Brief:
T' Dark Knight is a 2-stage 18mm rocket with 12" chute recovery. Aye aye! T' Dark Knight name came from t' shadow produced from t' fin profile when t' rocket was sittin' on t' launch pad. Aye aye! Aye aye! It looked similar t' t' Dark Knight shadow shown on t' clouds in t' movie.

Construction:
T' parts list:

• 29.5" BT-20 Body Tube - Main Body
• 2.75" BT-20 Body Tube--First Stage Body
• BT-20 Coupler (if needed)
• 1.25" X 0.125" Launch Lug
• 0.125" Balsa Sheet
• 2.75" X 18mm Plastic Nose Cone
• 48" o' 150# Keelhaul®©™®
• 24" Elastic
• 18mm Motor Mount Centerin' Rin'
• 12" Parachute
• Nose cone weight

This is a pretty easy build. Aye aye! First step cut t' body tubes t' length if you are lucky enough t' have a 36" piece o' t' BT-20 tube available. That's all you will need, however, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I needed t' use a coupler t' join 2 shorter pieces. Aye aye!

I notched t' centerin' rin' slightly and tied t' Keelhaul®©™® cord t' it. Blimey! Usin' white glue, me hearties, I glued t' centerin' rin' in place so about 0.375"-0.5" o' an old motor was exposed.

Next, matey, matey, shiver me timbers, I cut t' fins out o' t' 0.125" balsa and sanded them all t' ensure they were t' same size. Begad! Begad! I rounded t' leadin' edge on all t' main body tubes and left t' aft end and 1st stage fins "as cut" so they would align up better. Avast, me proud beauty! I sanded t' fit o' each fin t' ensure when mounted t' seam would be minimized. I labeled each fin so when mounted t' t' tube I would maintain t' same combination.

I used t' Standard Rockets Fin Jig that I picked up at NARAM t' attach the fins t' t' main body tube and first stage tube. Ahoy! Next, shiver me timbers, I filleted each fin t' t' tube with 5min epoxy. Well, blow me down! Finally, I filled each fin will watered down Emery's wood putty. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Then, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I started t' process o' sanding, shiver me timbers, filling, me bucko, sanding, arrr, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, filling until I be happy with t' finish. Well, me hearties, blow me down!

With RockSim, me bucko, I be able t' ensure t' flight be stable and determine t' potential altitude. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! (If I give this away, shiver me timbers, why would you keep reading?) I was a little worried I about stability so I added a little nose weigh t' brin' the model up t' about 3.7oz and figured paint would take it t' 4oz.

Next, me bucko, I attached t' elastic shock cord, nose cone, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and parachute and headed t' me paint booth (the card board box in t' garage).

Finishing:
I decided on a nice simple 2 color paint scheme o' black and yellow, with a little maskin' after t' yellow be dried and t' Black Night was born and ready t' fly. Aye aye!

Flight:nd Recovery
For t' first flight, me bucko, ya bilge rat, matey, I decided I would just verify stability and return t' model so I loaded up a B6-4. Ahoy! Begad! Nice straight boost, ya bilge rat, good deployment, shiver me timbers, arrr, recovered only a short distance from t' pad (oh, did I mention it be dead calm). Next flight, shiver me timbers, matey, still single stage on a C6-5, arrr, another great flight and about twice t' distance from t' pad. Well, blow me down! T' wind started t' pick up and I decided t' hold off on t' staged attempt. Aye aye!

A week later, late Saturday afternoon winds were calm. Avast! This was t' be t' day. Aye aye! I decide t' go for t' gusto: a C6-0 staged t' a C6-5. T' boost again was picture prefect straight and longer than I anticipated. T' first stage separated nicely and off t' t' heavens this rocket went, ya bilge rat, delay, ya bilge rat, ejection, and parachute. Well, blow me down! Great recovery. This is a great rocket. Ahoy!

Summary:
As I said above this is a great rocket. Avast! I enjoyed t' process o' designin' it on RockSim, me bucko, arrr, ya bilge rat, buildin' it, matey, and t' best launchin' it.

PROs: Based on altitude achieved, me hearties, make sure it is a calm day. Ya scallywag! It screams off t' launch pad and flies great. Looks pretty cool also.

CONs: Based on this flight, a very large filed is needed t' recover this rocket.