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, me bucko, me bucko, why nay six? Why nay use D engines? I had a tube that would hold seven 24mm mounts, me bucko, me hearties, but it wasn't really long enough. Begad! So I decided t' built a rocket reminiscent o' t' MkIV, me hearties, with a transition, matey, matey, and forward fins. With t' extra weight o' t' engines, t' plywood fins and centerin' rings, 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! Arrr! That was 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. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! So I went for a removable cartridge system. Avast, me proud beauty! T' Fins were mounted through t' body wall and formed runners onto which t' engine cartridge would slide. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! T' cartridge was made up from two discs o' plywood drilled with holes for t' engine mounts. Aye aye! T' cartridge slid in t' t' body on t' runners and was then locked into position by rotatin' the whole thing. Aye aye! In t' end I just went with six engines. Ahoy! Thrust rings were made from sawn up spent D engines and epoxied in t' place. Blimey! A stuffer tube was placed inside t' main body, arrr, mounted on two centerin' rings. At ignition t' upper body be t' separate, me hearties, me hearties, each half with its own parachute. Well, matey, blow me down! Karen made a red and white hemispherical 'chute for t' lower half, matey, and I was goin' t' use t' pink circular 'chute for t' upper half. Avast, me proud beauty! We intended t' fly it at t' International Rocket Weekend, me bucko, and I had a lot o' help from Brain who made and painted the transition just days before we went.

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

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. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! One o' t' organizers, John Bonsor, ya bilge rat, showed me how t' do this. Arrr! I managed t' borrow a launcher and after a wait for t' wind t' die down, me bucko, we were ready. Ya scallywag! T' ignition and initial flight were perfect, except, matey, me hearties, me hearties, what was that? A small object appeared t' fly from the back at ejection, and where was t' 'chute. Begad! 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, me bucko, the ejection gases pushed t' engine cartridge out o' t' rear, instead of deployin' t' chute. Blimey! Aye aye! T' rocket was a write off. Ya scallywag! T' engine cartridge shattered, t' forward tube like a concertina, 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, shiver me timbers, so mercifully thar are no pictures o' t' rocket as we found it. Begad! T' realization of t' hours we had all spent on this rocket, me bucko, which be now trash, ya bilge rat, me bucko, didn't sink in until later, and it was a long drive home from Largs t' Leeds.