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

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

T' motor mount be t' typical Estes friction design. Aye aye! Arrr! 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. Well, blow me down! Motors are then installed usin' maskin' tape for a friction fit. Begad! Each tube gets 4 balsa fins, arrr, a little care needs t' be taken when mountin' t' fins t' insure alignment throughout. Blimey! Well, arrr, blow me down! T' nose cone be in good condition and required little work t' prepare it for finishing. I did deviate from t' directions on t' shock chord attachment. Avast! I installed a length o' Pratt Hobbies Keelhaul®©™ safety chord, ya bilge rat, wrapped around t' motor mount and underneath t' upper centerin' ring, matey, long enough t' extend out t' top o' t' body tube, me hearties, arrr, me hearties, here I attached t' Estes shock chord. Avast! T' other end was attached t' t' nose cone, me bucko, with a snap swivel installed a couple inches below t' nose cone for attachin' parachutes. Ya scallywag! (kit comes with an 18" chute, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! 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. Blimey! Blimey! I applied 2 coats o' Krylon gray primer t' t' entire rocket, ya bilge rat, sandin' betwixt coats. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! This was enough t' fill in t' spirals on t' body tube. T' upper body tube be painted dark red, t' lower body tube black. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Upper body tube fins were then painted black, me hearties, and t' lower body tube fins painted red. T' nose cone is finished in black. Avast, me proud beauty! All paintin' be done with Krylon paints. With this stock paint scheme, maskin' off fins and other sections is fairly simple, yet gives a very nice lookin' finish. Blimey! Decals are o' t' peel and stick variety so a little care needs t' be taken when applyin' them. Arrr! Begad! I liked t' decals, arrr, as thar weren't too many t' make it busy, 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. Two stage flights take a C11-0 or D12-0 for t' booster, me hearties, followed by a C11-5, ya bilge rat, C11-7, shiver me timbers, arrr, or D12-7 for t' sustainer. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! On our first flight we deviated from t' recommended, 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, and require a wrap o' maskin' tape t' fit them into t' motor tube. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! This be easily accomplished on this rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! We launched t' rocket and got a very quick, matey, ya bilge rat, and straight liftoff, and t' rocket screamed up, we lost sight o' it for a moment but regained sight when we heard t' parachute pop open. Ya scallywag! Avast! For t' maiden flight I did use t' stock plastic 18" chute. After waitin' what seemed like 5 minutes she finally touched down with no damage. Blimey! Overall a great flight, fortunately we had light winds or it could have been a long recovery. Begad! Some other option may need t' be explored for t' parachute. Aye aye! Our second flight, again single stage, D12-7 went t' same as t' first, only this time t' Estes 7 second delay occurred in about 1 second, me bucko, me hearties, after a violent deployment, t' rocket drifted down and we inspected it. A very, arrr, 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. Arrr! We hope t' soon get it up under full power with two stages, 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, me bucko, matey, shiver me timbers, I did deviate from stock by usin' t' Keelhaul®©™ safety line and this did extend out t' top o' t' tube. Avast! 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, me bucko, and what seemed t' be better quality body tubes. Begad! Avast! Blimey! Great flight, and strong enough t' take a violent recovery system deployment. Avast! Blimey! Con's: None.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5