My first thought when lookin' over t' box o' parts be "Wow! I could build 10 rockets out o' this stuff." Then, reality started t' settle in- I was fat dumb and happy on body tubes, ya bilge rat, but nay so endowed with balsa and nose cones were also limited in variety. Avast! Ahoy! I had already decided before gettin' t' box that I was goin' t' go for broke and try t' make an insanely complex rocket, shiver me timbers, arrr, me bucko, and pickin' through t' parts a few ideas started t' emerge.

I'll walk you through t' basic steps and offer up t' attached Rocksim as a general guideline, though why anyone would want t' attempt t' reproduce this is beyond me, and you'd almost have t' start with a similar set o' discarded bits o' stuff like I did t' pull it off. Begad!

Let me preface t' build plan by layin' out t' concept for t' overall rocket. I was torn betwixt boost glide and helicopter recovery, ya bilge rat, but eventually decided I could pull off both. Arrr! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! T' final design includes a boosted dart with internal rotor blades that pop up upon ejection, a main rocket body that descends under streamer and chute, and a parasite glider that pops off at ejection. Aye aye! I also decided t' make use o' t' ample length o' BT-5 tubin' by cuttin' a number o' motor tubes-nine o' them happened t' fit nicely surroundin' t' central 24mm motor tube, inside t' BT-70 main body tube. Ahoy! As long as I'm goin' off t' deep end, matey, why nay go under a full cluster?

T' general game plan for flight profile would work like this-clustered A10-PT's and a central C11-5 fire t' main body. Well, blow me down! At t' end o' t' BT-50, shiver me timbers, arrr, I used a 50/5 transition that was glued t' an inner BT-5 "shaft" for t' copter. Ahoy! Aye aye! T' copter be essentially a Rota-Roc style design, but without any fins since it be a boosted dart and t' blades were constrained by t' BT-70. Blimey! T' C11-5 would push t' copter/dart out, and t' glider would slide off t' external piggyback mounts. A burn strin' type o' thin thread would attach t' t' transition and t' main body's parachute and streamer, shiver me timbers, pullin' them out before breakin' away. Ahoy! Begad! Sounds simple. Ya scallywag! Begad! What could possibly go wrong?

OK, me hearties, for t' build…I made every effort t' nay only use t' parts in t' box, but also use them as provided, with as few modifications as possible. Avast, me proud beauty! This meant some very funky fins and glider pieces. Aye aye!

I started out by workin' on t' motor mount, cuttin' a BT-50 t' 5-inch length, matey, then cuttin' (9) 3-inch lengths o' BT-5 for t' clusters. Blimey! Glue t' 13's in pairs on a flat surface for best alignment, me hearties, then glue each pair t' t' BT-50. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' odd 9th tube should fit nicely in t' gap left by t' other 8, me hearties, as this works out t' a perfect cluster fittin' inside a BT-70. Aye aye! Begad! There be nay enough room for a centerin' ring, me hearties, so I filled t' gaps with Gorilla glue kicked with a spritz o' water mist t' cause it t' expand and fill t' gaps. Avast, me proud beauty!

For stability, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, it was clear that I would nay have enough balsa for both fins and a glider, matey, so I had t' resort t' tube fins for primary stability. T' tube fins consist o' (8) pieces o' BT-55 cut t' half an inch long, shiver me timbers, mounted in a rin' around t' outside o' t' BT-70. Avast! Blimey! I did have enough balsa left over t' cut four small fins, ya bilge rat, wedged betwixt t' BT-55 tube fins. Aye aye! Blimey! Patterns for these fins can be printed from t' Rocksim file. Begad! There were also two scrap wedges o' odd-sized balsa left over from t' glider build, so I tucked them into two more gaps in t' BT-55 tubes. T' Rocksim file does nay reflect these scrap fins. Avast, me proud beauty!

As a finishin' touch, I looked through t' box for anythin' else I could toss in, and decided t' decorate t' balsa fins with BT-5 outboard tubes. Blimey! I also found some plastic detail parts that appear t' have been from a plastic model kit which conveniently fit into t' BT-5 outboard tubes and served as ramjets. Blimey!

For t' helicopter, ya bilge rat, I had asked Todd t' make sure he included some elastic, arrr, which would be critical t' blade deployment. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! While he did include some rubber bands, me bucko, he didn't include any significant length o' balsa t' use for blades. Fortunately, we were allowed t' use t' box itself, me bucko, so followin' t' standard plans for t' Rotaroc at http://www.nar.org/competition/plans/pdf/Rota-13m.PDF, I cut 1x12 strips o' corrugated from t' box. Ahoy! Believe it or not, it is possible t' airfoil corrugated. Aye aye! T' pull this off, shiver me timbers, me bucko, use t' edge o' t' handle from a pair o' scissors, and rub down on t' edge o' t' cardboard. Blimey! You'll want a sharp leadin' edge, ya bilge rat, and a much more tapered trailin' edge. Ahoy!

