Brief:
This rocket is made from a sports water bottle that was donated by a local talk radio station, ya bilge rat, hence t' name. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It has a 24mm mount, ya bilge rat, recovers by parachute, me bucko, and uses 'plate fins'. Blimey! Avast! Blimey! 'High tech' features o' this 'low tech' rocket include a Keelhaul®©™ cord and positive motor retention.

Construction:
A partial construction list consists of:

• 1 water bottle
• 1 piece o' non-rocket junk tube ~1.25" diameter used as a parachute tube
• 24mm motor tube
• Hand-cut cardstock rings
• Keelhaul®©™® twine
• Foam backed tape t' center t' parachute tube
• Duct tape t' press-fit t' cap/nose cone
• One screw, shiver me timbers, chunk o' BiC pen tube, matey, and miscellaneous metal 'doohicky' for motor retention
• 1/8" and 3/16" lugs

T' inner structure consists o' a 24mm motor tube centered in a piece of junk tube by hand-cut cardboard rings. T' motor tube extends below t' end of the larger tube so that it could slip through t' hole in t' bottom o' the bottle. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! T' Keelhaul®©™® twine is attached t' t' motor mount. Well, blow me down! Well, me bucko, blow me down! T' top o' t' larger tube was centered in t' neck o' t' bottle with foam-backed tape and t' assembly was glued into the bottle usin' Liquid Nails.

T' 'nose cone' be t' bottle cap. Blimey! After grindin' off t' threads, I found t' cap was way too loose, shiver me timbers, so I built up t' top o' t' bottle usin' black duct tape. The cap now fits fairly snuggly. T' attach t' Keelhaul®©™® to t' cap, I merely popped up t' top nipple, fed t' line through the opening, matey, knotted it, and pushed t' nipple back down.

I had done some 'what-ifs' on various fin designs but in each case, RockSim said I'd need t' add some nose weight. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' avoid havin' t' do so, arrr, I decided to move t' fins well below t' base o' t' bottle. Blimey! Blimey! I ended up mountin' three chopsticks in t' side o' t' bottle. Ya scallywag! Blimey! On t' tip o' t' sticks, me bucko, I added cardboard triangles. These are bent slightly along their center line t' help adhere t' t' sticks. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! This also looked a bit better in me opinion. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' dowels were attached t' t' bottle with 5-minute epoxy and t' cardboard 'plate fins' were attached t' t' chopsticks with carpenter's glue.

T' motor retainer is simply screwed into t' thick bottom o' t' bottle. This will eventually wear out and will have t' be relocated. Well, blow me down! Finally, I added two sizes of lugs for flexibility. Avast! Blimey!

I modeled t' bottle in RockSim, me bucko, arrr, simulatin' t' plate fins with equivalent standard fins. Aye aye! Although I found t' rocket t' be stable, matey, shiver me timbers, I still didn't trust that I had made a valid model, me hearties, so t' be sure I loaded it up and did a swing test, me hearties, which be successful.

Finishing:
No finishin' be required.

Flight:
I loaded a wad o' dog-barf wrapped in one square o' Estes waddin' and a 12" Rockethead mylar chute, shiver me timbers, and then wrapped a tape thrust rin' on a D12-5 and positioned t' retainer. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! T' boost be a bit wobbly after burn out. Nevertheless, it was a cool flight, shiver me timbers, ejection be perfect, and it recovered 50' from t' pad. I flew it a second time with similar results.

Summary:
This was just a quick, goofy build. Blimey! I love odd-rocs, what else can I say?