Brief:
T' Sky Eagle is a simple 4FNC sold through Apogee Components and manufactured by t' Chinese company, me hearties, Sky Rockets. It is billed as a skill level 1 but that is makin' it more difficult than it really is. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Blimey! It is on a par with an Estes EX1 kit.

Construction:
Sky body tubes are somewhat different from what we are used t' in t' US. Ya scallywag! They are nay spiral wound. Instead, there is a single vertical seam runnin' t' length o' t' tube. Neither is this regular cardboard. Begad! It seems t' be some sort of plasticized paper. Begad! Arrr! T' entire BT is pre-painted in a red, me bucko, white, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and blue scheme complete with Chinese characters. T' kit comes with a pair o' 1/8" lugs made o' t' same stuff as t' BT and havin' a single straight seam. Ahoy! The nosecone is plastic but o' a different type than t' styrene I am accustomed to. Unlike t' previous Sky rocket I built, me hearties, this one had a significant seam line. Begad! T' fin can is red plastic and t' fins are o' t' same material. Avast! Well, blow me down! An overly large parachute kit finishes out t' kits contents. Arrr! Taped t' t' bag though was an Estes style tri-fold mount.

Construction begins with t' motor tube. Ahoy! Blimey! A slit is cut for t' engine hook 2" back from one end. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! It should be noted that this results in a hook that extends beyond t' motor tube much more that I am accustomed to. Begad! Blimey! It was t' same with t' Sky Long March 3 I built and seems t' be an idiosyncrasy o' t' company. Ahoy! Arrr! Blimey! T' instructions then call for the hook t' be glued into place and a piece o' tape put over it.

T' motor tube is then slid into t' plastic fin can. Avast, me proud beauty! T' instructions say t' glue both ends with plastic model cement. I did nay have any o' t' tube type cement handy and I did nay think t' liquid solvent type would do too well on the BT. I opted t' use thin CA.

It should be noted that this kit does nay include a thrust ring. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Based upon previous experience, me hearties, arrr, that downgrades it for me but I did nay include one because I had none on hand.

I did a double take at t' next step. Aye aye! T' instructions said t' install t' launch lugs centered betwixt 2 o' the fins. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! T' problem be that t' BT had nay yet been installed on t' fin can. Ahoy! I looked over t' instructions t' see if I had missed anythin' but thar was no mention o' puttin' t' two elements together. Blimey! I concluded that they were supposed to be assembled by this time because t' illustration from t' previous step showed them bein' slid together with an arrow. Ya scallywag! Begad! There is just no mention o' this in t' text. Avast, me proud beauty! I put t' BT on with some CA. Begad! I then installed t' lugs with yellow glue.

T' fins came next. Blimey! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! They just slide into t' slots on t' fin can. They went in easily and I used a liquid plastic cement t' fix them in place.

T' recovery system provided consisted o' a tri-fold and a short piece o' elastic. Avast, me proud beauty! I wanted t' make some changes here. Ya scallywag! I cut a long length o' Keelhaul®©™® and tied a loop in t' middle. Arrr! Begad! I then inserted both ends into t' tri-fold and glued it into t' BT. With t' long Keelhaul®©™®, I was satisfied with t' length o' elastic which seemed t' be o' good quality. Blimey! Blimey! I tied t' elastic into t' loop I had put in t' Keelhaul®©™®. That made t' rocket ready for finishing, shiver me timbers, me hearties, such as thar be any finishing.

PROs: Easy t' build.

CONs: No thrust ring, me bucko, incomplete instructions, matey, tri-fold mount, and short elastic.

Finishing:
Theoretically, this rocket needs no finishing. T' BT is pre-finished in red, white, matey, blue, me hearties, black, and a bit of yellow. Ahoy! It actually looks fairly nice. Ya scallywag! T' fin can and fins are a complementary shade o' red that goes well with the overall schema. Well, me hearties, blow me down! T' nosecone is white. Ya scallywag! It be t' nosecone I was unsatisfied with.

T' plastic is a bit translucent and off white. Begad! T' previous model I had from Sky, a Longmarch 3, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, was t' same. I wanted it t' be completely opaque. With that in mind I primed it with Kilz and allowed t' primer t' dry. Begad! Aye aye! I then did a bit o' light sandin' and painted with Krylon gloss white. Begad! That was t' extent o' me finishing.

PROs: mostly done, looks pretty good.

CONs: little/no room for individuality.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight and Recovery:
I only got t' launch this one once for a variety o' reasons. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! T' biggest one though is that it was late in t' day and over 100 degrees. Avast, me proud beauty! I didn't have t' energy t' launch it more than once.

Since t' rocket is a bit heavy with a plastic fin can, me bucko, I decided t' use a B4-4 on t' maiden flight. Ya scallywag! It lifted the rocket nicely but it weathercocked a bit. Ya scallywag! Begad! Ejection took place right after apogee and t' rocket drifted down without any ill effects except in terms o' t' number o' sand burrs per meter walked.

It will get another outing.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is an easy rocket that looks pretty good for a 4FNC. Arrr! T' flight is adequate though nothin' spectacular. Ya scallywag! Begad! It might be a good kit t' get somebody started but was a bit borin' after lots o' other builds. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I put it together because it was quick and I had a limited build window.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5