T' blades are normally attached t' t' shaft with Klett hinges, but I didn't exactly have anythin' like that t' work with, so had t' resort t' usin' peel & stick decal paper t' serve this purpose. Ahoy! I cut small strips, arrr, stuck one end t' t' underside o' t' blade, arrr, and t' other t' t' shaft. Ya scallywag! Arrr! Blimey! Since t' adhesive was weak, I had t' help it out with a little CA. Aye aye! Blimey! Instead o' blade stops, matey, I decided t' use a centerin' ring, which was necessary t' keep t' BT-5 in place within t' BT-70. T' centerin' rin' wound up also comin' from t' box itself. Aye aye! Lackin' actual elastic for pullin' t' blades up, me bucko, I wound up cuttin' open t' rubber bands, matey, and pokin' one end through t' blade and tuckin' t' other end inside t' BT-5 shaft wedged in by t' nose cone.

T' last main construction be t' glider. I didn't put together plans or templates for this, as I tried t' simply cobble somethin' slightly aerodynamic out o' t' scraps o' parts unmodified. Well, blow me down! I did have a decent 1/8" thick piece t' work with as a boom, ya bilge rat, one long/skinny piece o' 3/32 balsa t' use as a win' (cut in half and re-bonded for a 10 degree dihedral). Begad! Begad! T' really clunky aspect came at t' tail, matey, arrr, shiver me timbers, where I have grossly oversized and overweight rudder and stabilizer from 1/8" scraps. Arrr! As a result, me bucko, t' win' is mounted extremely far forward, ya bilge rat, resultin' in very little lift, a slow glide, me bucko, me bucko, and tendency t' stall. T' glider has a small pin cut from a wood dowel that conveniently slips into an 1/8" launch lug mounted t' t' rocket body.

At this point, me hearties, me hearties, I started lookin' over t' leftover parts, me bucko, and tried t' think o' how I could use even a fraction o' t' remainin' pile rather than store/keep them. Aye aye! Blimey! I decided t' work in t' plastic spoon and nail file, shiver me timbers, externally mounted usin' pieces o' fin can and plastic details.

Now that I was ready t' paint, I mulled over t' options. Blimey! Aye aye! Considerin' all t' variety o' recovery methods, clusters, ya bilge rat, and t' oddball parts stuck t' t' outside, I decided this be startin' t' look like a Swiss Army knife. Begad! T' pull off this effect, I painted t' whole rocket a base white. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I then masked off a Swiss Army emblem. I then hit t' rocket body with a red topcoat, and painted t' BT-5 exposed 'copter tube and nose a bright silver metallic. Avast, me proud beauty!

For t' flights, shiver me timbers, I loaded up 8 o' t' 9 13mm tubes with A10-P's. Why nay go for all 9? They come in 4-packs, and I rarely have use for them, me bucko, so didn't want an odd/opened pack layin' around for years. Blimey! Aye aye! I then loaded up a C11-5, and spent a good half hour twistin' igniter leads together so that me 5-lead clip-whip could cover everything. Begad!

T' first flight was a bit underwhelming. Aye aye! Only 3 o' t' A10's lit, ya bilge rat, t' C11 didn't light, me hearties, shiver me timbers, and t' rocket barely cleared t' rod before floppin' over right by t' range head. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast!

I replaced t' spent motors, me hearties, rewired everythin' but this time makin' sure t' C11 was nay paired with any other motor's leads, me bucko, checked for best igniters I could find, me hearties, and gave it another shot. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! This time t' C11 lit, shiver me timbers, as did 4 A10's but t' A10's were all on one side, matey, me hearties, and t' asymmetrical thrust led t' a pretty unstable flight. T' glider pilot must have sensed t' impendin' doom, as t' glider popped off after t' first loop under thrust, and t' glider actually came down in a glide-like profile, me hearties, matey, albeit fast and hard. Blimey! T' main rocket, matey, though, matey, continued its bat-on-crack flight path and crashed into a tent along t' prep line. T' copter deployed while t' rocket was grounded, me hearties, so thar be no chance o' an actual 'copter recovery.

T' damage was nay irreparable, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and with a tiny amount o' nose weight (and ideally a spider ignition system t' drive t' cluster), I suspect this could eventually be salvaged into a better performer, but for now this project has t' take a back seat t' preppin' for me NARAM run. Blimey! Ya scallywag! It be amusing, inspiring, fun, but in t' end, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, t' challenge o' tryin' t' parallel wire a 9-motor cluster just proved t' be too much complexity, and this never had enough thrust t' pull off a decent flight.