This was me most ambitious rocket t' date. By now I had found a shop in Leeds ( T' Model Shop, ya bilge rat, 88 Cross Gates Road, Leeds, me bucko, shiver me timbers, arrr, LS15 7NL Tel 0113 2646117) which had a reasonable selection o' engines, even Ds, shiver me timbers, so I had t' build a rocket which could fly one. Arrr! I got a larger core from a roll o' aluminium foil for t' main body, and used t' same sized tube as t' MkII for t' upper section. Well, blow me down! This meant that I could use t' same nose cone, me bucko, ya bilge rat, with t' buzzer as t' MkII. Aye aye! Aye aye! I had a balsa transition made t' connect t' two sections together. Avast, me proud beauty! 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, ya bilge rat, matey, which I copied from one o' me sons toys.

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

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

This is what happens if you buy t' wrong engine? No, 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! T' next flight t' ejection charge did fire, but still no parachute deployment. It turns out that thar was a path back though t' engine mount for t' exhaust gases, me bucko, so that's where they went. Well, blow me down! More spectacular damage this time includin' shattered fins, matey, and again t' top body tube written off.

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

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