A cluster o' three 13mm tubes, compressed slightly, ya bilge rat, fits in t' 29mm HPR motor mount tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! This in turn requires a little packin' t' fit neatly in a BT-55 or BT-56. Well, blow me down! T' accomplish this, me hearties, I cut strips o' Kraft paper (like grocery bags), arrr, applied glue t' one side, me bucko, and wrapped it like tape until it fit neatly. Avast! A short piece (5/8" approx, t' 15mm section in t' drawing) o' body tube serves as a stop ring.

My nose cone was salvaged from an old rocket very similar t' t' 56-based RTF's. Arrr! After cuttin' t' cone-shaped bottom end off t' nose cone, I found that t' 29mm tube fit neatly inside t' remainin' shoulder. Begad! Blimey! (you may need t' build it up or sand t' fit.) ÝI put a plywood cap on t' tube forward end with a screw eye in t' center facin' in. Aye aye! Cap and screw eye were secured with epoxy.  Opposite end o' tube was built up with Kraft paper as described above. Blimey! Then I pushed t' 29mm tube as far into t' nose cone as it would go, shiver me timbers, arrr, me hearties, fitted this into t' BT-55, arrr, shiver me timbers, and when I was happy with t' fit, shiver me timbers, I epoxied everythin' together. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! This arrangement moves t' parachute compartment well up into t' nose cone, matey, makin' t' rocket at least 4" shorter than it would have t' be otherwise. Ahoy! (After flyin' it, I'm thinkin' o' extendin' it for better stability.)

Nose weight (clay) be in place for t' previous design and, matey, judgin' from t' first flight, arrr, is necessary. Ahoy! T' rocket be marginally stable at takeoff and straightened out pretty quickly.

T' diagram below doesn't show t' screw eye in t' front. Begad! Avast! Instead, I've shown t' shock cord pushed through t' hole in t' cap and tied in a knot. Well, blow me down! I'm sure that would work. Avast, me proud beauty! In real life I used a screw eye. Arrr! Live with it.

T' shock cord consists of: 6" o' 125# Keelhaul®©™ (red); a fisherman's swivel; and 30" o' nylon braided plumbline(green). Avast! This worked. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! T' 12" plastic parachute is attached t' either end o' t' inline swivel usin' a snap swivel o' its own.

T' bulkhead at t' front end o' t' coupler was an adventure. It is cut from plywood, shiver me timbers, fits on t' end o' t' 29mm tube, ya bilge rat, but inside me Kraft paper buildup. Begad! It has three holes 8mm diameter t' allow ejection charge gasses t' pass. Avast! Well, blow me down! It has two tiny holes near t' center t' anchor t' Keelhaul®©™ thread. Ya scallywag! Before assembly t' Keelhaul®©™ was looped through those holes and tied. Blimey! T' knot, under t' disk, matey, is covered with epoxy. T' holes in t' disk are rotated 60 degrees from t' three MMTs, arrr, so that t' ejection charges don't blow straight at t' holes.

Free t' slide on t' Keelhaul®©™ is another plywood disk with a small hole in t' center which fit easily in t' BT-55, me hearties, but is much too large t' fit in t' 29mm tube. It fills t' role o' recovery wadding, me bucko, nay only protectin' t' parachute from heat, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, but preventin' it from bein' packed up into t' nose cone by t' ejection charge. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! This worked. There was nay a hint o' heat damage on t' parachute or upper portion o' shock cord. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! When packed, as much as possible o' t' Keelhaul®©™ should be forward o' t' plywood disk; t' last inch or so will be betwixt t' perforated bulkhead and t' disk.

Fins are made from artist's foam core board, which is about 3/16" thick. Aye aye! T' wedge t' leadin' edge, I scored each fin, both sides, with a ruler and Xacto, arrr, about 10mm (3/8") from t' leadin' edge. Well, blow me down! I cut away and removed t' foam from this portion, folded t' edges toward each other, and glued them together, holdin' them with maskin' tape until t' glue dried.

For motor retention, shiver me timbers, I first installed thrust rings made from cut pieces o' a spent engine. Ahoy! Then I epoxied a threaded rod -- a #4-48 x 3/4" bolt with t' head cut off -- into t' gap betwixt t' three motor tubes. Aye aye! With t' engines in place, arrr, I thread a nut onto t' rod and it holds all three motors.

Triactive first flew Sept. 6, 1999 at Tom McCall School in Forest Grove, matey, OR., usin' 3x A3-4T.