T' truth is I started this project over a year ago and I haven't gone any futher than t' make t' motor mounts, centerin' rings and coupler so t' main purpose here is t' give myself t' motivation t' finish it. Well, blow me down! This will nay be a conventional build as t' name implies. Ahoy!  In place o' t' stock centerin' rings for t' single MM I'm usin' 3/16" plywood drilled for 3, 24mm mounts, shiver me timbers, hence part o' name o' rocket as t' maiden flight is planed for 3 D12-3's. Ahoy! Future flights will include 3 E9-4's. T' mega part comes from t' fact that I will be addin' a 25 1/4" x 3" body tube that me Aerotech Initiator came packed in. Begad! This will make t' finished rocket approx. Ahoy! 45" in length. Avast! At this point I'm still debatin' weather or nay this be t' direction I want t' go or if I want  to drop t' original Big Daddy body tube and just use t' long 3" tube and slot it for 3 fins instead o' 4. Three fins would simplify things with 3 engines as far as TTW construction goes but I like t' extra length so have t' decide which way I'm going. Most likely will go with t' extra length and 4 fins. Ahoy! Just have t' modify fin tabs for t' triple MM.

I think I have it all laid out now in me mind how this build is goin' t' go and I believe I now have all t' parts. Avast! Blimey! I will be goin' with t' extra length and I will still be usin' four fins. On a note here, me bucko, I've bought a sheet o' 1/8" plywood and have cut new fins t' replace t' balsa ones for this build and I also cut four 3" diameter discs. Two for a baffle system and two for MM centerin' rings. I also re-did t' MM tubes and made them 6" instead o' 4". My reasonin' for that bein' that I wanted t' reduce t' chance o' hot gases lightin' t' 3rd motor in t' event one does nay light at initial launch.

All components for t' build

Started assembly o' motor mount by gluin' in engine stop rings into each o' t' three 6" long BT-50 tubes and then addin' t' three retention clips. Avast! These were then glue into t' bottom centerin' rin' first and gauged for fit and set aside t' dry.  While that sets, I started assembly o' baffle/jointer. I guess at this point I'm a little behind in me documentation. Blimey! That's because two days ago I cut t' plywood for t' fins and for t' baffle. Blimey! After cuttin' t' two discs for t' baffle they were sanded for correct fit in connector rin' and then marked for holes. Avast, me proud beauty! Next I used a 3/16" drill bit and drilled out all holes in baffle plates,  7 in a close cluster for t' bottom plate and 8 in a circle near t' edge for t' top plate. Blimey! I then switched t' a 1/8" bit and drilled one hole in t' middle o' t' top plate for t' screw-eye assembly t' attach t' shock cord to. Begad! I then installed t' screw-eye and nut with a drop o' super glue t' lock t' nut in place. Avast! I also cut and glued together t' connector rin' for t' baffle (this was made from t' bottom cardboard o' a shoe box). While it dried I took t' bottom disc and covered one side with aluminum duct tape (see 4th photo down). This is part o' an experiment on me part. In theory, t' metal tape should help protect t' wood surface o' t' baffle  from t' hot gases. Anyway, I then glued this plate into bottom o' connector rin' and set it up t' dry. Arrr! Break time!!  

Components for triple engine mount all custom made by me

(Note: MT were extended 2" for build) 

Top centerin' rin' glued on

Completed MM & Baffle showin' top with recovery anchor

Completed MM & bottom o' baffle with aluminum duct tape covering

I finished gluin' t' top centerin' rin' onto t' MM today and set it aside t' dry. In t' mean time I cut 10' o' 1/8" Keelhaul®©™ and tied it t' t' screw-eye on t' baffle and added a drop o' super glue t' t' knot t' secure it. I next started work on t' upper BT. First I went over all t' spirals and filled them with HobbieLite. Begad! After allowin' HobbieLite t' dry for a couple o' hours I did a quick sandin' o' t' spirals and then applied t' first coat o' Rust-Oleum Ultra Cover 2X White Primer t' it. After allowin' about an hour t' dry, sanded down tube and shot it with another coat o' primer which was followed by more dryin' time and more sanding. Begad! Once satisfied with finish I then glued t' baffle into t' BT. Arrr! OK, arrr, so now its back t' t' MM and fins. Begad! These will be glued in once I finish trimmin' all t' fins so that they fit properly. Time t' grab a saw and file. Arrr! Two o' t' fins will require at least half o' t' TTW tab t' be cut off. T' other two need about 1/4" or so trimmed off so that all will seat against t' tubes in t' MM. Also need t' bevel t' root edges o' t' fins t' aline with t' MM tubes. Blimey! With t' MM now dry I glued it into t' BT with white glue. Avast! After allowin' t' set for about two hours I went about fittin' each o' t' fins in place (sure glad I had t' foresight t' number them along with t' BT). Each fin is attached with a heavy bead o' white glue on t' tab root edge and super glue on smaller root edges t' tack fins in place against t' BT. Ahoy! Once satisfied with alinement o' fins I ran another bead o' super glue around them t' lock them in place. After that went back and used white glue t' lay fillets on all fins. Time t' let everythin' dry overnight.

