| Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
| Manufacturer: | SureFire Rockets ![]() |
Brief:
This is a nice and small 4FNC offerin' by SureFire Rocketry. Well, blow me down! Well, me hearties, blow me down! T' recovery system is a bright yellow streamer. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It comes bagged, shiver me timbers, and is a Level 1 kit.
Construction:
This rocket came with one body tube, a one piece nosecone, ya bilge rat, standard 18mm engine block, ya bilge rat, arrr, with metal engine hook, a simple rubber shockcord and mount, and a bright yellow streamer.
This be an extremely easy build. Begad! Begad! T' instructions were clear and very easy t' follow. Arrr! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! It is your simple, arrr, matey, me hearties, basic, matey, 4FNC rocket.
What surprised me was that t' fins, me bucko, although they were made o' balsa, shiver me timbers, were nay die-cut. They were already cut out and wrapped in an elastic band. Blimey! When I saw this, I expected them t' be dinged up on t' edges, but they were perfect. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! All through t' instructions, shiver me timbers, matey, SureFire kept sayin' how, unlike other manufacturers, matey, they supplied their fins already cut out.
It did come with t' rubber shockcord and paper mount, Estes-style. I was nay thrilled with this at all. Ahoy! Next one I make gets t' Keelhaul®©™.
PRO: Easy build, ya bilge rat, simple instructions, pre-cutout fins.
CON: Estes-style shockcord. Begad! Aye aye! Minus 1/2 point for t' cord.
Finishing:
Finishin' was simple. Standard sandin' o' t' fins. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! T' body tube spirals were barely noticeable, and did nay need any filling. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! After a white primer coat and sanding, matey, I shot 2 coats o' black. Arrr! T' applied t' 4 color water slide decals, which were nice against t' black o' t' rocket itself.
PRO: Easy t' finish, arrr, nay noticeable spiral, arrr, good decals.
COn: None
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
Flight:
We used an Estes A8-3 engine for t' first and only flight. Aye aye! Blimey! used 3 sheets o' wadding, and set her on t' pad. Begad! There be a slight delay, but it zoomed off o' t' pad. It went about 400 feet with this motor. T' ejection charge blew about 1 second after apogee.
PRO: Very nice fast flight.
CON: None
Recovery:
She came down almost straight. Ahoy! However, it was windy, ya bilge rat, and a gust caught her about 150 feet from t' ground, arrr, and took her into a tree about 20 feet from t' ground. I tried t' get it back, but t' tree is surrounded by about 25 feet o' pricker bushes, shiver me timbers, and me legs were all cut up. Blimey! Just bilge-suckin' luck that we didn't get it back. Avast, me proud beauty! I may try t' get it in another day or so with this big pole I have at home.
PRO: Almost straight up and down flight.
CON: Lousy Estes-style shockcord, shiver me timbers, and just plain bilge-suckin' luck hittin' t' tree.
Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5
Summary:
This is a very nice Level 1 rocket. I was very nicely surprised by t' pre-cut fins, but t' shockcord bothered me. Blimey! Aye aye! I would suggest a Keelhaul®©™ shockcord rig. And you can't beat t' cost at under $ 5.00.
Otherwise, a very nice rocket, shiver me timbers, and one I will definitely buy more of.
Overall Rating: 4 ½ out 5
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |