Brief:
This is me second type o' birdhouse rocket. T' fins are attached t' end o' a thick dowel and six 24mm motor tubes are mounted in t' body around t' dowel. Blimey! T' original rocket had canted mounts. Aye aye! However, t' original rocket had a recovery failure and turned itself into toothpicks. When I rebuilt it, ya bilge rat, I had trouble drillin' t' canted mounts so I settled for parallel ones. This review covers both t' original and re-built rockets so I hope I don't confuse you too much.

Construction:
T' parts list:

• One cylindrical wooden birdhouse (Michael's crafts)
• One 24mm LOC motor mount tube (21" required)
• 1"x 34" dowel
• Four light ply rectangles (Michael's)
• Small section o' 4" mailin' tube with telescopin' inside tube
• Keelhaul®©™twine
• 36" nylon chute
• 1st unit only: 3/4" pine strip and two rail buttons (railbuttons.com)
• 2nd unit only: 3/8" brass lug

Construction began by removin' t' top o' t' birdhouse. Arrr! Ahoy! T' conical top mounted t' a flat circular plate that was in turn attached t' t' cylindrical body. While I was tryin' t' remove t' plate from t' body, t' cone spontaneously popped off. Blimey! I eventually removed t' plate and decided t' leave it off, since I wanted t' cone t' be open for parachute storage anyway.

I first found t' center o' t' base plate and drilled t' hole for t' dowel usin' a drill press and suitable wood bit. I marked lines t' position t' motor mounts, but how be I t' drill t' slanted holes for t' motor mounts? T' base o' t' Harbor Freight drill press will tilt t' perform angled drilling, ya bilge rat, arrr, but it didn't have t' clearance t' do this with t' birdhouse. Ahoy! Blimey! I found a spacer that when placed under t' edge o' t' plate, tilted it t' an angle o' about 15 degrees. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! So, arrr, I proceeded t' drill t' holes with me makeshift spacer. Arrr! Blimey! On t' first item, arrr, drillin' went fairly well. T' inside o' t' base chipped as t' drill went though but it retained its integrity. Well, arrr, blow me down! After t' first two holes, matey, I started drillin' on one side, then flipped t' birdhouse over and finished t' drillin' from t' inside. On t' re-build though, me bucko, t' wooden plate completely fell apart. Well, blow me down! T' quality o' t' wood was nay good nor was it uniform. Maybe a newer bit or a different drill speed would have helped. Begad! Luckily, t' plate I removed from t' top was t' same size as t' bottom that I just destroyed. Begad! I didn't risk t' slant drillin' on this one and drilled it straight through, me hearties, shiver me timbers, providin' parallel mounts.

While t' body o' t' birdhouse be supported on t' dowel by a nylon rafter angle square (which was taped t' t' dowel), I glued it in place with 5-minute epoxy. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! I cut t' motor tube into 3.5" sections and also mounted them with epoxy.

I couldn't find any suitable scrap fin material, so I resorted t' spendin' a couple o' bucks on some prefab ply rectangles from Michael's. Aye aye! Arrr! Michael's used t' have a huge assortment o' pre-cut shapes and I was hopin' t' get birds, arrr, or birdhouses, or some other theme shape. Aye aye! However, arrr, their stock was low so I settled for t' rectangles. Aye aye! T' facilitate their attachment t' t' round dowel, ya bilge rat, I mounted them across t' dowel and butted up against one another.

I installed a piece o' 4" mailin' tube in t' body t' provide a smooth internal surface and t' mate with t' coupler tube that formed t' nosecone shoulder. T' Keelhaul®©™shock cord be affixed t' t' tip o' t' roof with epoxy and be run through t' bottom plate and attached t' t' dowel.

On t' first version, rail buttons were mounted on a pine spacer so t' rail would clear t' roof. Begad! Aye aye! On t' second version, shiver me timbers, I mounted a launch lug directly on t' body and notched t' roof t' allow t' rod t' clear.

T' final step was t' wrap some scrap wire from t' base o' t' body t' t' bottom fins. Blimey! This allows me t' hook t' clips below t' fins. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Havin' clips above movin' fins is nay a good thing. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Been there, ya bilge rat, done that!

I made a RockSim model and it appeared that it be highly stable. Aye aye! Blimey! O' course, bein' a cluster thar be plenty o' opportunity for this design t' get ignorant. Avast! Blimey! So, shiver me timbers, arrr, it was off t' t' 'C' rack o' high power pads for this baby! Blimey! (Hence t' buttons and rather large lug.)

Finishing:
This rocket was, is, ya bilge rat, and forever will be nekkid. Avast! You can find out why in me caption t' t' Nekkid Photo Contest.

Flight:
For t' maiden flight, I loaded her up with a chute protector, a 36" nylon chute, arrr, and six D12s. T' motors were ignited via quickmatch and ejection be t' be performed by a single D12-7. Well, blow me down! I should have computed t' volume involved or just used more D12-7 motors t' handle ejection. Ahoy! Begad! T' upshot was t' laundry didn't come out and t' flight ended in a spectacular lawn dart on t' gravel access road. Anyone need some toothpicks? You can see a video o' t' flight on MDRA's photo page. In t' video by Bob Utley, matey, you can see t' ejection charge go off just before apogee. Aye aye! T' lawn dart also came too close for comfort t' one Jerry O. Avast, me proud beauty! who was arrivin' late. Aye aye! Ahoy! We were careful with t' orientation o' t' rail, matey, made sure nobody was walkin' down range, and checked t' sky...we just didn't check for movin' vehicles. Avast! Avast! Lesson learned.

On t' rebuild, t' prep was t' same. Ahoy! Arrr! However, this time I "enhanced" t' ejection charge. Ahoy! Avast! T' boost was cool and it recovered fine. Arrr! Begad! T' one problem be t' dowel that holds t' fins was barbecued.

Summary:
This unique odd-roc gets everyone's attention. Begad! There are nay many rockets with their motors mounted so far forward...and thar aren't that many flyin' birdhouses! As noted in t' flight report, ya bilge rat, parallel mounts take their toll on t' dowel, and in general don't look so cool. Aye aye! If you try one, me hearties, I strongly recommend tryin' t' angled version. Well, blow me down! I was goin' t' scrap Version 2.1 and rebuild it usin' a piece o' ply for t' bottom plate. Ya scallywag! Instead, I decided t' try somethin' else. Blimey! I sanded off t' layer o' charcoal and mounted a thick cardboard cone, covered with 2 layers o' metal tape, t' deflect t' exhaust gasses. Avast! I hope that this cone protects t' dowel downstream. Aye aye! Blimey! If not, shiver me timbers, matey, I'll revert back t' me original plan.