Brief:
This rocket is made from a sports water bottle that be donated by a local talk radio station, hence t' name. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! It has a 24mm mount, recovers by parachute, matey, and uses 'plate fins'. Ya scallywag! 'High tech' features o' this 'low tech' rocket include a Keelhaul®©™ cord and positive motor retention.

Construction:
A partial construction list consists of:

• 1 water bottle
• 1 piece o' non-rocket junk tube ~1.25" diameter used as a parachute tube
• 24mm motor tube
• Hand-cut cardstock rings
• Keelhaul®©™® twine
• Foam backed tape t' center t' parachute tube
• Duct tape t' press-fit t' cap/nose cone
• One screw, chunk o' BiC pen tube, me hearties, and miscellaneous metal 'doohicky' for motor retention
• 1/8" and 3/16" lugs

T' inner structure consists o' a 24mm motor tube centered in a piece of junk tube by hand-cut cardboard rings. Aye aye! T' motor tube extends below t' end of the larger tube so that it could slip through t' hole in t' bottom o' the bottle. T' Keelhaul®©™® twine is attached t' t' motor mount. Begad! Well, blow me down! T' top o' t' larger tube be centered in t' neck o' t' bottle with foam-backed tape and t' assembly be glued into the bottle usin' Liquid Nails.

T' 'nose cone' be t' bottle cap. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Blimey! After grindin' off t' threads, arrr, I found t' cap was way too loose, matey, so I built up t' top o' t' bottle usin' black duct tape. Well, blow me down! The cap now fits fairly snuggly. T' attach t' Keelhaul®©™® to t' cap, I merely popped up t' top nipple, me bucko, ya bilge rat, fed t' line through the opening, shiver me timbers, knotted it, me hearties, and pushed t' nipple back down.

I had done some 'what-ifs' on various fin designs but in each case, RockSim said I'd need t' add some nose weight. Blimey! T' avoid havin' t' do so, I decided to move t' fins well below t' base o' t' bottle. I ended up mountin' three chopsticks in t' side o' t' bottle. Ya scallywag! On t' tip o' t' sticks, matey, I added cardboard triangles. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! These are bent slightly along their center line t' help adhere t' t' sticks. Begad! This also looked a bit better in me opinion. Ahoy! T' dowels were attached t' t' bottle with 5-minute epoxy and t' cardboard 'plate fins' were attached t' t' chopsticks with carpenter's glue.

T' motor retainer is simply screwed into t' thick bottom o' t' bottle. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! This will eventually wear out and will have t' be relocated. Begad! Finally, I added two sizes of lugs for flexibility. Begad! Arrr!

I modeled t' bottle in RockSim, matey, arrr, ya bilge rat, simulatin' t' plate fins with equivalent standard fins. Although I found t' rocket t' be stable, ya bilge rat, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I still didn't trust that I had made a valid model, matey, so t' be sure I loaded it up and did a swing test, which was successful.

Finishing:
No finishin' was required.

Flight:
I loaded a wad o' dog-barf wrapped in one square o' Estes waddin' and a 12" Rockethead mylar chute, and then wrapped a tape thrust rin' on a D12-5 and positioned t' retainer. Begad! T' boost was a bit wobbly after burn out. Nevertheless, me bucko, me hearties, it be a cool flight, ya bilge rat, ejection was perfect, and it recovered 50' from t' pad. Avast, me proud beauty! I flew it a second time with similar results.

Summary:
This be just a quick, goofy build. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I love odd-rocs, what else can I say?