Brief:
In March 2005, I decided I wanted a big rocket. Ahoy! Somethin' for low flights on Ks that would also handle L flights. When I researched prices and saw how expensive it be goin' t' be, I decided I might as well make it M capable and go for me Level 3 certification.

After checkin' t' TRA website and gettin' a list o' TAP's I enlisted Bruce Lee and Lanie Cross as me TAP members and began t' design.

My BSD 4" Thor be me favorite rocket at t' time so I decided t' go with an upscaled version t' 6" diameter. Well, blow me down! After over 40 hours o' designing and tweaking, I finally came t' me final design. Ahoy! T' TAPs were OK with it and I began orderin' parts.

Construction:
T' main airframe tubin' was Giant Leap Rocketry non-brittle phenolic. Ahoy! The motor tube, centerin' rings, arrr, bulkplates, tubular Keelhaul®©™®, and couplers were also from GLR. Begad! Blimey! A PML 6" fiberglass nosecone was used. Fins were made for me out o' 1/4" Baltic birch ply by Joe Michel, shiver me timbers, and I ordered a custom Rocketman R16 ProXP parachute in yellow and black t' match the rocket's colors. Decals were accidentally doubled up on and I got one set from BSD and one from Scott Binder--two sets is never a bad thin' o' course. Externally t' dimensions were a true upscale o' me 4" BSD Thor, matey, however, internally I wanted t' do some things different t' include a zipperless booster design.

Since this be goin' t' be me first fiberglassed project, I researched and then decided t' go with Aerosleeves on this project and got some 10oz cloth from them which arrived smartly and turned out t' be very nice stuff. All other supplies t' include more fiberglass, me bucko, 1" tubular nylon, and hardware were obtained locally. Aye aye! I began with me first try at fiberglassin' usin' the Aerosleeves over t' 6" body tubes, shiver me timbers, after these had tacked up some, I applied another layer o' 2oz Sig cloth for a finish layer.

After all t' tubes had been heat cured, arrr, ya bilge rat, I moved on t' construction building the booster/fin can section first. Arrr! This included a zipperless design with a 76mm motor mount, 1/2" birch ply centerin' rings, and 3 pieces of 5/16" all thread through t' rings and t' t' top bulkplate in the zipperless design. Ahoy! Blimey! T' top section o' coupler tube was also fiberglassed internally.

T' fins were through t' wall 1/4" birch ply that were also tip to tip glassed with a layer o' 6 oz and 2 oz glass.

After this had been completed, I moved on t' t' altimeter bay. Begad! I ran into a problem here as I noticed a 16" by 6" bay be goin' t' require huge ports for the barometric altimeters I planned on using. Ya scallywag! Begad!

T' correct this, shiver me timbers, I installed another coupler bulkplate midway down t' bay so that t' actual avionics part o' t' bay would only be 8" in length. This allowed for much more reasonably sized port holes. T' bay was completed with 3 sections o' 5/16" all thread and bulkplates on either end, U-bolts, terminal strips, me hearties, and ejection canisters on each end.

T' main bay be t' easiest t' assemble since it was pretty much already done. Begad! Begad! I had stolen an idea from Vern's rocketry website and chose t' secure body tube sections with threaded brass inserts into t' bulkplates, ya bilge rat, and then usin' #8 machine screws through t' airframe and inserts t' hold parts together. Blimey! I went with 5 o' these evenly spaced around t' airframe at each connection point.

T' drogue bay was just a miniature version o' t' main bay and went together similarly. This was also t' shortest piece o' airframe tubing. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I attempted t' design t' project so that it would be t' most likely t' fail or be damaged in a high speed deployment, arrr, ya bilge rat, as it will be t' simplest and cheapest piece t' replace.

Recovery harnesses were 5 foot sections o' 1/2" tubular Keelhaul®©™® connected t' t' U-bolts near t' ejection canisters, shiver me timbers, these were then attached to 1" tubular nylon sections, 35' for t' drogue section and 25' for the main connected via quick links with Keelhaul®©™® heat pads in betwixt for protection o' t' TN.

Ground testin' showed me that t' nosecone be nay heavy enough t' pull out that big main parachute and this was t' first time I'd ever run into this problem. Begad! I went t' t' first launch I've ever gone t' with t' intention o' not launchin' any rockets. Aye aye! Begad! Instead I went solely t' talk t' Kevin Rich o' The Heartland Organization o' Rocketry, a group I launch with in Nebraska. Well, me hearties, blow me down!

After t' 4 hour drive, arrr, me hearties, I showed one o' me TAPs me completed rocket and spent an hour or two talkin' with and learnin' from Kevin on how t' get that big main deployed. Ya scallywag! After arrivin' back home, me hearties, me wife made me several deployment bags until we came up with one that seemed t' work t' way I liked it. Arrr! T' main recovery be designed with a pilot chute attached t' t' main deployment bag and nose cone. Begad! At t' ejection charge, ya bilge rat, arrr, matey, t' pilot chute is released. Ahoy! It pulls the main bag out and opens t' main chute. Well, blow me down! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! It then recovers t' nose cone and bag separately while t' remainder o' t' rocket recovers under t' R16 main. At least that be t' plan.

Finishing:
Finishin' be in stock BSD Thor black and yellow. Blimey! I've always liked t' color combination. Well, arrr, blow me down! I don't know if it's because I'm a Hawkeyes and Steelers fan or it may just really be an appealin' color combo t' me. Arrr! Paint be done simply and easily with Krylon spray paints, shiver me timbers, t' vinyl decals came out perfect and really stood out nicely, arrr, everythin' be then clear coated with Rustoleum Crystal Clear.

