Brief:
This rocket is made from a sports water bottle that be donated by a local talk radio station, shiver me timbers, hence t' name. It has a 24mm mount, me bucko, recovers by parachute, and uses 'plate fins'. Begad! '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, chunk o' BiC pen tube, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, 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. Begad! 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. T' Keelhaul®©™® twine is attached t' t' motor mount. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' top o' t' larger tube be centered in t' neck o' t' bottle with foam-backed tape and t' assembly be glued into the bottle usin' Liquid Nails.

T' 'nose cone' be t' bottle cap. Avast, me proud beauty! After grindin' off t' threads, I found t' cap was way too loose, so I built up t' top o' t' bottle usin' black duct tape. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! The cap now fits fairly snuggly. T' attach t' Keelhaul®©™® to t' cap, ya bilge rat, I merely popped up t' top nipple, fed t' line through the opening, 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. T' avoid havin' t' do so, matey, arrr, I decided to move t' fins well below t' base o' t' bottle. I ended up mountin' three chopsticks in t' side o' t' bottle. Blimey! Blimey! On t' tip o' t' sticks, matey, shiver me timbers, I added cardboard triangles. Begad! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! These are bent slightly along their center line t' help adhere t' t' sticks. Begad! Blimey! This also looked a bit better in me opinion. Begad! 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. Begad! Begad! This will eventually wear out and will have t' be relocated. Ya scallywag! Finally, I added two sizes of lugs for flexibility.

I modeled t' bottle in RockSim, simulatin' t' plate fins with equivalent standard fins. Although I found t' rocket t' be stable, I still didn't trust that I had made a valid model, ya bilge rat, so t' be sure I loaded it up and did a swing test, which was 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, matey, and then wrapped a tape thrust rin' on a D12-5 and positioned t' retainer. Ahoy! Blimey! T' boost be a bit wobbly after burn out. Nevertheless, arrr, me hearties, it be a cool flight, ejection was perfect, arrr, and it recovered 50' from t' pad. Avast, me proud beauty! I flew it a second time with similar results.

Summary:
This be just a quick, ya bilge rat, arrr, ya bilge rat, goofy build. Well, blow me down! I love odd-rocs, what else can I say?