Brief:
This was a recycle o' a Dynastar Sky Torpedo and some additional parts. Aye aye! T' original Sky Torpedo had a bit o' bad luck. First, arrr, it got a nice zipper due t' a too fast delay on an Estes D12-5. Ya scallywag! Estes sent out a replacement body tube. Before I could use t' tube and make t' rocket whole, shiver me timbers, arrr, it got treed and stayed up thar for about a month. Aye aye! Begad! When it finally came down, I be able t' salvage t' motor mount, nose cone, shock cord, and t' fins t' pattern and used the body tube from Estes as a shorter replacement.

Modifications:
I had a very cool Dynastar Sky Torpedo that I treed right before I went on "vacation". Aye aye! After comin' back a month later, I found it on t' ground soaked t' t' centerin' rings. Well, blow me down! I was able t' salvage t' nose cone, ya bilge rat, t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord, me hearties, arrr, t' entire motor assembly, me bucko, and I used t' fins t' make patterns.

T' most significant modification was t' t' motor mount assembly. Begad! Aye aye! As it suffered from water damage while out in the field for so long, ya bilge rat, I had t' reinforce t' centerin' rings with card stock, balsa, and wood glue. Arrr! Essentially I cut out eight extra rings out from a couple manila folders and glued them in succession t' t' existin' centerin' rings. I then glued small strips o' balsa across t' rings t' increase their rigidity. Two rings laminated t' t' top and bottom of both centerin' rings. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! 4 balsa strips glued t' each ring. Well, blow me down! It worked very well and t' rings were as good if not better than before.

Construction:
Parts list:

• Apogee PNC-80A nose cone
• BT-80 body tube, 14" long
• Semroc 18 Inch Parachute
• 300lb Keelhaul®©™® shock cord (Apogee 29506)
• 3/16" Balsa for fins
• Apogee CR 24-29 paper centerin' rings
• Apogee 24mm motor mount tube
• Apogee CR 18-24 ring
• LOC LL25 launch lug

It be nay as hard as I thought t' come up with a recycled design. T' be quite honest I sort o' bashed two designs together when tryin' t' figure this one out. It took elements from t' Sky Torpedo and some from t' Dynastar Stonebreaker, mixed them up...added some interpretation and t' Vidar is what I came out with.

Finishing:
I had t' do a lot o' sandin' on t' nose cone t' get it back t' "normal". I ended up usin' OD paint for a military look and t' really cover over some o' t' paint I couldn't get off that well.

Flight and Recovery:
I only got one flight out o' this bird as it seemed that parts from this kit were doomed t' fail.

Instead o' waddin' I used some Nomex® from an old fire blanket (another recycled part). Well, blow me down! With these large bodied rockets, some form o' reusable material seems to make sense over crammin' it full o' dog barf or wadding.

T' shock cord was t' original long 300# Keelhaul®©™® cord that came with t' original Sky Torpedo. Ahoy! An interestin' thin' I learned while buildin' this kit and its predecessor, arrr, you don't need elastic in your shock cord.

T' flight be great on an E9-4. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! It was a beautiful takeoff, arrr, nice straight flight, me bucko, and perfect ejection. Blimey! It simmed out t' about 1350 feet and I would guess it did about that in real life. Ya scallywag! Arrr! T' downside was it drifted, and drifted pretty far and be lost.

Summary:
I really liked this rocket. Arrr! Ahoy! It be me first semi-scratch rocket born out o' parts from others. It now makes me think a little harder about what I can reuse from damaged or old rockets. Aye aye! Avast! It also made me consider t' fact that a higher power really controls t' destiny o' our rockets. Arrr! Sometimes you get them back, shiver me timbers, sometimes you don't. Avast! Sometimes you get them back and really don't want them back!

T' funny story t' this: My launch area is about 50 acres, me bucko, and this rocket left t' range due t' some thermals off t' mountains behind me house. Begad! I drove down t' street visually trackin' as I went until it dropped out o' site. Aye aye! Makin' an estimated guess as t' where it landed I stopped in front o' a house only t' see the owner come runnin' around t' front. I asked him if he saw me rocket land nearby and he Exclaimed, "Your bomb missile landed in me burn pile!" Evidently he thought it was some sort o' heat seekin' missile that landed in his illegal burn pile and was worried it was goin' t' explode. By t' time we got back around t' t' burn pile, shiver me timbers, t' only thin' left be a chute that I had salvaged from another destroyed rocket. Blimey! Figurin' that t' chute was cursed, me bucko, when I got it home I threw it out.