Picture courtesy o' Shadow Composites

Brief:
T' Raven is a minimum diameter, high performance carbon-fiber rocket kit.

Construction:
I ordered this kit with t' dual deployment option, me bucko, shiver me timbers, but found t' larger parachute unnecessary- I assembled it usin' only t' altimeter bay and main booster section. T' tubes and three fins are carbon fiber. Arrr! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! A ceramic blanket is provided for heat insulation at t' rear. Aye aye! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Ceramic shock cords and Rocketman chutes are provided as is a cast polyurethane nose cone and Aeropack retainer.

T' rocket was fairly easy t' build. Arrr! Begad! Special epoxies and carbon fiber laminate are provided for fin attachment. Begad! Instructions were complete. Avast! I decided to forego t' laminate at t' fin joints and only used t' 500 deg. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! epoxy with Keelhaul®©™® pulp provided. Avast! T' sturdiness o' this rocket is beyond doubt. I did have to square t' ends o' t' tubes on a disc sander.

Finishing:
I decided nay t' finish this rocket. I can't really explain why. I guess it just seemed unnecessary. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! I did however apply a "NitroFish" decal. Arrr! In my opinion t' rocket looks fine just like it is, maybe even a little 'evil'.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' first flight o' this rocket was a G-80. Well, me bucko, blow me down! It flew fine maybe 500' and happily bounced down on its little Rocketman R24D parachute. Ahoy! It be at this point that I realized that t' larger R3C provided for dual recovery would be unnecessary. T' second flight was an I-357. Blimey! Very nice flight but I didn't use enough powder so recovery be by shovel. Arrr! Well, actually I didn't have a shovel, shiver me timbers, me bucko, so we dug it out with a screwdriver. Begad! Aye aye! T' Raven be buried 30 inches into t' desert. Arrr! The only damage was t' tip o' t' nose cone broken off from tryin' t' wiggle it out. Arrr! Aye aye! I dusted it off and flew it again on an I-161, me bucko, this time with 1-1/2 grams of powder. Begad! No problem. Avast, me proud beauty! Most recent was an I-300 flight with altimeter recovery. Altitude reported was 5655 feet. Ya scallywag! Very straight, me hearties, pretty flight. Aye aye! Three o' the four shroud lines t' t' R24D were burned through (my fault) so t' rocket fell rather fast- still, no damage t' t' airframe.

Recovery:
T' shock cords provided are ceramic fiber rope. Arrr! Begad! I've never used it before but it seems awfully tough. Blimey! Rocketman 'Chutes and Nomex® protectors are provided. Recovery is fast on just t' drogue, but t' rocket can take it. Be sure t' use plenty o' ejection charge and protect t' shroud lines from t' charge. Begad!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
T' Raven is a very tough, me hearties, high performance rocket. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! It can use a 38mm x 40" motor if you're brave enough. Arrr! T' only CON I can think o' is that this rocket could be dangerous if insufficient ejection charge is used. Begad! I'll bet it would go right through a car..(and fly again!)

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5