Brief:
This is a new 2002 kit by Estes. Avast, me proud beauty! It's a four finned, me bucko, two stage rocket designed and named for t' new 24mm Estes C motors. Avast! Ahoy! 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. Well, blow me down! Both o' these seem t' be o' better quality, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and are stiffer than t' other 40 or so Estes kits I've built. Blimey! 8 balsa wood fins, matey, me bucko, ya bilge rat, 4 for t' booster and again 4 for t' sustainer. Ya scallywag! Nose cone be typical plastic, matey, me hearties, plastic parachute, paper centerin' rings, shiver me timbers, motor blocks, and shock chord mount.

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

Finishing:
I liked t' rockets stock paint scheme and decided t' duplicate it when finishin' mine. Begad! I applied 2 coats o' Krylon gray primer t' t' entire rocket, ya bilge rat, sandin' betwixt coats. Aye aye! This was enough t' fill in t' spirals on t' body tube. T' upper body tube be painted dark red, t' lower body tube black. Well, blow me down! Upper body tube fins were then painted black, ya bilge rat, and t' lower body tube fins painted red. T' nose cone is finished in black. Arrr! All paintin' was done with Krylon paints. Avast, me proud beauty! With this stock paint scheme, arrr, maskin' off fins and other sections is fairly simple, yet gives a very nice lookin' finish. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! Decals are o' t' peel and stick variety so a little care needs t' be taken when applyin' them. Blimey! I liked t' decals, matey, arrr, as thar weren't too many t' make it busy, shiver me timbers, but enough t' give it a little contrast. 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. Begad! Two stage flights take a C11-0 or D12-0 for t' booster, followed by a C11-5, C11-7, me bucko, shiver me timbers, me bucko, or D12-7 for t' sustainer. Avast! Ya scallywag! On our first flight we deviated from t' recommended, matey, as I thought this bird just looked fast, ya bilge rat, we went with a little longer delay and loaded it up with a D12-7. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! Motor's are a friction fit, and require a wrap o' maskin' tape t' fit them into t' motor tube. Ahoy! Ahoy! This was easily accomplished on this rocket. Aye aye! We launched t' rocket and got a very quick, and straight liftoff, and t' rocket screamed up, matey, we lost sight o' it for a moment but regained sight when we heard t' parachute pop open. Begad! For t' maiden flight I did use t' stock plastic 18" chute. Well, matey, blow me down! After waitin' what seemed like 5 minutes she finally touched down with no damage. Ya scallywag! Well, arrr, blow me down! Overall a great flight, matey, me hearties, fortunately we had light winds or it could have been a long recovery. Blimey! Some other option may need t' be explored for t' parachute. Aye aye! Our second flight, shiver me timbers, again single stage, D12-7 went t' same as t' first, only this time t' Estes 7 second delay occurred in about 1 second, ya bilge rat, after a violent deployment, me hearties, t' rocket drifted down and we inspected it. Begad! A very, arrr, very slight 1/8" zipper in t' top o' t' body tube be t' only damage, I believe this be in part a result o' t' stiffer body tubes that came with this kit. Ya scallywag! We hope t' soon get it up under full power with two stages, ya bilge rat, but don't foresee any problems.

Recovery:
T' second flight, with a bilge-suckin' (short) delay did cause an 1/8" zipper in t' upper body tube, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I did deviate from stock by usin' t' Keelhaul®©™ safety line and this did extend out t' top o' t' tube. 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, ya bilge rat, great lookin' finish, me hearties, and what seemed t' be better quality body tubes. Great flight, and strong enough t' take a violent recovery system deployment. Con's: None.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5