T' followin' be t' HTML interpretation o' David's PDF submission. Aye aye! Blimey!
Please see t' full PDF HERE (0.4M)

Constructin' the For t' EMRR BOX-O-Parts Contest

Muddle through t' Mess

I started by separatin' body tubes in t' groups that could be used as airframes and tubes that where crinkled,dinged, ya bilge rat, or dented.

This gave me an idea o' t' size and shape I could accomplish. Avast! Avast! My basic concept was for a long and tall rocket. Cluster power was a must. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! I LOVE clusters!

T' Nose Job

I messed around with Nose Cone possibilities. Avast, me proud beauty! A rocket's nose really determines t' "flavor" o' the build. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! So with t' cones I received I did some cutting, me hearties, sandin' and gluing. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' results are photo #2. Lookin' a bit like a command module, perhaps windows lookin' out over a nose. Blimey! Well I guess I'm buildin' a Spacecraft o' sorts. Arrr!

This is a "BERTHA" BT-60 plastic Nose Cone . Avast, me proud beauty! Turned backwards. Begad! Purple BT-50 nose cone. Blimey! Base is sawn off and glued t' t' bottom o' t' Bertha cone. Well, blow me down! Hopefully this will look somethin' like a Starship cockpit. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast!

T' Body Stack

Go big or go Home. Arrr!

I took stock o' all t' possible body tubes I could use t' go as tall as possible. This photo shows t' Top and Middle sections test fit together.

I sorted through t' various centerin' rings in me stack o' stuff and pieced together several sections o' body tube t' assemble t' top stack. Begad! Begad! Blimey!

This rocket is intended t' separate for recovery at t' point o' t' two different colored BT60 tubes. T' mid section break allows t' rocket t' recover on two separate recovery devices. Arrr! This was necessitated by t' limited recovery options that came in me Box-0-stuff. Ya scallywag! (more on this later.)

Some o' t' steps t' build t' top stack: Short one centerin' ring. Arrr! So I modified one 20/60 rin' t' a 50/60 ring. Blimey! Trace inner circle and cut out

Make a BT-60 adapter sleeve. Slice a section o' BT60 tube t' reduce diameter. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Use t' sliver that was removed t' brace t' inside o' t' new inner sleeve and glue together. This makes t' whole Top Section like one long nose cone. Well, blow me down!

More Top Section Assembly. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty!

The BT50 Stack Middle Rin' is Just for looks (pictured left)

Recovery would be t' biggest issue. Avast! My Box-O-Stuff had One fat elastic cord. (below right)

I want t' go BIG.... Begad! so, matey, I split t' cord in half Lengthwise, givin' me two thinner elastics but still have the longest possible length. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! In this photo (below center) one half o' this cord is pushed through a slot in t' BT50 body tube. Well, blow me down! Tie a fat knot in t' elastic and I'm off t' t' next step. Well, blow me down!

Next I have t' fill t' top BT50 section so it will separate at ejection. Avast! So I tore up some o' t' shippin' box. Soaked t' torn bits in water, ya bilge rat, me hearties, then mixed t' wet pulp with glue. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! Stuffed t' glue/pulp mixture in t' base o' t' tube to form a plug (above right). This method works well. Arrr! You have t' watch t' moisture in t' pulp mix so it does not warp t' tube. Begad! This also takes a wile t' dry.

Lookin' into t' bottom o' t' top stack. Arrr! You see t' BT60 adapter sleeve, me bucko, matey, me bucko, t' Elastic Cord and t' bottom of t' BT50 centerin' rin' and Glue/shredded box WAD. Begad! Ya scallywag!

On t' t' Bottom section assembly.

Well, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, for t' lower section I have t' connect some BT60 tube t' some BT70. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!

No 60/70 centerin' rings in t' Box-O-junk, so I whip out me trusty, matey, rusty compass draw and cut some rings from t' shippin' box. Well, blow me down!

Motor Mount

Coffee Cup With shred-obox soakin' in water. Begad!

My Box-o-goodness did nay contain any 18mm tube. So this one gets 24mm main motors (three o' them). Avast, me proud beauty! Just for kicks I added three 13mm mounts along side. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Test fit t' motor tubes. Aye aye! Then started shreddin' t' Shippin' box again. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I use the shreds,soaked in water t' soften them up, then rin' them out and soak them in glue. Gluey shreds are then used to stuff t' voids betwixt t' Motor tubes and Main body tube. Begad!

