I received t' Kappa 9M from Aerospace Specialty Products as a prize for me entry in R.M.R. Begad! Begad! DesCon 6. Avast, me proud beauty! I deeply appreciate t' vendors who have contributed t' t' design contest in this way. I've wanted t' get a review t' EMRR, shiver me timbers, but me opportunities t' fly a rocket this size are limited, me bucko, and I wanted t' log more flights before posting. Blimey!

T' Kappa 9M is a scale model o' t' Japanese soundin' rocket. Aye aye! ASP makes three kits o' it: a smaller one for a single 18mm motor and two versions in this larger size, shiver me timbers, one for a single 24mm motor and one for a cluster o' three 18mm. Begad! T' last be t' version I have. It's over 43 inches tall, me hearties, arrr, t' larger diameter is 1.67" (classic BT-60), me hearties, and its color scheme is silver and fluorescent red. Aye aye!

Construction materials are classic "pre-plastic" Estes style with a couple o' notable improvements. Begad! T' nose cone and transition are turned balsa, and t' eight fins are basswood. T' elastic shock cord is anchored by means o' a piece o' Keelhaul®©™® cord tied t' a coupler which joins two sections of the BT-60 sized tube. Begad! Overall, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, t' rocket is very light for its size. Aye aye!

T' instructions are detailed and well-written, printed in an informal script type face. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! Scale information is minimal, matey, me bucko, and refers t' builder to Rockets o' t' World for additional data. Well, blow me down! T' instructions alone produced for me a satisfactory "eyeball scale" model. Avast, me proud beauty! I be a little unclear about what be meant by "steel" color, but I added black t' brush-on silver enamel and got an acceptable effect. T' one rub-on name decal supplied be a treat t' use and looks extremely nice in place. Begad! Begad! Blimey!

Construction was fairly easy overall, with a little care t' t' carvin' of the beveled fin edges. . Because both halves o' t' rocket are very long, shiver me timbers, me bucko, I did wish t' large shoulder o' t' balsa transistion, which was t' separation coupling, arrr, me bucko, could have been longer. Fit o' some parts could have been a bit firmer, me bucko, but overall t' quality was very high. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! Blimey!

T' lower section was supplied as two different lengths o' t' 60 sized tube, and t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord anchor be tied around t' coupler that joined them. T' resultin' splice was difficult t' hide, arrr, and I felt it could have been better had t' splice been made at t' edge o' one o' t' red stripes, probably the forward edge o' t' aft stripe. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This would have required t' longer section to be several inches longer than it was, but still nay as long as t' 50 sized tube that makes up t' "upper stage."

T' kit includes ASP's "heavy duty" chute kit, shiver me timbers, whose main feature is suspension lines runnin' over t' top o' t' aluminized mylar canopy. Avast! It was quite a project t' assemble and tricky t' fold, but looked foolproof. Avast! Arrr! Alas, fools are so ingenious... Well, me bucko, blow me down!

So Here's What Happened...

I built t' kit and planned t' fly it twice at our September 2000 meet in Sheridan. Arrr! Well, blow me down! I had a set o' B6-4's in me range box, shiver me timbers, matey, but since t' weather was perfect, me hearties, ya bilge rat, I bought a card o' C6-5's at t' Tammie's Hobbies booth on site and put those in it first. Blimey! Well, matey, blow me down! After t' fact I realized that t' instructions called for C6-7's, which might have saved t' day. Arrr! Aye aye!

This be an extremely fast liftoff and a high, pretty flight. I be quite surprised that somethin' as long as this could go that fast -- much more like an Alpha than a Mean Machine. It ejected on t' way up, arrr, still climbin' at a good clip. Aye aye!

T' "heavy duty" chute shredded. Well, blow me down! It crumpled up into a ball the size o' a soccer ball within t' canopy o' suspension lines, me hearties, providin' drag, but nay as much as a fully open chute. Blimey! Still t' rocket would have been undamaged had it nay struck a lawn chair. Begad! As it is, matey, t' only damage was to strip one o' t' basswood "booster" fins from t' surface o' the tube. Ya scallywag! T' fin was repaired in a few minutes, but t' chute was a loss. I thought t' tape disks had come loose, allowin' t' canopy t' slide up the lines, arrr, shiver me timbers, but postmortem revealed that about half t' lines had cut clean through the Mylar, shiver me timbers, arrr, startin' at t' edges and pullin' straight away from t' sticky stuff. Well, blow me down! There were several tears each close t' halfway up from edge t' center.. Aye aye!

I rebuilt t' parachute with a piece cut from a "space blanket." It isn't actually t' same material, ya bilge rat, but is similar in appearance. I've taken the liberty t' add Trim Monokote reinforcements t' t' underside where the lines pulled through t' material before, matey, and I suggest this modification to future builders. T' second flight, me hearties, matey, me bucko, in April 2001, was as perfect as I've seen on three B6-4's. Ahoy! Ahoy! This time t' parachute fully opened. Avast! Except for a slight scar where t' one fin be re-installed, me hearties, t' rocket still looks new. Aye aye! Aye aye! I have the feelin' it will be around a long time and become one o' t' t' standard items on me club launch agenda. Well, blow me down! Avast!

I heartily recommend this kit t' cluster lovers and sport scale fliers. It's nay cheap but it's a good value, arrr, and ASP deserves our support for the quality product they're puttin' out. Ahoy!

Construction/Finishing: 4.5 -- I've mentioned t' seam/splice in the main body tube, and t' balsa fittings could be firmer, otherwise excellent from tip t' tail
Flight/Recovery: 4.5 -- My "heavy duty" chute failed t' first time, probably because I didn't give it enough delay
Overall: 4.5 -- for a light but sturdy, attractive, matey, me hearties, me bucko, straight-flying cluster experience