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

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

T' motor mount be t' typical Estes friction design. Consistin' o' an engine block, arrr, me hearties, and two centerin' rings for t' upper motor, and again an engine block and two centerin' rings for t' booster section. Motors are then installed usin' maskin' tape for a friction fit. Avast, me proud beauty! Each tube gets 4 balsa fins, matey, matey, a little care needs t' be taken when mountin' t' fins t' insure alignment throughout. Begad! T' nose cone was in good condition and required little work t' prepare it for finishing. Well, blow me down! I did deviate from t' directions on t' shock chord attachment. Begad! I installed a length o' Pratt Hobbies Keelhaul®©™ safety chord, wrapped around t' motor mount and underneath t' upper centerin' ring, long enough t' extend out t' top o' t' body tube, arrr, here I attached t' Estes shock chord. Begad! T' other end was attached t' t' nose cone, with a snap swivel installed a couple inches below t' nose cone for attachin' parachutes. Begad! Begad! (kit comes with an 18" chute, 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! Overall t' directions and illustrations were excellent, me bucko, shiver me timbers, matey, on par with t' typical Estes directions.

Finishing:
I liked t' rockets stock paint scheme and decided t' duplicate it when finishin' mine. Avast! Blimey! I applied 2 coats o' Krylon gray primer t' t' entire rocket, sandin' betwixt coats. Avast! This was enough t' fill in t' spirals on t' body tube. Well, blow me down! Arrr! Blimey! T' upper body tube was painted dark red, shiver me timbers, me hearties, t' lower body tube black. Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Upper body tube fins were then painted black, ya bilge rat, and t' lower body tube fins painted red. Begad! Blimey! T' nose cone is finished in black. All paintin' was done with Krylon paints. Begad! Blimey! With this stock paint scheme, me bucko, ya bilge rat, maskin' off fins and other sections is fairly simple, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, yet gives a very nice lookin' finish. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Blimey! Decals are o' t' peel and stick variety so a little care needs t' be taken when applyin' them. Begad! Begad! Blimey! I liked t' decals, as thar weren't too many t' make it busy, but enough t' give it a little contrast. Aye aye! 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. Arrr! Two stage flights take a C11-0 or D12-0 for t' booster, shiver me timbers, matey, followed by a C11-5, me bucko, C11-7, or D12-7 for t' sustainer. Aye aye! On our first flight we deviated from t' recommended, me bucko, as I thought this bird just looked fast, we went with a little longer delay and loaded it up with a D12-7. Arrr! Begad! Motor's are a friction fit, and require a wrap o' maskin' tape t' fit them into t' motor tube. This be easily accomplished on this rocket. We launched t' rocket and got a very quick, arrr, me hearties, and straight liftoff, shiver me timbers, and t' rocket screamed up, arrr, we lost sight o' it for a moment but regained sight when we heard t' parachute pop open. For t' maiden flight I did use t' stock plastic 18" chute. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! After waitin' what seemed like 5 minutes she finally touched down with no damage. Avast, me proud beauty! Overall a great flight, fortunately we had light winds or it could have been a long recovery. Ahoy! Begad! Some other option may need t' be explored for t' parachute. Ahoy! Our second flight, me bucko, again single stage, D12-7 went t' same as t' first, arrr, only this time t' Estes 7 second delay occurred in about 1 second, me hearties, after a violent deployment, t' rocket drifted down and we inspected it. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! A very, ya bilge rat, very slight 1/8" zipper in t' top o' t' body tube was t' only damage, me hearties, I believe this be in part a result o' t' stiffer body tubes that came with this kit. 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 bad (short) delay did cause an 1/8" zipper in t' upper body tube, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I did deviate from stock by usin' t' Keelhaul®©™ safety line and this did extend out t' top o' t' tube. Begad! Ya scallywag! 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, arrr, great lookin' finish, me hearties, and what seemed t' be better quality body tubes. Ya scallywag! Great flight, arrr, and strong enough t' take a violent recovery system deployment. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Con's: None.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5