Brief:
This is a transgalactic driftship employin' unique dual dark matter ramjets for high-speed travel t' t' edges o' t' charted universe. T' ship carries a scientific crew o' up t' 74 humans. Its primary mission is exploration and astrobiologic sample collection. This is me first scratch rocket. Arrr! It is a single stage, minimum diameter futuristic tube fin rocket with parachute recovery. Avast, me proud beauty! It is designed for single use 24mm D and E engines. Ahoy! Aye aye! Blimey! With an adaptor, it can fly on 18mm motors. Begad! Construction is fairly challenging, especially the cuttin' and joinin' o' t' elegantly curved tube fin assembly. Blimey! For a fair price, I can put together a kit with detailed instructions and photos. Ahoy! If you prefer, me hearties, I can send only a parts list with t' instructions. Begad! Email me for details. Below is a short description o' how construction proceeded.

Construction:
T' materials used are shown in t' first photo. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' rib fins are made from 1/16" basswood, and t' fin tube be a heavy-duty variety. These and my other parts were supplied from Aerospace Specialty Products. I be impressed by the quality o' t' products they sent.

Construction began with t' engine clip and thrust rin' assembly, me bucko, arrr, designed to accommodate both D and E motors with a removable spacer. Blimey! Blimey! I also made an optional 18mm motor adaptor so I don't lose this rocket on t' first flight! Blimey! A Keelhaul®©™® thread around t' thrust rin' was attached t' elastic (just below t' top lip of t' body tube), with t' parachute and nose cone attached t' t' elastic. T' total Keelhaul®©™®/elastic shock cord length was about 3 feet.

Next came t' cuttin' o' t' tube fins. Ahoy! Slow careful work was necessary t' get good edges and a perfect fit. Arrr! See t' photo o' t' fins before they were joined. Contoured fin mounts were built and glued t' t' body tube, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and t' fin assembly be glued t' these. There is a photo o' t' tail portion o' t' rocket after t' fin assembly be attached. Avast, me proud beauty! This also shows t' placement o' the launch lug. Arrr!

As I worked, I filleted all joints (inside and outside t' tubes), and sealed and sanded all parts (basswood, nose cone, fillets, me hearties, matey, tube spirals (inside and outside fins), matey, etc. Begad! T' rocket be finished in gloss black, metallic copper, ya bilge rat, and a specklin' o' transparent cherry red, ya bilge rat, with two coats o' clear gloss over t' top.

Swing testin' t' model with a D motor showed it t' be perfectly stable, matey, assumin' you want it t' fly backwards! About 5/8 ounce o' nose weight fixed this problem, yieldin' a stable rocket weighin' 3 ounces empty.

Simulations suggest that a 3-5 second ejection delay should be about right for C-E motors. Avast! Blimey! This delay, matey, matey, and t' max altitude, arrr, are very hard t' guess or simulate in advance since t' design is unusual and its drag is unknown. Begad! Blimey!

Flight:
T' first launches were at 5000 feet altitude on a beautiful sunny Colorado mornin' with zero wind. Well, blow me down! T' first flight was straight and slow t' about 350 feet, arrr, with a slight twist, on a C6-3 motor. Aye aye! Ejection be early, arrr, before apogee, but t' rocket recovered perfectly. Begad! T' second flight on a D12-3 suffered from rod whip, and t' rocket buzzed around unstably until ejection and recovery from about 50 feet. Avast! After cleanin' and straightenin' t' launch rod, we fired again with another D12-3. Well, blow me down! T' launch was fast and straight t' perhaps 800 feet, again with a slight twist. T' parachute ejected while t' rocket be still coastin' up. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! Unfortunately, arrr, a shroud line snagged around t' parachute, yieldin' tail-first lawn-dart recovery. This be worrisome because t' tube fins extend below t' tail o' t' rocket and I had been worried from t' start about t' strength o' t' tubes in a tail-first crash. Avast! Thanks t' t' quality tube provided by ASP and me solid finishing, arrr, t' fins survived with only a small ripple in one which is hardly noticeable. Avast, me proud beauty! Inspection showed that the recovery system was fine, ya bilge rat, and it had simply been extremely unlucky that the shroud line had tangled. Ya scallywag! T' rocket is ready for its next flight without repair. Arrr! Aye aye! I think D12-5 should be a better engine for t' next flights.

Summary:
This be a really fun project for me first scratch rocket. Ya scallywag! I had built a conceptual model with notebook paper and tape first. Aye aye! I made some changes during construction o' t' real model includin' t' fin mounts t' offset t' fin assembly from t' body tube, t' pointy leadin' edge o' t' fin tubes, and the shape and joining-points o' t' rib fins. Ahoy! I'm pretty happy with t' final result although I'm nay sure I'll ever get up t' courage t' try an E motor in it.

Other:
Cuttin' and joinin' t' curved fins made from t' heavy-duty tube is quite challenging. Ahoy! I recommend workin' very slowly, ya bilge rat, and anticipatin' about 4 passes along t' cuttin' line with a hobby knife. Arrr! T' first pass should be quite light pressure...just enough t' cut through t' outermost layer o' paper on t' tube to provide guidance for subsequent passes with t' knife.