T' success o' the MkV made me start t' think a bout t' bigger tubes I had stacked in t' corner. If I could cluster four engines, why nay six? Why nay use D engines? I had a tube that would hold seven 24mm mounts, but it wasn't really long enough. Well, me bucko, blow me down! Blimey! So I decided t' built a rocket reminiscent o' t' MkIV, with a transition, matey, arrr, ya bilge rat, and forward fins. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Blimey! With t' extra weight o' t' engines, me hearties, t' plywood fins and centerin' rings, ya bilge rat, this design turned out nay t' be stable ( Usin' RockSim). I increased t' length o' t' upper tube ( forward o' t' transition) and removed the forward fins. Avast, me proud beauty! That be a lot better.

I had heard o' some larger black powder engines available in t' UK form a company called Rocket Services and wanted t' option o' installin' them. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! So I went for a removable cartridge system. Ya scallywag! T' Fins were mounted through t' body wall and formed runners onto which t' engine cartridge would slide. T' cartridge be made up from two discs o' plywood drilled with holes for t' engine mounts. Ya scallywag! T' cartridge slid in t' t' body on t' runners and be then locked into position by rotatin' the whole thing. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! In t' end I just went with six engines. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Thrust rings were made from sawn up spent D engines and epoxied in t' place. Well, blow me down! A stuffer tube be placed inside t' main body, me hearties, mounted on two centerin' rings. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! At ignition t' upper body was t' separate, each half with its own parachute. Ya scallywag! Karen made a red and white hemispherical 'chute for t' lower half, ya bilge rat, and I was goin' t' use t' pink circular 'chute for t' upper half. We intended t' fly it at t' International Rocket Weekend, me hearties, and I had a lot o' help from Brain who made and painted the transition just days before we went. Avast!

At t' event, a lot o' doubt was raised about t' engine cartridge system. 'Six D ejection charges will blow it out' they said. I also couldn't determine how I was goin' t' ensure that both parachutes deployed. In t' end I bought some big shock cord and tied both halves together on t' red & white 'chute. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Another hitch, me bucko, I had planned to add another set o' clips t' me ignition system, me bucko, but had forgotten ( that last week was hectic as I me work had taken me away from home for several days), me hearties, and I didn't have a large enough launch pad...

Luckily I learned o' a new technique for clustering. This involves usin' a single igniter t' ignite 'quick match' fuses that are fed into t' individual engines. Avast, me proud beauty! One o' t' organizers, John Bonsor, showed me how t' do this. Aye aye! I managed t' borrow a launcher and after a wait for t' wind t' die down, shiver me timbers, we were ready. Ahoy! Aye aye! T' ignition and initial flight were perfect, me hearties, except, arrr, what be that? A small object appeared t' fly from the back at ejection, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and where was t' 'chute. Arrr! T' rocket came in ballistically. What had happened be exactly what t' 'doom sayers' were predicting. Begad! Even though I had staggered t' ejection by usin' a mixture o' D12 delays, the ejection gases pushed t' engine cartridge out o' t' rear, me hearties, instead of deployin' t' chute. Ahoy! T' rocket was a write off. Avast, me proud beauty! T' engine cartridge shattered, t' forward tube like a concertina, shiver me timbers, and t' aft tube a slowly unwindin' spiral.

T' pic o' lift off was t' last shout from me last roll o' film, me bucko, so mercifully thar are no pictures o' t' rocket as we found it. Well, blow me down! Arrr! T' realization of t' hours we had all spent on this rocket, arrr, which be now trash, arrr, didn't sink in until later, shiver me timbers, and it be a long drive home from Largs t' Leeds.