Motor mount continued.

Motor mount fillets dryin' (above right). Ahoy! In t' "custom" motor mount dryin' apparatus a.k.a. Ya scallywag! a Dunki'n Donuts cup!

A lovely Gluey mass o' shredded box applied t' t' motor mount and lower body tube.

I better make some fins for this thing.

Looks like I have a full set o' pre-cut "Bertha" fins. (Actually I think I have at least one whole bertha)

But those Balsa fins may nay be strong enough for a cluster. So I use a precut fin as a template t' cut out some fins from t' balsa sheet in t' box. Blimey! Arrr! Then I laminate these fins so they are double thickness and hopefully quite strong. Ahoy! Blimey!

Fins t' t' left, shiver me timbers, fins t' t' right.......

T' lower section nearly complete.

More lower section. Arrr! Ahoy! Blimey!

In these photos you can see t' detail o' t' "Warp Ring"

Warp Rin' is made up o' a plastic garden light fixture. Well, blow me down! (I know this because I got some o' me own parts back!)

T' inside diameter o' t' plastic rin' is much larger than t' bt70 tube. Ahoy! Aye aye! So I pulled some small body tube that I believe is BT-4 and cut it t' several short lengths. Aye aye! Begad! This BT-4 be squish-fit betwixt t' Plastic rin' and t' outside of t' body tube. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! With t' small tubes and plastic rin' in place it was actually easy t' slide t' whole assembly (not yet glued together) down t' BT70 body tube. Begad! Once I had everythin' where I wanted it I glued it all in place. Begad! With some patience and a few toothpicks o' course.

Recoverin' from Recovery

Official shop shot o' t' "parawing-gle"

My box-0-stuffin' be kind o' short on recovery options. Well, blow me down! Arrr! It did have two plastic chutes. Blimey! Arrr! But only had shroud lines for one! I will brin' t' top half down on t' regular 18 inch plastic chute that was in t' box-o-lovely. Blimey! But the lower section... Ya scallywag! that would be harder. Blimey! Hmmmm? Streamer, shiver me timbers, arrr, me bucko, boring! How about some sort o' para wing?

O.K. Arrr! this made me get creative. Aye aye! Some where in t' TRF discussions it was asked if addin' tape would be legal. Tape was o.k.ed so with ample amounts o' scotch tape I fashioned this "Parawing-gle" type thing. Ahoy!

Parts for t' Parawing-gle thing:

• One 24inch plastic chute. Begad! Sliced in half and then one half quartered. Arrr! Ahoy!
• T' quarter chute is used for t' lower rudder type piece. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty!
• Several Chopsticks are utilized as t' leadin' edge and rudder stiffeners. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!
• That now famous thick black elastic cord was again sliced length-wise t' make t' rigging. Arrr!

Many hours were spent on this. Blimey! Mostly worryin' time rather than workin' time. My greatest hope was that this would work at least as good as a streamer. Begad!

T' big payoff!!

Launched 07-06-08 From Cape Cod Space Center

Nothin' like pushin' that deadline!

Nice liftoff, arrr, nice flight! Loaded in three C11-3's and three A10PT's. Avast! This rocket really needs "D" power but this was good for t' small field we where on. Aye aye! Five o' t' six motors lit. Aye aye! Ahoy! All but one A-10. Blimey!

O.k. recovery. Aye aye! Top half was just fine on a regular chute. Bottom half came in a bit fast on t' Parawingle -thingle. Arrr! Which became more like a big para wad o' molten doom! But it did slow it down. Blimey! Arrr!

T' aftermath. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Minor damage. One "fin ring" slightly bent. One detail on that fin fell off

Overview and final thoughts.

This was a very cool contest. Ya scallywag! I would definitely try this again. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty!

My only real wish is that we could add strin' (shroud line) if we needed it. Begad! Well, blow me down! But hey, no one said this was easy!

Over all Flight ratin' 4... Blimey! Blimey! it could use more power.

Overall Recovery ratin' 3. Well, blow me down! Avast! Blimey! Needs proper chutes

But this is a far better performin' rocket than I thought it would be. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It will definitely fly again. Aye aye! Blimey!

Things I will change, (with me own parts):

• Bigger Launch lugs 3/16"
• Better Parachutes
• Three "D" motors for a nice high flight.