This was me most ambitious rocket t' date. Begad! Well, me bucko, blow me down! By now I had found a shop in Leeds ( T' Model Shop, 88 Cross Gates Road, Leeds, LS15 7NL Tel 0113 2646117) which had a reasonable selection o' engines, even Ds, ya bilge rat, so I had t' build a rocket which could fly one. I got a larger core from a roll o' aluminium foil for t' main body, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and used t' same sized tube as t' MkII for t' upper section. This meant that I could use t' same nose cone, with t' buzzer as t' MkII. Well, blow me down! I had a balsa transition made t' connect t' two sections together. T' fins were made o' balsa usin' t' same technique as t' MkII ( 1mm thick for t' upper section, 1.5mm for t' lower) usin' a simple triangle for t' upper section and a more complicated shape for t' lower, which I copied from one o' me sons toys.

T' engine mount be made from a length o' t' same tube as t' upper section, which is exactly right for D engines. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! T' transition was permanently fixed t' t' upper section, which are attached t' t' lower section by t' shock cord. Aye aye! A larger Estes parachute was attached t' t' transition.

T' first time I flew it, it went up really well, me hearties, me bucko, very straight and high. Arrr! Ahoy! We lost sight o' it, ya bilge rat, but kept expectin' t' see t' ejection charge and t' parachute. Next thin' we knew thar was a loud 'thunk' and t' rocket was embedded in t' ground about 30m from where we were standing. Begad! Unfortunately a passer-by reached it first and gave it a good tug t' pull it up, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, which caused more damage, and we were never able t' locate t' hole in t' very tough springy grass. Well, blow me down! This was a pity because t' nose cone is probably still there, about 20 centimeters underground! I thought I had bought engines without ejection charges, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but later I realized I hadn't. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I have since used t' same engines in me Estes Phoenix, without problems, matey, and have read much on t' Internet about D engine ejection charges.

This is what happens if you buy t' wrong engine? No, matey, arrr, crap engines.

We rebuilt it by makin' a clean cut ( where t' white damaged area meets t' orange fin section in t' photo) and graftin' on a new tube and nose cone. Ahoy! Blimey! T' next flight t' ejection charge did fire, shiver me timbers, but still no parachute deployment. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Blimey! It turns out that thar be a path back though t' engine mount for t' exhaust gases, so that's where they went. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Blimey! More spectacular damage this time includin' shattered fins, arrr, and again t' top body tube written off.

Third time lucky! Well, arrr, shiver me timbers, matey, partially. We rebuilt just in time for UKRA 98 held at Garlands. Begad! Begad! This was a great event, ya bilge rat, where I saw me first HPR rockets, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, but t' weather was pretty poor. Arrr! Well, blow me down! It actually redefined me definition o' 'valid flyin' weather'!

T' flight was perfect, matey, straight up, ya bilge rat, despite t' wind and t' first successful parachute deployment. Unfortunately t' wind caught t' chute and blew it into t' next county. Blimey! Despite a search o' t' down wind fields we never found a trace. Still I always liked this rocket, me hearties, and if I get t' chance I might build a replica, arrr, now that t' design bugs have been worked out.