Upper BT with Baffle  glued in

Today I glued t' top and bottom sections o' t' BT together. I also installed t' parachute. Ahoy! I swapped out t' yellow one that was in t' first pic for a round 12 shroud 36" pink nylon one that was originally in one o' me other rockets (Ram Jam). Avast! I set it on me diet scale today and t' current weight is 1lb.-7.3oz. with 3 E9-4's loaded in. My original goal was t' keep it under 1lb. Well, blow me down! but as long as I can keep it under 1 1/2 pounds I'm good. T' descent rate calculator on this site says that I need a 33" one so should be OK. One thin' I discovered today be that I didn't have all t' parts for assembly. Avast, me proud beauty! I forgot one very important piece, t' launch lugs. Nay t' first time I've done this. Avast! I've painted a few rockets in t' past only t' discover that I forgot t' glue on t' launch lug. Avast, me proud beauty! This usually happens on me scratch build projects. Anyway, shiver me timbers, will have t' make a 45 minute trip t' Flint next week down t' Riders Hobby Shop and buy some, that or order them on-line. Sure wish they hadn't closed t' two stores here in Lansing. Blimey! T' only other thin' left t' do is t' finish fillin' t' seam betwixt t' upper and lower BT sections and givin' t' whole rocket a final coat o' primer.

After fillin' in t' seam betwixt t' two BT sections I went back over all fins with one final glue fillet t' make sure all is secure. Avast, me proud beauty! After some more dryin' time, more sandin' and primein' was in order. I still need t' glue on a couple o' launch lugs but otherwise t' rocket is ready for t' main paint job. I'm still toyin' with a couple o' ideas on how I want t' paint it as I may have a secondary use for this rocket, arrr, but more on that thought later. Aye aye! For now I'm finished with this build.

Ready for primmer

Oops...Ok, so I wasn't quite finished with this build. Ahoy! I decided t' make me own launch lugs rather than wait and buy some. Ya scallywag! This was a slow tedious process but worth it in t' end. Avast, me proud beauty! I started with a 1/4" dia. plastic straw and split it down one side and cut it t' 6" in length. Avast, me proud beauty! I then grabbed me 1/4" launch rod and slipped t' plastic straw over it. Next I cut two strips o' white printer paper 2" x 8" and coated them on one side with white glue. I then rolled them onto t' plactic wrap while applyin' pressure t' t' roll and rollin' it on a flat metal surface. I then set them aside t' dry over night. T' next day I pulled t' plastic off t' launch rod and then pulled t' launch lugs free o' t' plastic straw. Begad! T' next step was t' soak t' lugs in super glue. Well, blow me down! After allowin' them t' dry I super glued an 1/8" x 2" balsa strip t' each one t' serve as t' anchor point for t' lugs then sanded both ends o' t' lugs t' a 45 degree angle. After trimmin' up t' ends I re-coated them in super glue. Man are these babies rock hard. After a final sandin' t' insure smoothness and checkin' that they slid freely up and down t' launch rod I grabbed t' roll o' 2" aluminum duct tape and cut two strips and covered t' launch lugs with them (see photos). Aye aye! I then glued them onto t' rocket, again usin' super glue. After that I ran a final bead o' white glue around t' lugs and that finishes t' main build. Ya scallywag! Now its just down t' painting. Begad! Still undecided about that though... Aye aye!  

Before and after photos o' launch lugs with aluminum duct tape

Yesterday I finally got around t' startin' t' paintin' o' this rocket.  I started by paintin' t' entire rocket with a base coat o' Krylon Metallic Brilliant Silver. After allowin' an hour o' dryin' time I sprayed t' fins with Krylon Red Xmetals paint and set it aside t' dry. Avast, me proud beauty! While that was dryin' I took t' NC and treated it t' a coat o' Krylon Metallic Brilliant Gold paint (this was done because I changed me mind as t' t' color I wanted t' NC t' be). I followed that after some dryin' time by a coat o' Dupli-Color Clear Effex paint. Arrr! T' NC was then set aside t' dry for t' night along with t' main body. Today I masked off t' fins and sprayed t' BT with Krylon Metallic Brilliant Gold paint (again because I changed me mind on final body color). Arrr! After allowin' rocket t' set in t' sun for a while I started t' first o' three coats o' Krylon Purple Xmetals paint. Avast! After applyin' t' third coat o' paint I set t' rocket up t' dry for an hour and then removed all maskin' tape and put rocket up t' dry overnight. Ahoy! Tomarrow will apply final coat o'  Dupli-Color Clear Effex paint t' main body assembly, finish attachin' NC and parachute and hopefully do a photo shoot.

