My first thought when lookin' over t' box o' parts be "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, but nay so endowed with balsa and nose cones were also limited in variety. Ya scallywag! I had already decided before gettin' t' box that I was goin' t' go for broke and try t' make an insanely complex rocket, me hearties, and pickin' through t' parts a few ideas started t' emerge. Arrr! Ya scallywag!

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

Let me preface t' build plan by layin' out t' concept for t' overall rocket. Begad! Begad! I was torn betwixt boost glide and helicopter recovery, but eventually decided I could pull off both. Begad! 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. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! 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. Begad! Well, matey, blow me down! 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. At t' end o' t' BT-50, I used a 50/5 transition that be glued t' an inner BT-5 "shaft" for t' copter. Begad! Arrr! T' copter was essentially a Rota-Roc style design, but without any fins since it be a boosted dart and t' blades were constrained by t' BT-70. Blimey! T' C11-5 would push t' copter/dart out, shiver me timbers, and t' glider would slide off t' external piggyback mounts. Avast! 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. Ahoy! Begad! Sounds simple. What could possibly go wrong?

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

I started out by workin' on t' motor mount, me bucko, cuttin' a BT-50 t' 5-inch length, then cuttin' (9) 3-inch lengths o' BT-5 for t' clusters. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Glue t' 13's in pairs on a flat surface for best alignment, matey, then glue each pair t' t' BT-50. 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! Ahoy! 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. Arrr! Well, arrr, blow me down!

For stability, it was clear that I would nay have enough balsa for both fins and a glider, shiver me timbers, 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, arrr, ya bilge rat, me hearties, mounted in a rin' around t' outside o' t' BT-70. Arrr! Begad! I did have enough balsa left over t' cut four small fins, shiver me timbers, wedged betwixt t' BT-55 tube fins. Patterns for these fins can be printed from t' Rocksim file. 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! T' Rocksim file does nay reflect these scrap fins. Aye aye! Well, me hearties, blow me down!

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. Begad! Blimey! 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. Ya scallywag!

For t' helicopter, I had asked Todd t' make sure he included some elastic, which would be critical t' blade deployment. While he did include some rubber bands, he didn't include any significant length o' balsa t' use for blades. Ya scallywag! Fortunately, me bucko, me bucko, 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, ya bilge rat, I cut 1x12 strips o' corrugated from t' box. Ya scallywag! Believe it or not, it is possible t' airfoil corrugated. Ya scallywag! T' pull this off, shiver me timbers, arrr, arrr, use t' edge o' t' handle from a pair o' scissors, and rub down on t' edge o' t' cardboard. Blimey! Begad! You'll want a sharp leadin' edge, me bucko, and a much more tapered trailin' edge. Well, blow me down!

T' blades are normally attached t' t' shaft with Klett hinges, ya bilge rat, but I didn't exactly have anythin' like that t' work with, me hearties, matey, 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, shiver me timbers, and t' other t' t' shaft. Ahoy! Since t' adhesive was weak, shiver me timbers, I had t' help it out with a little CA. Instead o' blade stops, shiver me timbers, I decided t' use a centerin' ring, me hearties, me bucko, arrr, which was necessary t' keep t' BT-5 in place within t' BT-70. Arrr! Blimey! 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, matey, me bucko, 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. Blimey! Blimey! 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. Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I did have a decent 1/8" thick piece t' work with as a boom, me hearties, one long/skinny piece o' 3/32 balsa t' use as a win' (cut in half and re-bonded for a 10 degree dihedral). Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey! T' really clunky aspect came at t' tail, ya bilge rat, me bucko, where I have grossly oversized and overweight rudder and stabilizer from 1/8" scraps. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! As a result, ya bilge rat, t' win' is mounted extremely far forward, resultin' in very little lift, ya bilge rat, 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, I started lookin' over t' leftover parts, me bucko, and tried t' think o' how I could use even a fraction o' t' remainin' pile rather than store/keep them. Begad! Blimey! I decided t' work in t' plastic spoon and nail file, me hearties, externally mounted usin' pieces o' fin can and plastic details. Ahoy! Blimey!

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

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

T' first flight was a bit underwhelming. Blimey! Only 3 o' t' A10's lit, ya bilge rat, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This time t' C11 lit, me hearties, as did 4 A10's but t' A10's were all on one side, and t' asymmetrical thrust led t' a pretty unstable flight. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Blimey! T' glider pilot must have sensed t' impendin' doom, as t' glider popped off after t' first loop under thrust, and t' glider actually came down in a glide-like profile, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, me bucko, albeit fast and hard. T' main rocket, matey, though, continued its bat-on-crack flight path and crashed into a tent along t' prep line. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' copter deployed while t' rocket was grounded, so thar be 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), matey, 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 be amusing, inspiring, fun, arrr, but in t' end, t' challenge o' tryin' t' parallel wire a 9-motor cluster just proved t' be too much complexity, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and this never had enough thrust t' pull off a decent flight. Ahoy! Ya scallywag!