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

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

T' motor mount be t' typical Estes friction design. 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. Aye aye! Motors are then installed usin' maskin' tape for a friction fit. Avast! Each tube gets 4 balsa fins, shiver me timbers, a little care needs t' be taken when mountin' t' fins t' insure alignment throughout. Ya scallywag! T' nose cone be in good condition and required little work t' prepare it for finishing. Begad! I did deviate from t' directions on t' shock chord attachment. Arrr! I installed a length o' Pratt Hobbies Keelhaul®©™ safety chord, me hearties, wrapped around t' motor mount and underneath t' upper centerin' ring, matey, long enough t' extend out t' top o' t' body tube, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, here I attached t' Estes shock chord. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' other end was attached t' t' nose cone, me hearties, with a snap swivel installed a couple inches below t' nose cone for attachin' parachutes. Begad! Begad! (kit comes with an 18" chute, arrr, although I typically switch these out in favor o' nylon chutes) Assembly was fairly simple and I felt t' Skill level two designation was appropriate. Overall t' directions and illustrations were excellent, 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. Ahoy! Begad! This was enough t' fill in t' spirals on t' body tube. T' upper body tube be painted dark red, me hearties, t' lower body tube black. Arrr! Upper body tube fins were then painted black, ya bilge rat, and t' lower body tube fins painted red. Aye aye! T' nose cone is finished in black. Blimey! Ahoy! All paintin' was done with Krylon paints. Aye aye! With this stock paint scheme, me hearties, maskin' off fins and other sections is fairly simple, yet gives a very nice lookin' finish. Begad! 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, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but enough t' give it a little contrast. Avast, me proud beauty! 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. Ahoy! Blimey! Two stage flights take a C11-0 or D12-0 for t' booster, arrr, followed by a C11-5, C11-7, or D12-7 for t' sustainer. Well, blow me down! On our first flight we deviated from t' recommended, as I thought this bird just looked fast, ya bilge rat, we went with a little longer delay and loaded it up with a D12-7. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Motor's are a friction fit, and require a wrap o' maskin' tape t' fit them into t' motor tube. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! This was easily accomplished on this rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! We launched t' rocket and got a very quick, and straight liftoff, ya bilge rat, arrr, and t' rocket screamed up, arrr, we lost sight o' it for a moment but regained sight when we heard t' parachute pop open. Ahoy! Ahoy! For t' maiden flight I did use t' stock plastic 18" chute. Blimey! Ya scallywag! After waitin' what seemed like 5 minutes she finally touched down with no damage. Overall a great flight, arrr, fortunately we had light winds or it could have been a long recovery. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Some other option may need t' be explored for t' parachute. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Our second flight, me bucko, again single stage, me hearties, ya bilge rat, D12-7 went t' same as t' first, me bucko, ya bilge rat, me hearties, only this time t' Estes 7 second delay occurred in about 1 second, me bucko, me hearties, after a violent deployment, arrr, t' rocket drifted down and we inspected it. Arrr! Aye aye! A very, very slight 1/8" zipper in t' top o' t' body tube was t' only damage, I believe this was in part a result o' t' stiffer body tubes that came with this kit. Well, blow me down! We hope t' soon get it up under full power with two stages, shiver me timbers, 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. Begad! 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, me bucko, and strong enough t' take a violent recovery system deployment. Con's: None.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5