Of t' new P.M.L. kits for late 1998, one really stood out: t' Lunar Express. Well, arrr, blow me down! This rocket is a forward-to-the-past type o' rocket, shiver me timbers, a real 1950s design for a futuristic rocket. Well, blow me down! Arrr! Well, arrr, I just had t' build it!

As an aside, I get tired o' all t' kits lookin' basically t' same. Begad! T' standard 3FNC (three fins and nose cone) look gets old pretty quickly. Ya scallywag! Begad! P.M.L. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! did a nice job o' producin' an interestin' kit with appealin' aesthetics. Now, me bucko, we'll see if it can fly more than once!

T' kit is standard P.M.L. Arrr! Begad! style, shiver me timbers, although t' details are less well worked out than t' Bull Dog was. Well, blow me down! Avast! Blimey! (It's easy t' tell this is a new kit.) T' centerin' rin' for t' recovery tube had a very large center hole. I should have re-cut it, but I decided t' use t' one which came with t' kit and fill up t' gap with epoxy.

T' motor mount is built around t' Qwik-Switch system and I built t' rocket as described in t' instruction. Arrr! Ya scallywag! However, me bucko, unless you actually plan t' use 38mm motors in this rocket, I'd suggest usin' a slightly longer motor mount tube (an extra inch should do it) and skip t' brittle plastic betwixt t' top o' t' motor mount tube and t' centerin' ring.

T' fit o' t' pieces was very tight. Ahoy! Avast! I wore myself out sandin' t' pieces so that they fit reasonably. There are two breaks: one right above t' fin can for t' recovery system and one where t' nose cone fits into t' short center section (for settin' up t' altimeter.) Hopefully, matey, t' second iteration o' these kits should have addressed these problems.

On February 13, me bucko, me hearties, 1999 at t' February ROC launch in Lucerne Dry Lake, t' Lunar Express flew for t' first time. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! T' boost be straight and sure, me hearties, arrr, without any uncertainty or instability on a J180. Arrr! I was sure that this kit be goin' t' suffer major damage on landing. Aye aye! Those oversized fins with t' silly pods on t' tips are just fragile. Ya scallywag! However, matey, only one fin pod broke off, shiver me timbers, matey, and it can easily be re-attached. Avast, me proud beauty! All in all, arrr, shiver me timbers, a successful flight!

T' second flight be at Springfest '99 on March 21st. Begad! This launch is put on by L.T.R. Begad! at El Dorado dry lake outside Las Vegas. Avast! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! This time, I decided t' fly it on a K185, again a low-thrust long-burnin' motor.

This time, t' rocket didn't survive as well as on its first flight: separation! T' tail section came down on t' parachute with only two pods broken off, but t' nose and body section came down without a parachute and t' body tube pretty well smashed.

Well, arrr, ultimately it was me own fault. I should have known nay t' use t' P.M.L. Begad! Aye aye! elastic band, shiver me timbers, especially after I had this same failure on me P.M.L. Bull Dog. Begad! Ya scallywag! But, t' P.M.L. Aye aye! Begad! elastic looks strong! Interestingly, me hearties, on me Bull Dog t' elastic broke where it was tied around a quick link, shiver me timbers, but on t' Lunar Express it just broke in t' middle.