Yesterday I applied two coats o' Dupli-Color Clear Effex paint t' t' rocket and then set it up t' dry over night. Today I finished up this build by attachin' t' NC and parachute t' shock cord and shootin' a couple o' pictures. Ahoy! Final weight without motors: 1lb. Ahoy! 3.5oz - 553 grams. 692 grams with 3 D's loaded. Avast, me proud beauty! 741 with 3 E's loaded which is just over t' maximum pound and a half that I wanted t' finished rocket t' weigh.

On a side note: I am hopin' t' launch this rocket on its maiden flight on July 28 at NARAM-54 in Muskegon. Arrr! Will post pics if we make it t' t' Nats.

Well didn't make Nats. Aye aye! as somethin' came up. If we make it past Dec. 22, me hearties, 2012 (the day t' world is supposed t' end), will try t' launch next year.

Red fins, Purple body, & Gold NC

Well, here I am nine months later and t' world is still here. Avast, me proud beauty! I still haven't flown this rocket yet but I finally got around t' finishin' t' paint job that I wanted t' do last winter. Took a run t' Hobby Lobby and bought a pack o' six sheets o' Grafix Prepared Frisket Film for $10.99 plus tax and used only one sheet for t' stencil pattern. I first took a standard size sheet o' white paper and wraped it around t' rocket t' get t' correct size for t' design. Avast! I then drew up t' flame pattern t' way I wanted and then copied it t' t' Frisket Film with me scanner. I then wrapped t' film around t' rocket and usin' an Exacto knife I cut out t' pattern. Begad! After that I masked off t' bottom section o' t' rocket and then applied two light coats o' t' same gold paint that I used on t' nose cone. Avast! All that's left now is t' go over new paint with t' Clear Effex paint and take a couple new photos.

Friskit Film Applied 

Film cut & ready for maskin' & Gold paint

Glamour Shots

Should put some flames on fins as well

After almost 3 years I finally got this project off t' ground. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I ran t' design through OpenRocket 14.06 and it simmed out at 564' on 3 D12-3's, arrr, 610' on 3 D12-5's, 1036' on 3E-4's, and 1079' on 3 E9-6's. On July 5, 2014 I be able t' make it t' Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, MI for a launch with t' J.M.R.C. club. Arrr! Blimey! Maiden flight be on 3 D12-5's, me bucko, hence its name sake. Rocket roared off t' pad on a column o' smoke and climbed straight up into t' air t' about 550' or so by everyone's guess. Parachute was deployed at apogee and rocket started a nice slow descent with t' wind pushin' it down range for a nice long walk for recovery. When t' range opened I went out t' retrieve t' rocket t' find that t' wind had dragged t' parachute and nose cone onto one o' t' service roads. Blimey! Blimey! T' only damage I noticed right away was a small nick on one o' t' fin tips. Decent rate calculator says I need a 30" chute slo I'm goin' t' have t' buy one or only fly on really calm days as this rocket drifts t' much under t' 36" round chute.

Damn, I missed t' shot but good smoke trail

3D MD be t' one on t' right in t' grass

I took t' rocket back t' me table and prepped her for her second flight. This time I loaded her up with 3 E9-4's. Again when t' range opened I took her out t' me assigned pad and hooked up me newly made whip clip t' all three motors and went back behind t' lines and awaited for me flight t' come up. When t' flight was announced and t' countdown given, t' LCO hit t' fire button and again all three motors lit and she soared off t' pad much faster and a whole lot higher. Altitude looked t' be at least 1000' or so with parachute again at apogee. Recovery walk be  twice as far as first flight and a good 1/2 - 3/4 mile down range (had t' jump a fence as well which wife found amusin' as I'm now 66). Once again after range opened I went out and recovered me rocket t' only damage was some smoke discoloration near t' bottom end and some blisterin' o' t' paint inside t' end around t' motor mount.

3D MD on 3 E9-4's

Parachute at apogee. Just a dot in t' middle o' t' picture

3D MD still comin' down. Recovered around 1/2 - 3/4 mile down range