Brief:
This is a transgalactic driftship employin' unique dual dark matter ramjets for high-speed travel t' t' edges o' t' charted universe. T' ship carries a scientific crew o' up t' 74 humans. Its primary mission is exploration and astrobiologic sample collection. Begad! Begad! This is me first scratch rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! It is a single stage, minimum diameter futuristic tube fin rocket with parachute recovery. Arrr! It is designed for single use 24mm D and E engines. Avast, me proud beauty! With an adaptor, it can fly on 18mm motors. Avast, me proud beauty! Construction is fairly challenging, me bucko, especially the cuttin' and joinin' o' t' elegantly curved tube fin assembly. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! For a fair price, me hearties, I can put together a kit with detailed instructions and photos. Well, blow me down! Blimey! If you prefer, me bucko, I can send only a parts list with t' instructions. Blimey! Begad! Email me for details. Below is a short description o' how construction proceeded.

Construction:
T' materials used are shown in t' first photo. Ahoy! T' rib fins are made from 1/16" basswood, arrr, arrr, and t' fin tube be a heavy-duty variety. Aye aye! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! These and my other parts were supplied from Aerospace Specialty Products. I be impressed by the quality o' t' products they sent.

Construction began with t' engine clip and thrust rin' assembly, me hearties, designed to accommodate both D and E motors with a removable spacer. Aye aye! Ahoy! I also made an optional 18mm motor adaptor so I don't lose this rocket on t' first flight! A Keelhaul®©™® thread around t' thrust rin' was attached t' elastic (just below t' top lip of t' body tube), me hearties, with t' parachute and nose cone attached t' t' elastic. T' total Keelhaul®©™®/elastic shock cord length was about 3 feet.

Next came t' cuttin' o' t' tube fins. Ahoy! Slow careful work be necessary t' get good edges and a perfect fit. See t' photo o' t' fins before they were joined. Contoured fin mounts were built and glued t' t' body tube, and t' fin assembly was glued t' these. Ya scallywag! There is a photo o' t' tail portion o' t' rocket after t' fin assembly be attached. This also shows t' placement o' the launch lug. Blimey!

As I worked, I filleted all joints (inside and outside t' tubes), ya bilge rat, and sealed and sanded all parts (basswood, matey, nose cone, me hearties, me hearties, fillets, tube spirals (inside and outside fins), me bucko, matey, etc. Well, blow me down! T' rocket be finished in gloss black, matey, arrr, shiver me timbers, metallic copper, shiver me timbers, and a specklin' o' transparent cherry red, ya bilge rat, me bucko, with two coats o' clear gloss over t' top.

Swing testin' t' model with a D motor showed it t' be perfectly stable, shiver me timbers, assumin' you want it t' fly backwards! About 5/8 ounce o' nose weight fixed this problem, yieldin' a stable rocket weighin' 3 ounces empty.

Simulations suggest that a 3-5 second ejection delay should be about right for C-E motors. Ya scallywag! This delay, matey, and t' max altitude, me hearties, are very hard t' guess or simulate in advance since t' design is unusual and its drag is unknown. Ya scallywag!

Flight:
T' first launches were at 5000 feet altitude on a beautiful sunny Colorado mornin' with zero wind. T' first flight be straight and slow t' about 350 feet, with a slight twist, on a C6-3 motor. Blimey! Begad! Ejection was early, before apogee, but t' rocket recovered perfectly. T' second flight on a D12-3 suffered from rod whip, and t' rocket buzzed around unstably until ejection and recovery from about 50 feet. Blimey! After cleanin' and straightenin' t' launch rod, shiver me timbers, we fired again with another D12-3. Ya scallywag! T' launch was fast and straight t' perhaps 800 feet, again with a slight twist. Arrr! T' parachute ejected while t' rocket was still coastin' up. Well, blow me down! Unfortunately, a shroud line snagged around t' parachute, yieldin' tail-first lawn-dart recovery. Blimey! This was worrisome because t' tube fins extend below t' tail o' t' rocket and I had been worried from t' start about t' strength o' t' tubes in a tail-first crash. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Thanks t' t' quality tube provided by ASP and me solid finishing, t' fins survived with only a small ripple in one which is hardly noticeable. Arrr! Inspection showed that the recovery system was fine, and it had simply been extremely unlucky that the shroud line had tangled. Begad! Begad! T' rocket is ready for its next flight without repair. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! I think D12-5 should be a better engine for t' next flights.

Summary:
This was a really fun project for me first scratch rocket. Begad! I had built a conceptual model with notebook paper and tape first. I made some changes during construction o' t' real model includin' t' fin mounts t' offset t' fin assembly from t' body tube, t' pointy leadin' edge o' t' fin tubes, and the shape and joining-points o' t' rib fins. Avast, me proud beauty! I'm pretty happy with t' final result although I'm nay sure I'll ever get up t' courage t' try an E motor in it.

Other:
Cuttin' and joinin' t' curved fins made from t' heavy-duty tube is quite challenging. Avast! Begad! I recommend workin' very slowly, ya bilge rat, and anticipatin' about 4 passes along t' cuttin' line with a hobby knife. Well, blow me down! Avast! T' first pass should be quite light pressure...just enough t' cut through t' outermost layer o' paper on t' tube to provide guidance for subsequent passes with t' knife.