T' success o' the MkV made me start t' think a bout t' bigger tubes I had stacked in t' corner. If I could cluster four engines, me bucko, why nay six? Why nay use D engines? I had a tube that would hold seven 24mm mounts, me hearties, but it wasn't really long enough. Well, blow me down! So I decided t' built a rocket reminiscent o' t' MkIV, arrr, with a transition, arrr, and forward fins. Begad! Aye aye! With t' extra weight o' t' engines, t' plywood fins and centerin' rings, me hearties, this design turned out nay t' be stable ( Usin' RockSim). Ya scallywag! I increased t' length o' t' upper tube ( forward o' t' transition) and removed the forward fins. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! That was a lot better.

I had heard o' some larger black powder engines available in t' UK form a company called Rocket Services and wanted t' option o' installin' them. Begad! So I went for a removable cartridge system. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' Fins were mounted through t' body wall and formed runners onto which t' engine cartridge would slide. Arrr! T' cartridge be made up from two discs o' plywood drilled with holes for t' engine mounts. Aye aye! T' cartridge slid in t' t' body on t' runners and was then locked into position by rotatin' the whole thing. In t' end I just went with six engines. Begad! Thrust rings were made from sawn up spent D engines and epoxied in t' place. A stuffer tube was placed inside t' main body, arrr, ya bilge rat, mounted on two centerin' rings. Arrr! At ignition t' upper body was t' separate, each half with its own parachute. Well, blow me down! Karen made a red and white hemispherical 'chute for t' lower half, and I be goin' t' use t' pink circular 'chute for t' upper half. Aye aye! We intended t' fly it at t' International Rocket Weekend, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and I had a lot o' help from Brain who made and painted the transition just days before we went. Aye aye!

At t' event, arrr, a lot o' doubt be raised about t' engine cartridge system. Begad! Blimey! 'Six D ejection charges will blow it out' they said. Begad! I also couldn't determine how I was goin' t' ensure that both parachutes deployed. Aye aye! In t' end I bought some big shock cord and tied both halves together on t' red & white 'chute. Begad! Another hitch, I had planned to add another set o' clips t' me ignition system, matey, but had forgotten ( that last week be hectic as I me work had taken me away from home for several days), shiver me timbers, and I didn't have a large enough launch pad... Begad! Avast, me proud beauty!

Luckily I learned o' a new technique for clustering. Begad! Blimey! This involves usin' a single igniter t' ignite 'quick match' fuses that are fed into t' individual engines. Well, blow me down! Blimey! One o' t' organizers, John Bonsor, matey, showed me how t' do this. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Blimey! I managed t' borrow a launcher and after a wait for t' wind t' die down, we were ready. T' ignition and initial flight were perfect, shiver me timbers, except, matey, what be that? A small object appeared t' fly from the back at ejection, matey, and where be t' 'chute. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' rocket came in ballistically. What had happened be exactly what t' 'doom sayers' were predicting. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Even though I had staggered t' ejection by usin' a mixture o' D12 delays, shiver me timbers, the ejection gases pushed t' engine cartridge out o' t' rear, me hearties, instead of deployin' t' chute. T' rocket be a write off. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' engine cartridge shattered, shiver me timbers, matey, t' forward tube like a concertina, me bucko, and t' aft tube a slowly unwindin' spiral.

T' pic o' lift off was t' last shout from me last roll o' film, matey, so mercifully thar are no pictures o' t' rocket as we found it. Begad! T' realization of t' hours we had all spent on this rocket, which was now trash, me bucko, didn't sink in until later, and it was a long drive home from Largs t' Leeds.