

For t' helicopter, I had asked Todd t' make sure he included some elastic, shiver me timbers, which would be critical t' blade deployment. Avast, me proud beauty! While he did include some rubber bands, shiver me timbers, he didn't include any significant length o' balsa t' use for blades. Blimey! Fortunately, we were allowed t' use t' box itself, me hearties, 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. Avast! Believe it or not, it is possible t' airfoil corrugated. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! T' pull this off, use t' edge o' t' handle from a pair o' scissors, arrr, and rub down on t' edge o' t' cardboard. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! You'll want a sharp leadin' edge, shiver me timbers, and a much more tapered trailin' edge.

T' blades are normally attached t' t' shaft with Klett hinges, arrr, but I didn't exactly have anythin' like that t' work with, arrr, so had t' resort t' usin' peel & stick decal paper t' serve this purpose. I cut small strips, matey, stuck one end t' t' underside o' t' blade, me bucko, and t' other t' t' shaft. Avast! Ahoy! Since t' adhesive be weak, I had t' help it out with a little CA. Blimey! Ahoy! Instead o' blade stops, I decided t' use a centerin' ring, which was necessary t' keep t' BT-5 in place within t' BT-70. Ahoy! T' centerin' rin' wound up also comin' from t' box itself. Avast! Lackin' actual elastic for pullin' t' blades up, ya bilge rat, I wound up cuttin' open t' rubber bands, me bucko, shiver me timbers, 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. Ya scallywag! I didn't put together plans or templates for this, ya bilge rat, as I tried t' simply cobble somethin' slightly aerodynamic out o' t' scraps o' parts unmodified. Well, arrr, blow me down! I did have a decent 1/8" thick piece t' work with as a boom, one long/skinny piece o' 3/32 balsa t' use as a win' (cut in half and re-bonded for a 10 degree dihedral). Blimey! Ahoy! T' really clunky aspect came at t' tail, where I have grossly oversized and overweight rudder and stabilizer from 1/8" scraps. Arrr! As a result, shiver me timbers, t' win' is mounted extremely far forward, arrr, shiver me timbers, resultin' in very little lift, a slow glide, and tendency t' stall. Blimey! 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, I started lookin' over t' leftover parts, ya bilge rat, and tried t' think o' how I could use even a fraction o' t' remainin' pile rather than store/keep them. Arrr! Blimey! I decided t' work in t' plastic spoon and nail file, matey, externally mounted usin' pieces o' fin can and plastic details.

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

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

T' first flight be a bit underwhelming. 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. Ahoy!

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

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