My first thought when lookin' over t' box o' parts was "Wow! Blimey! I could build 10 rockets out o' this stuff." Then, me hearties, arrr, reality started t' settle in- I was fat dumb and happy on body tubes, me hearties, but nay so endowed with balsa and nose cones were also limited in variety. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! 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. Arrr! Blimey!

I'll walk you through t' basic steps and offer up t' attached Rocksim as a general guideline, shiver me timbers, though why anyone would want t' attempt t' reproduce this is beyond me, 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. Aye aye!

Let me preface t' build plan by layin' out t' concept for t' overall rocket. Ahoy! Arrr! I was torn betwixt boost glide and helicopter recovery, shiver me timbers, but eventually decided I could pull off both. 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. Ahoy! Aye aye! 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, matey, inside t' BT-70 main body tube. Arrr! Avast! As long as I'm goin' off t' deep end, me hearties, 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. Blimey! 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. Well, blow me down! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! T' C11-5 would push t' copter/dart out, me hearties, and t' glider would slide off t' external piggyback mounts. A burn strin' type o' thin thread would attach t' t' transition and t' main body's parachute and streamer, me bucko, pullin' them out before breakin' away. Begad! Begad! Sounds simple. What could possibly go wrong?

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

I started out by workin' on t' motor mount, arrr, me hearties, cuttin' a BT-50 t' 5-inch length, shiver me timbers, then cuttin' (9) 3-inch lengths o' BT-5 for t' clusters. Ahoy! Blimey! Glue t' 13's in pairs on a flat surface for best alignment, then glue each pair t' t' BT-50. Begad! Aye aye! 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. Blimey! Avast! There was nay enough room for a centerin' ring, matey, so I filled t' gaps with Gorilla glue kicked with a spritz o' water mist t' cause it t' expand and fill t' gaps. Blimey! Avast!

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, matey, mounted in a rin' around t' outside o' t' BT-70. Begad! I did have enough balsa left over t' cut four small fins, matey, wedged betwixt t' BT-55 tube fins. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Patterns for these fins can be printed from t' Rocksim file. Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey! There were also two scrap wedges o' odd-sized balsa left over from t' glider build, me bucko, so I tucked them into two more gaps in t' BT-55 tubes. T' Rocksim file does nay reflect these scrap fins. Aye aye! Blimey!

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. 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. Avast!

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

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

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

For t' flights, I loaded up 8 o' t' 9 13mm tubes with A10-P's. Well, blow me down! Why nay go for all 9? They come in 4-packs, and I rarely have use for them, arrr, so didn't want an odd/opened pack layin' around for years. Begad! Begad! I then loaded up a C11-5, 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. Only 3 o' t' A10's lit, me bucko, me hearties, t' C11 didn't light, matey, and t' rocket barely cleared t' rod before floppin' over right by t' range head.

I replaced t' spent motors, rewired everythin' but this time makin' sure t' C11 was nay paired with any other motor's leads, matey, checked for best igniters I could find, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and gave it another shot. Begad! Arrr! This time t' C11 lit, arrr, as did 4 A10's but t' A10's were all on one side, and t' asymmetrical thrust led t' a pretty unstable flight. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! T' glider pilot must have sensed t' impendin' doom, as t' glider popped off after t' first loop under thrust, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and t' glider actually came down in a glide-like profile, arrr, me hearties, albeit fast and hard. Begad! T' main rocket, though, continued its bat-on-crack flight path and crashed into a tent along t' prep line. T' copter deployed while t' rocket was grounded, ya bilge rat, arrr, 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, shiver me timbers, but for now this project has t' take a back seat t' preppin' for me NARAM run. Avast! It be amusing, shiver me timbers, inspiring, fun, but in t' end, shiver me timbers, matey, 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. Arrr!