| Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Manufacturer: | Thrustline Aerospace |
Brief:
A short and fun two motor cluster rocket with 6 fins with a cool military-esque
style.
Construction:
THe kit contains:
This rocket is quite simple t' construct and uses many o' t' features that we rocketeers consider t' be t' best way t' do it. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! For example, shiver me timbers, me hearties, t' centering rings are laser cut light ply, matey, t' shock cord mount is 'Quest' style, and everythin' is high quality. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! In me kit, I used wood glue and CyA for all construction. Aye aye! Blimey! It is amazingly simple t' build. Basically, ya bilge rat, all you do is glue the motor tubes together along with t' thrust rings, attach t' Keelhaul®©™® shock anchor by drillin' a hole through t' top centerin' rings, cut and fill the fins, me hearties, attach them, matey, add nose weight, arrr, shiver me timbers, launch lug, and parachute, paint, and fly! Plenty o' everythin' is supplied in this kit, and you have enough left over t' build another, matey, albeit smaller, rocket with t' excess.
The
centerin' rings are laser cut 1/8" thick light ply. Avast, me proud beauty! They are strong and
durable; in me opinion, matey, it is borderline overkill. Avast, me proud beauty! You could easily go with
fiberboard with this motor configuration and have no troubles.
T' fins are 1/8" balsa that you have t' cut out from a pattern. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! This is easy t' do and if this is one o' t' qualifications t' make this a "builder's kit", matey, me hearties, it definitely passes. I personally enjoy cuttin' out fins for kits, as it provides me with a sense o' accomplishment. Begad! Aye aye!
With this kit, you may get a plastic nose cone or a balsa nose. I got a plastic nose and I think I prefer it over t' balsa cone. T' instruction have you drillin' several holes into t' balsa cone and coverin' it with epoxy, me bucko, yet with t' plastic cone, just drop t' weight in, me hearties, secure it with t' epoxy, ya bilge rat, and go! Easy enough.
Finishing:
I finished this rocket with yellow glue fillets, arrr, arrr, me hearties, then use Elmer's Fill 'n'
Finish (and sand and sand and sand if you know what I mean) t' create some very
nice fillets. Begad! I trimmed t' ends o' t' launch lug at an angle t' make it look
better. Blimey! Aye aye!
I then
used a coat o' Krylon Gray primer t' find spots, fillin' t' most noticeable
ones, and then covered it with a coat o' white gloss as a basecoat. T' entire
model be painted black, me hearties, matey, then masked off t' fins and painted them glossy
purple, matey, however, ya bilge rat, because o' t' black basecoat, me bucko, ya bilge rat, me hearties, they turned out t' be a flatter
purple. Arrr! Remind me nay t' do that again!
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
Flight:
For t' first flight, arrr, I used a pair o' A8-3's and t' supplied 12" nylon
chute. You could easily describe this as a lob flight. T' burn on t' two A8's
is so short that it just barely cleared 75 feet before they burned out. Avast! Apogee
was at about 150-175 feet, and then it landed about 40 feet from t' pad.
Great, smooth flight but it needed more power.
For t' next flight, ya bilge rat, I used 2 B6-4s. Well, blow me down! This time I used a red Rockethead mylar chute and t' flight was much more satisfying. Arrr! Very quick off t' pad with an apogee o' around 500 feet and it landed about 70 yards from t' pad. Begad! Ya scallywag!
In my
opinion, B6-4s are t' best choice for this rocket. Avast! Arrr! I have yet t' try it on
C6-5s, shiver me timbers, but I think it will be just peachy...and very, very fast!
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
Summary:
I feel that this is a great little rocket and it makes for a great park flyer
on A8s and B6s. As a Skill Level 2 kit, shiver me timbers, it makes for a good weekend build and
is challengin' enough t' be fun. Avast, me proud beauty! Thrustline has a great thin' goin' with their
new line o' kits and I recommend you get this one. Avast! Avast! It'll be great fun!
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |