Brief:
This is a new 2002 kit by Estes. Avast! Avast! It's a four finned, ya bilge rat, two stage rocket designed and named for t' new 24mm Estes C motors. Flies on either t' C or D motors with a maximum altitude o' 1,700 feet.

Construction:
T' kit consists o' two body tubes, me hearties, one for t' sustainer section, and a shorter tube for t' booster section. Both o' these seem t' be o' better quality, and are stiffer than t' other 40 or so Estes kits I've built. 8 balsa wood fins, shiver me timbers, arrr, 4 for t' booster and again 4 for t' sustainer. Blimey! Nose cone was typical plastic, shiver me timbers, plastic parachute, arrr, paper centerin' rings, me bucko, motor blocks, and shock chord mount.

T' motor mount be t' typical Estes friction design. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Consistin' o' an engine block, and two centerin' rings for t' upper motor, and again an engine block and two centerin' rings for t' booster section. Motors are then installed usin' maskin' tape for a friction fit. Ahoy! Each tube gets 4 balsa fins, a little care needs t' be taken when mountin' t' fins t' insure alignment throughout. Begad! Ahoy! T' nose cone was in good condition and required little work t' prepare it for finishing. Ya scallywag! I did deviate from t' directions on t' shock chord attachment. Avast! I installed a length o' Pratt Hobbies Keelhaul®©™ safety chord, wrapped around t' motor mount and underneath t' upper centerin' ring, long enough t' extend out t' top o' t' body tube, shiver me timbers, arrr, here I attached t' Estes shock chord. Ahoy! T' other end was attached t' t' nose cone, me bucko, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, with a snap swivel installed a couple inches below t' nose cone for attachin' parachutes. Begad! (kit comes with an 18" chute, although I typically switch these out in favor o' nylon chutes) Assembly be fairly simple and I felt t' Skill level two designation was appropriate. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Overall t' directions and illustrations were excellent, me hearties, me hearties, on par with t' typical Estes directions.

Finishing:
I liked t' rockets stock paint scheme and decided t' duplicate it when finishin' mine. I applied 2 coats o' Krylon gray primer t' t' entire rocket, sandin' betwixt coats. This was enough t' fill in t' spirals on t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! T' upper body tube was painted dark red, t' lower body tube black. Aye aye! Upper body tube fins were then painted black, me bucko, and t' lower body tube fins painted red. T' nose cone is finished in black. Ya scallywag! All paintin' be done with Krylon paints. Well, blow me down! With this stock paint scheme, maskin' off fins and other sections is fairly simple, yet gives a very nice lookin' finish. Aye aye! Aye aye! Decals are o' t' peel and stick variety so a little care needs t' be taken when applyin' them. I liked t' decals, as thar weren't too many t' make it busy, arrr, matey, but enough t' give it a little contrast. After decals are applied you have a Red and Black rocket with Yellow highlights.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommended motors on this kit are t' C11-5 and D12-5 for single staged flights. Blimey! Two stage flights take a C11-0 or D12-0 for t' booster, matey, followed by a C11-5, me bucko, C11-7, or D12-7 for t' sustainer. Arrr! On our first flight we deviated from t' recommended, me hearties, as I thought this bird just looked fast, we went with a little longer delay and loaded it up with a D12-7. Motor's are a friction fit, matey, and require a wrap o' maskin' tape t' fit them into t' motor tube. Well, me bucko, blow me down! Blimey! This be easily accomplished on this rocket. Avast! Ahoy! Blimey! We launched t' rocket and got a very quick, arrr, and straight liftoff, and t' rocket screamed up, me bucko, we lost sight o' it for a moment but regained sight when we heard t' parachute pop open. For t' maiden flight I did use t' stock plastic 18" chute. Ya scallywag! After waitin' what seemed like 5 minutes she finally touched down with no damage. Begad! Blimey! Overall a great flight, ya bilge rat, fortunately we had light winds or it could have been a long recovery. Some other option may need t' be explored for t' parachute. Our second flight, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, again single stage, ya bilge rat, D12-7 went t' same as t' first, ya bilge rat, only this time t' Estes 7 second delay occurred in about 1 second, after a violent deployment, t' rocket drifted down and we inspected it. Well, blow me down! A very, very slight 1/8" zipper in t' top o' t' body tube was t' only damage, me hearties, I believe this was in part a result o' t' stiffer body tubes that came with this kit. Ya scallywag! Blimey! We hope t' soon get it up under full power with two stages, matey, ya bilge rat, but don't foresee any problems.

Recovery:
T' second flight, with a bilge-suckin' (short) delay did cause an 1/8" zipper in t' upper body tube, I did deviate from stock by usin' t' Keelhaul®©™ safety line and this did extend out t' top o' t' tube. With t' stock elastic shock chord I don't believe thar would have been any zipperin' at all.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Pro's: Relatively easy construction, great lookin' finish, and what seemed t' be better quality body tubes. Well, blow me down! Great flight, ya bilge rat, and strong enough t' take a violent recovery system deployment. Con's: None.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5