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. Avast! Paper tubes, ya bilge rat, basswood fins, Alumilite nose cone and mylar streamer.

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

T' instructions are not Quest quality, arrr, obviously set up and printed on a home computer. Begad! However, arrr, the innards aren't all that tough, ya bilge rat, me hearties, so t' simplicity doesn't detract. Arrr! Blimey! T' steps are logical. Motor mount first, then fins, then wrap up t' recovery system. The diagrams showin' t' fin placement are clear. T' fin patterns and body wrap are sufficient. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! While t' front wings are easy t' mount, arrr, t' aft control surfaces are tricky. Blimey! They set very close t' t' wing, so you must take pains to make sure they're parallel, ya bilge rat, but they have a very small root which is hard to get square. Avast! Patience is required. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! At t' time I put them on, ya bilge rat, I was concerned that t' aft fins would be subject t' breakage. Avast, me proud beauty! Flyin' t' model bore this out. When you put these fins on, shiver me timbers, 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. Arrr! T' heavy nose cone could give your AA-9 Amos "Estes Dents" if t' shock cord be shorter, me hearties, ya bilge rat, 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®©™®, shiver me timbers, and t' elastic t' t' nose cone. Measure about 6" in along t' Keelhaul®©™® thread from t' body tube, attach t' streamer here. Arrr! This will allow t' rocket t' descend as shown in t' diagram. I was in doubt whether t' streamer would be enough, me hearties, but I be wrong. Ya scallywag!

T' only thin' I don't like about t' rocket is it uses friction fit for the motor. I prefer a motor clip and they're easy t' add. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down!

Finishing:
Lot'so fins, shiver me timbers, so think about how you want t' finish them. Begad! I did it with three coats o' sandin' sealer sandin' in betwixt coats. Ahoy! This did enough. Well, blow me down! T' spirals on t' body were very subtle so I let me primer fill them. Blimey! Blimey! I use Kilz primer, which goes on thick, shiver me timbers, and sands well. One coat will fill t' spiral and remainin' grain on t' fins. Ya scallywag! It's a pain t' sand these fins because o' t' lack of root area on t' aft fins. Ahoy! Still it's a cool lookin' model. Avast! Aye aye! There are very, very few picture o' this rocket, and I've never seen a color picture, so let your imagination run wild. Arrr! Most missiles are goin' t' be grey or white in color. Arrr! 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. Begad! I would also add the A10-3 with an adapter. Well, blow me down! Use a short delay for A motors, 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, it's pretty small. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! My flyin' field was a local park with grass underfoot. Begad! T' park is a good size baseball field and two soccer fields. T' wind was light, but I never worried about this rocket leavin' t' field. Boost on a Quest A6-4 be rapid. Ya scallywag! T' delay was about 1.5 seconds too long, arrr, so an Estes A8-3 or A10-3 (with adapter) would be spot on. Ahoy! Simulations put the altitude around 175'.

T' Boost on a B6-4 was more satisfying. Begad! Begad! Nice high flight and t' ejection occurred right at apogee. Simulation shows t' altitude at about 525'. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down!

An Estes C6-5 put t' rocket up about 1070' and it looked all that. Blimey! Again, the boost be very straight, fast and pretty. When I got t' t' C motor, arrr, ya bilge rat, I noticed that one o' t' tail fins was loose. Begad! Blimey! I taped t' fin t' t' front wing and it held just fine. Ahoy! This is rocket is easy t' field repair too. Begad! 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. Ya scallywag! Arrr! T' nose cone weighs 0.8 oz and t' whole rocket is nearly 1.5 oz. Avast! However, I put t' streamer near t' body, and let t' nose cone pull t' rocket t' t' ground. Well, blow me down! It worked perfectly. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' descent rate was rapid and t' body stuck out sideways. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! When t' nose hit, t' body could slow those last 18" or so. Aye aye! One aft fin got knocked loose after t' A motor, matey, but I think this be t' one aft fin that wasn't on as well as I liked. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! No other aft fins showed signs o' wear. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Had I reinforced t' aft fins with gauze or very light fiberglass, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, they'd handle it fine. Ya scallywag! T' recovery system is a big plus for this rocket. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! It allows you t' fly this small rocket with big motors from a small field. Arrr! I never walked more than 50' t' get this rocket back, shiver me timbers, even after the high C motor flight. Aye aye!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I'm excited about this rocket line. Ahoy! Avast! T' prices are amazin' ($9.00 t' $10.00) which makes them some o' t' best values out there. Ahoy! This is one o' t' smaller rockets in t' line, arrr, matey, but it's really unique. Well, blow me down! I took this rocket in its primer coat t' t' UROC meetin' and it created a lot o' buzz. Begad! I'll tell you what, I'm buyin' a few more o' these rockets. Blimey! I think that t' soundin' rocket models such as t' Black Brant, me hearties, 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