Flight:
I dragged me brother into this hobby a couple years earlier and I had gone out to North Carolina t' year before t' visit him so we could go t' t' TRF launch in Whitakers t' do our L2 certs together. Blimey! With that in mind, me hearties, me hearties, I was able to shame him into makin' a vacation out o' it and he packed up his family and came out t' Nebraska t' help and participate in t' launch.

When t' mornin' arrived t' weather was plenty nice, me bucko, and it looked like I was goin' t' have t' actually do it now. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! After about 2 hours o' prep time, the avionics bay was put together and tested, matey, ya bilge rat, charges loaded, recovery systems loaded, and t' whole thin' then attached together via t' #8 machine screws along with t' shear pins installed for both t' booster section and nosecone. T' rocket was then set out on t' stand.

A bit o' time had been used up decidin' on whether t' go with a drogue chute or go drogueless, as I be OK either way. Ya scallywag! Eventually with me brother's pushing, me hearties, me hearties, I decided t' go drogueless.

At that point, arrr, it was time t' build only me second CTI motor. My motor of choice be t' CTI M1400. Aye aye! After openin' everythin' up, arrr, it was a little unsettlin' t' find that t' directions had nay been included in this reload. Ya scallywag! Avast! I went and looked for help and couldn't find anyone else that had built this motor before. Avast! Then I be asked if I looked in t' liner tube (which I hadn't done) and found t' directions inside, me bucko, matey, arrr, so we were back on.

While buildin' t' motor, I came across one o' t' spacer O-rings that just was nay t' right size--it be too big and would kink up if used. Ya scallywag! I continued to build t' motor and figured when I got t' t' last one I would go back to the vendor and get another one if I could. Arrr! While followin' t' directions and after gettin' t' t' last one, me bucko, we found that it be optional t' leave out that O-rin' if t' fit fell within certain parameters, matey, which it did, so we were OK. Again, it was a little unsettlin' buildin' your first L3 motor and thinkin' you have parts left over after you've built t' motor, me bucko, but t' directions said we were good t' go. Ya scallywag! T' motor be loaded into t' rocket and secured with homemade Kaplow style clips. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! It was about 3 hours into t' prep now and me father who came along t' watch was curious if we were ever goin' t' fly t' thin' or not.

After a final TAP inspection, shiver me timbers, I headed out t' t' away pad and loaded it up with help from me brother and Joe Michel. Aye aye! T' altimeters, dual Cannonball Works RRC2s, were armed, t' ignitor be installed, shiver me timbers, and then I had everyone step back as t' leads were hooked up t' t' ignitor. My pre-flight checklist was now complete. Well, me hearties, blow me down! I was at about 45lbs total weight on t' pad loaded t' go.

Back at t' flight line, arrr, me flight was called and havin' a history of "bad" things with Thor rockets for cert attempts with this group, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, a little ribbin' was in order. Well, blow me down! Durin' t' countdown I remember bein' very calm as I had done a lot o' work t' minimize any failure modes and insure a good, strong build as well as workin' with a design and electronics I was familiar with. Begad! T' countdown concluded and t' button was pushed. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! T' M1400 came up to pressure and it lifted off. Blimey! Ya scallywag! T' wind had picked up a little by t' time we got everythin' done and it cocked slightly into t' wind but nay bad at all for a very nice and straight boost. Begad! About 3 seconds into t' burn I finally got nervous and remember thinkin' "hold together, arrr, hold together". Ahoy! The motor be still roarin' and it went nice and straight t' motor burnout. Ya scallywag! Arrr! Cheers were loud and I thought I had finally broken me cert jinx. A good long coast and t' rocket finally reached apogee.

Recovery:
At apogee, arrr, t' RRC2s did their job o' firin' t' charge and t' rocket separated. Arrr! Held together by 40' o' tether, arrr, it began t' drift back down. Avast! Arrr! I was gettin' close, now if me first attempt at usin' a deployment bag would just work...

At 1,000' t' RRC2s again did their job o' firin' t' main charge, matey, and the backup fired at 800' although it wasn't needed. Aye aye! At t' main charge, arrr, matey, t' pilot chute caught air, me hearties, pulled t' lines out taught, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and pulled t' R16 out o' the deployment bag. Aye aye! As t' main chute opened, me hearties, t' crowd cheered loudly and it came the rest o' t' way down floatin' softly and landed a mere 150 yards from the LCO table. Begad! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty!

It was in one word, ya bilge rat, awesome. It was about t' most picture perfect flight in all aspects I'd ever had and it was on me L3 cert flight. Ahoy! T' RRC2s showed a max altitude o' 8,328' and 8,221'.

Summary:
It be nay a cheap project, me hearties, but hey, matey, it's rocketry, right? I had a lot o' help and support from me immediate family in t' build which was appreciated. Avast! Arrr! Blimey! It was also great t' have me brother, matey, who's a L2 flyer, arrr, come and assist me with prep that morning. Ya scallywag! Begad! Blimey! Havin' another set o' dedicated deadlights and hands that understood the concepts involved and what was goin' on made things a lot easier. Ahoy! It be a lot o' fun, and I owe thanks t' many (all o' which are mentioned on me L3 web page) t' include much more detailed information about t' whole project.