This formerly Blackhawk R&D rocket is now fully owned and produced by Aardvark Rockets

Brief:
A stand-off scale model o' t' Russian AA-9 Amos missile. Paper tubes, basswood fins, me bucko, Alumilite nose cone and mylar streamer.

Construction:
All t' parts were top shelf. Paper BT-50 body tube, BT-20 motor mount. Blimey! Aye aye! Paper centerin' rings and engine block. Fin stock is 1/16" basswood. Avast! Nose cone is made from t' castin' compound Alumilite. Ahoy! Ahoy! I got an extra piece o' basswood with t' kit. Arrr! T' fins are easily laid out on one piece o' t' supplied basswood. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! T' recovery system consists o' a Keelhaul®©™® strin' anchored t' t' motor mount, arrr, a long length o' 1/8" elastic and a 1 mil mylar streamer. T' heavy cast nose cone is necessary t' make this little rocket stable. Avast! Blimey! You don't have to add any more nose weight. Well, blow me down! Blimey! It also finishes nicely and is very strong.

T' instructions are not Quest quality, matey, obviously set up and printed on a home computer. Aye aye! However, the innards aren't all that tough, matey, so t' simplicity doesn't detract. T' steps are logical. Begad! Aye aye! Motor mount first, me hearties, then fins, then wrap up t' recovery system. Ahoy! The diagrams showin' t' fin placement are clear. T' fin patterns and body wrap are sufficient. Well, blow me down! While t' front wings are easy t' mount, t' aft control surfaces are tricky. They set very close t' t' wing, me bucko, so you must take pains to make sure they're parallel, but they have a very small root which is hard to get square. Aye aye! Patience is required. Begad! Ahoy! At t' time I put them on, shiver me timbers, I be concerned that t' aft fins would be subject t' breakage. Well, blow me down! Flyin' t' model bore this out. When you put these fins on, give some thought t' extra reinforcement. Aye aye! A good way t' do this is with some gauze, soaked in glue, applied t' t' roots like a fillet.

T' Keelhaul®©™® strin' extends a long way from t' body and t' elastic is nice and long too. Avast! T' heavy nose cone could give your AA-9 Amos "Estes Dents" if t' shock cord was shorter, so kudos t' Blackhawk R&D for thinkin' this through. T' best way t' attach t' recovery system is t' tie the elastic t' t' Keelhaul®©™®, and t' elastic t' t' nose cone. Aye aye! Ahoy! Measure about 6" in along t' Keelhaul®©™® thread from t' body tube, shiver me timbers, me bucko, attach t' streamer here. Avast! This will allow t' rocket t' descend as shown in t' diagram. Well, blow me down! I was in doubt whether t' streamer would be enough, but I was wrong. Arrr!

T' only thin' I don't like about t' rocket is it uses friction fit for the motor. Aye aye! Blimey! I prefer a motor clip and they're easy t' add.

Finishing:
Lot'so fins, me hearties, so think about how you want t' finish them. I did it with three coats o' sandin' sealer sandin' in betwixt coats. Ya scallywag! This did enough. T' spirals on t' body were very subtle so I let me primer fill them. I use Kilz primer, which goes on thick, and sands well. Avast, me proud beauty! One coat will fill t' spiral and remainin' grain on t' fins. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! It's a pain t' sand these fins because o' t' lack of root area on t' aft fins. Blimey! Still it's a cool lookin' model. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! There are very, very few picture o' this rocket, and I've never seen a color picture, so let your imagination run wild. Well, blow me down! Begad! Most missiles are goin' t' be grey or white in color. Blimey! There are no supplied decals due t' t' lack o' existin' scale data. I'll bet you could come up with a very convincin' look by stealin' decals from a 1/72 scale Russian fighter model.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Recommended motors run t' whole gamut o' 18mm motors. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! I would also add the A10-3 with an adapter. Use a short delay for A motors, matey, medium for B or larger. This rocket has a very heavy nose, and lots o' fins, so it has a lot o' drag. On t' other hand, arrr, it's pretty small. Aye aye! Blimey! My flyin' field was a local park with grass underfoot. Ahoy! Blimey! T' park is a good size baseball field and two soccer fields. T' wind be light, but I never worried about this rocket leavin' t' field. Boost on a Quest A6-4 be rapid. Avast! Blimey! T' delay was about 1.5 seconds too long, me bucko, so an Estes A8-3 or A10-3 (with adapter) would be spot on. Simulations put the altitude around 175'. Avast! Blimey! Blimey!

T' Boost on a B6-4 was more satisfying. Blimey! Nice high flight and t' ejection occurred right at apogee. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Simulation shows t' altitude at about 525'.

An Estes C6-5 put t' rocket up about 1070' and it looked all that. Arrr! Blimey! Again, the boost was very straight, me bucko, fast and pretty. Begad! Blimey! When I got t' t' C motor, I noticed that one o' t' tail fins be loose. I taped t' fin t' t' front wing and it held just fine. This is rocket is easy t' field repair too. Avast! Blimey! All in all, this is a sweet flier.

Recovery:
I brought a 9" parachute along with me because I doubted that t' mylar streamer would be sufficient. Arrr! Arrr! T' nose cone weighs 0.8 oz and t' whole rocket is nearly 1.5 oz. Aye aye! Aye aye! However, shiver me timbers, I put t' streamer near t' body, arrr, and let t' nose cone pull t' rocket t' t' ground. Begad! It worked perfectly. Avast, me proud beauty! T' descent rate was rapid and t' body stuck out sideways. Avast! When t' nose hit, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, t' body could slow those last 18" or so. Begad! One aft fin got knocked loose after t' A motor, but I think this be t' one aft fin that wasn't on as well as I liked. Begad! Ahoy! No other aft fins showed signs o' wear. Begad! Had I reinforced t' aft fins with gauze or very light fiberglass, arrr, me bucko, they'd handle it fine. T' recovery system is a big plus for this rocket. Begad! Avast! It allows you t' fly this small rocket with big motors from a small field. I never walked more than 50' t' get this rocket back, even after the high C motor flight. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I'm excited about this rocket line. Begad! T' prices are amazin' ($9.00 t' $10.00) which makes them some o' t' best values out there. Arrr! This is one o' t' smaller rockets in t' line, but it's really unique. Arrr! I took this rocket in its primer coat t' t' UROC meetin' and it created a lot o' buzz. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! I'll tell you what, I'm buyin' a few more o' these rockets. Well, blow me down! I think that t' soundin' rocket models such as t' Black Brant, Astrobee D or SCUD would be great beginner rockets. T' final plus is that Blackhawk R&D uses PayPal which makes buyin' on line really easy.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5