I thought I had made a mistake with this one, arrr, I could never add enough nose weight t' make it stable durin' a spin test. Arrr! Aye aye! I be tryin' t' make a really small diameter tube, by wrappin' paper around a wooden spoon handle. Aye aye! There wasn't goin' t' be a recovery system, me bucko, t' engine be goin' t' eject, and the rocket would tumble back. Avast! Since then I've learned a lot more about stability. Avast! Well, blow me down! I learned about t' CP ( centre o' pressure) on rec.model.rockets ( a great news group t' subscribe t' if you're interested in this stuff), and where it should be in relation t' t' CG ( centre o' gravity).

So anyway I entered t' MkIII design into VCP, me hearties, wRASP & RockSim, and it came out stable, so I flew it. Begad! Actually it flew well, matey, really high and the engine ejected too. Arrr! It just didn't go unstable and tumble, so it lawn darted. T' body tube is a bit bent now, and due t' t' construction is probably not repairable, so retirement beckons.