Brief:
Super Neon is an updated 2007 re-release o' an older kit. Avast! Aye aye! It is what I would call a "fantasy" tubefin in that it has decorative stub fins supplementin' t' 6 tubefins that provide t' actual stability t' create a futuristic appearance. T' packagin' highlights its "Space Age Tubular Fins". Avast! Well, so maybe they're nay "stub fins", arrr, me bucko, maybe they're coolin' plates for t' hyper-leptonic fusion tube-drive impulsor units. Well, blow me down! Its rated a Skill Level 2 kit, matey, me hearties, and for good reason (unfortunately).

Construction:
Airframe mainly consists o' an 18" piece o' BT-50 tubin' and six 3 1/2" BT-50 motor tubes adapted as t' tubefins. Avast, me proud beauty! Six small balsa stub fins and t' usual Estes nose cone assembly, ya bilge rat, motor mount with hook, arrr, and recovery system rounds out t' materials package. A set o' waterslide decals is included. Avast! Usual excellent quality and fit o' materials.

As a fan o' tubefins, I was very happy t' see Estes add one back t' its product line. Avast! Arrr! I purchased t' kit at a local launch and decided t' review it. Given t' generally draggy nature o' tubefin rockets and t' added drag contributed by t' 6 stub fins, I was very skeptical o' t' packaging's claimed "flights up t' 1000 feet!" I don't think so--certainly nay on t' largest recommended motor, a C6-5, matey, and with t' combined drag o' both t' 6 tube fins and t' 6 conventional fins. Arrr! Avast! I kept remindin' myself that this be a "fantasy rocket", ya bilge rat, otherwise its nuts t' combine normal fins and tube fins. Comparatively speaking, arrr, ya bilge rat, a belt and suspenders doesn't hold your pants up any better, arrr, however, me biggest criticism o' this kit comes from t' poorly thought-through instructions, which usually is a strong point o' Estes kits. Avast, me proud beauty! T' construction approach be miserable, apparently cobbed together by somebody (the subcontractor in China?) who had never before built a tubefin rocket. Aye aye! Begad! Rather than rely on t' tried and true self-jiggin' method that is typically used on tubefin kits, o' attachin' t' 6 tubefins in pairs with t' body tube restin' on a flat surface, Estes gives t' rocketeer instructions with a weird and overly complicated geometric line-markin' method t' locate t' individual tubefin positions on t' body tube as if they were conventional fins. Arrr! This is just nuts and guaranteed t' produce misaligned tube fins if t' slightest mistake is made! After installin' t' motor mount assembly per t' Estes method, I threw away these awful instructions and put me Super Neon together t' right way:

1. With body tube on a flat table top, left and right tube fins, ya bilge rat, also positioned flush with t' table, arrr, were attached simultaneously. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I use 5-min epoxy, shiver me timbers, arrr, usin' as little as possible t' save weight and allowed t' dry.
2. To this assembly, me bucko, two more tube fins were glued in place, on top o' t' body tube and in contact with t' previous 2 tubes.
3. After drying, me hearties, t' assembly be turned over, matey, and t' two remainin' tube fins were attached t' t' bottom o' this assembly, me hearties, which are also self-jigged into place by contact with t' two adjacent tubefins. No ink lines, no measuring, ya bilge rat, no door frames needed.

I attached t' stub fins t' t' tube fins as shown in t' instruction drawings, 3mm from t' top o' t' tubes and centered. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! It is OK t' use t' T.L.A.R. method ("That Looks About Right") t' position t' stub fins, since Estes doesn't really say how t' do this. Avast! I can see this bein' really frustratin' t' do with Elmer's glue. Ya scallywag! Begad! It is a snap with 5-min epoxy--just dip t' end o' t' fin in freshly-mixed epoxy, let it almost set up, and then hold firmly in place perpendicular t' t' tube for a minute or so. Ya scallywag! Avast! Crazy Glue would be another good method.

