Brief:
For t' EMRR Stagin' Challenge, arrr, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I decided t' build a two-stage rocket with composite motors. Avast! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Since I had done a 2-stage before, I figured it would be easy. Ahoy! Blimey! WRONG... Well, blow me down! Blimey! I decided t' do a 3-inch bird with dual deploy and a 19-inch booster with motor deployment. Begad! Blimey!

Construction:
This time I decided t' use alignment rods in t' stage coupler t' keep t' rocket aligned. Aye aye! Blimey! I didn't have any 'sleeves' for t' rods t' slide through, me bucko, arrr, so I went with spaced centerin' rings with holes t' guide t' rods. Blimey! Blimey! I've discovered that I really need a drill press. Blimey! Blimey! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Blimey! Because I was usin' a handheld power drill, me bucko, arrr, ya bilge rat, I wasn't that accurate in drillin' holes through t' 2 sustainer centerin' rings and t' stagin' coupler. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It still works, but it isn't pretty. Begad! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey!

There are holes in both centerin' rings that are supposed t' be aligned. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! That didn't work out as smoothly as I had hoped.

T' motor mount is recessed into t' sustainer t' provide a connection for t' top half o' t' stage coupler. Since a 3" tube won't allow me t' get me hand in t' connect t' shock cord, I made t' fin can on both the sustainer and booster removable. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! T' sustainer fin can is held in place by small screws. Arrr! Begad! T' booster fin can will eject and deploy t' booster chute. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' whole project is about 83 inches tall, arrr, matey, about 3.5 lbs empty, and can fly on 38mm motors.

Finishing:
T' fit/finish betwixt t' booster and t' stage coupler is a little rough, ya bilge rat, but once it's painted it might nay be that noticeable. Aye aye! It *certainly* won't be noticeable on t' pad.

Flight:
Electronics will be a PerfectFlite timer for staging, and a PerfectFlite MAWD for deployment. Avast! Aye aye! RockSim says it will get t' a little higher than 2000 feet with a CTI 153 stagin' t' a CTI G79ss.

For t' 2-stage challenge, shiver me timbers, I decided t' build one that used composite motors. Since I have done stagin' before, I didn't expect thar t' be a problem. Well, blow me down! Boy, ya bilge rat, was I wrong... Begad! T' main problem be t' size o' t' new project. Aye aye! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! T' previous 2-stager be almost a 4" tube. Arrr! That left room for t' timer betwixt t' sustainer fins, shiver me timbers, and a standard-type ebay. This one is a 3", ya bilge rat, and thar's no room in t' fincan. Aye aye! Avast! So I put t' timer in t' ebay, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and ran a connector wire down t' ignite t' sustainer motor. Avast, me proud beauty! I had t' splice t' wire so it would disconnect when t' apogee event fired. Arrr! T' next issue I ran into be t' stage connector. Arrr! Ahoy! I decided t' use metal rods t' connect and align t' sustainer t' t' stage connector. Aye aye! I don't have a drill press, so me holes through t' centerin' rings are...less than exact. Arrr! Last issue was t' 3" bay be too small t' use switches t' power on everything, shiver me timbers, so I had t' run all t' wires through a hole in t' e-bay and twist them t' connect. Well, blow me down! That posed a problem t' first time I tried t' launch. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! I test fit t' electronics when I built t' bay, arrr, but nothin' was connected. Blimey! In t' field, arrr, I sadly discovered thar wasn't enough space for all the wires t' fit and route t' t' outside. I had t' rebuild t' sled t' avoid that problem for t' next attempt. Well, blow me down!

T' field we used has a waiver o' 5000', me hearties, but I wanted t' make sure I kept t' flight much lower than that. Avast! Blimey! RockSim 7 showed an altitude o' about 3800 feet on a CTI H143/G79ss combo. Aye aye!

Electronics: ARTS board for apogee/main deployment o' t' sustainer, PerfectFlite timer for sustainer motor. Blimey! Begad! T' booster recovers under its own chute by motor ejection. Avast! Payload: BoosterVision GearCam taped t' t' side. Crude, me bucko, but effective. Begad! Avast!

Launch day: I racked t' rocket, set up t' breakwire, and twisted t' wires for power. Blimey! Since I didn't have enough room t' push t' wires back into t' bay, I taped them t' t' outside. Avast! That was a mistake... Ya scallywag! T' launch was beautiful! Straight, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and staged on cue. Arrr! Begad! T' booster chute came out and it drifted down safely. Ahoy! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! T' sustainer had a good apogee event(drogueless), me bucko, but I lost sight o' it while followin' t' booster. There was no main deployment, and fellow club members pointed me in t' direction they saw it fall. Ya scallywag! While walkin' out for recovery, shiver me timbers, matey, I tried t' figure out what went wrong. Blimey! Too many sheer pins? Nay enough BP? When I got t' it, I immediately knew what happened. Avast! T' armin' wires were taped t' t' bottom o' t' sustainer. When t' apogee separation occured, me hearties, it ripped t' wires out o' the altimeter, matey, arrr, me hearties, killin' power. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! AUGH! I powered up t' ARTS board later, ya bilge rat, arrr, and t' data showed 1700 ft accel, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, 1500 baro. WAY short o' Rocksim's prediction, shiver me timbers, so t' loss o' power probably scrambled t' data. But other than t' ebay being crunched, and t' booster bein' scorched by t' sustainer motor, it didn't come out too bad. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! I can replace t' ebay and fly it again.