Recovery system be attached per t' instructions. Blimey! Note position o' t' launch lug, shiver me timbers, adjacent t' one o' t' triangular holes betwixt t' tune fins, shiver me timbers, matey, so be careful nay t' slop glue betwixt t' tube fins since t' launch wire has t' pass through here.

Finishing:
I decided t' skip t' decals. Begad! I don't like decals. Ya scallywag! I planned t' paint t' Super Neon in t' colors depicted on t' package, arrr, aqua and purple, usin' Testor's rattle can products. However, initial test flights were made with t' rocket unpainted. Ahoy! Reason bein' that I expected t' performance on a C6-5 t' be far short o' t' claimed "up T' 1000 feet", ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and me plan be t' measure this exactly with a micro altimeter in a payload bay that I planned t' incorporate into t' ample body tube. Aye aye! This was exactly t' case. Aye aye! Initial test flight was clearly well under a thousand feet. Ahoy! Blimey! It wasn't even close. Aye aye! So a payload bay be simply included by sawin' t' upper 6" o' body tube off and gluin' t' its bottom a bulkhead from an unused Estes nosecone. Begad! T' Estes recovery system (toy plastic parachute and Estes notorious underpants elastic shock cord) be substituted with a proper 12" Top Flight light nylon chute and a shock cord made from 3' o' thin para cord. Arrr! I attached this t' t' shortened body tube with a knot through a small hole drilled in t' tube and covered with half a BIC pen cover. Aye aye! This allowed precision measurements o' altitude with different motors and drag coefficient (Cd) calculation so maximum theoretical altitude could be extrapolated. See photos for t' now-modified "Payload" Super Neon. Ya scallywag! I have rated Super Neon a generous "3" due t' poor instructions and construction method and for t' poor recovery system included with t' kit, which after 35 years is in need o' updating.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
T' savin' grace o' Super Neon is how well it flies (although maximum performance is far less than advertised), arrr, nay how high it flies. Well, me bucko, blow me down! First flight on B-motors showed that a B6-2 was near-perfect. Well, blow me down! Flight on a C6-5 be nowhere near 1000' without t' 20g altimeter. Well, blow me down! Nor was it near 900', 800' or 700'. Flight performance on a C6-5 after finishin' and t' addition o' a PerfectFlight Alt15k microaltimeter was 456' with Cd determined t' be a whoppin' 2.2 at 135 mph. Begad! Aye aye! Usin' this value o' Cd in me simulation program and correctin' for t' added weight o' t' altimeter, arrr, matey, gives only 520' calculated for flight without t' altimeter weight. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! Usin' a value o' Cd calculated from t' Super Neon dimensions o' 1.76 instead o' t' experimentally determined Cd o' 2.2 gives a calculated maximum altitude on a C6-5 o' 592'. Aye aye! It is very unlikely that any Super Neon with its enormous drag could fly higher than 600' on a C6-5 in me opinion. Ahoy! That said, Super Neon is a beautiful flyer on windy days, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, risin' straight up with no weathercockin' whatsoever. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Note launch rod angle in photo. Begad! Blimey! This is a major advantage o' tubefins. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I don't know how high it flew on that day, ya bilge rat, but it be high enough that it landed on t' beach only 2 feet from t' waters o' Mission Bay, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, blown by t' wind. I didn't need that "1000 feet!" o' t' package advertisin' on that day and I'm glad I didn't have it.

Recovery:
Flight recovery was perfect on both t' original Estes chute and shock cord and on t' nylon/para cord unit I added later. Arrr! Avast! It is time that Estes updated its line with somethin' better than that antiquated elastic system they've been usin' since t' 1960's. Avast, me proud beauty! So I dinged t' score for that. T' miserable performance was balanced by t' wonderful wind resistance Super Neon displayed. Ahoy! Its t' packagin' that needs fixing. T' rocket flies great!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
T' product execution be disappointin' due t' poor instructions and buildin' technique. Avast, me proud beauty! Fantasy rocket concept notwithstanding, ya bilge rat, thar be no reason t' ever put conventional fins on a tubefin. Well, me bucko, blow me down! It doesn't improve t' looks much, matey, and it messes up t' maximum performance.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5