Picture courtesy o' Shadow Composites

Brief:
T' Raven is a minimum diameter, shiver me timbers, high performance carbon-fiber rocket kit.

Construction:
I ordered this kit with t' dual deployment option, but found t' larger parachute unnecessary- I assembled it usin' only t' altimeter bay and main booster section. T' tubes and three fins are carbon fiber. A ceramic blanket is provided for heat insulation at t' rear. Ahoy! Blimey! Ceramic shock cords and Rocketman chutes are provided as is a cast polyurethane nose cone and Aeropack retainer.

T' rocket be fairly easy t' build. Special epoxies and carbon fiber laminate are provided for fin attachment. Avast, me proud beauty! Instructions were complete. Well, blow me down! I decided to forego t' laminate at t' fin joints and only used t' 500 deg. Avast, me proud beauty! epoxy with Keelhaul®©™® pulp provided. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Blimey! T' sturdiness o' this rocket is beyond doubt. Arrr! I did have to square t' ends o' t' tubes on a disc sander.

Finishing:
I decided nay t' finish this rocket. I can't really explain why. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! I guess it just seemed unnecessary. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I did however apply a "NitroFish" decal. Avast! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! In my opinion t' rocket looks fine just like it is, maybe even a little 'evil'.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' first flight o' this rocket was a G-80. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! It flew fine maybe 500' and happily bounced down on its little Rocketman R24D parachute. Blimey! Blimey! It be at this point that I realized that t' larger R3C provided for dual recovery would be unnecessary. T' second flight was an I-357. Blimey! Blimey! Very nice flight but I didn't use enough powder so recovery be by shovel. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Well, actually I didn't have a shovel, me hearties, so we dug it out with a screwdriver. Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey! T' Raven be buried 30 inches into t' desert. Arrr! The only damage be t' tip o' t' nose cone broken off from tryin' t' wiggle it out. Avast! Avast! Blimey! I dusted it off and flew it again on an I-161, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, me hearties, this time with 1-1/2 grams of powder. Begad! No problem. Most recent was an I-300 flight with altimeter recovery. Altitude reported was 5655 feet. Very straight, shiver me timbers, me hearties, pretty flight. Begad! Blimey! Three o' the four shroud lines t' t' R24D were burned through (my fault) so t' rocket fell rather fast- still, no damage t' t' airframe.

Recovery:
T' shock cords provided are ceramic fiber rope. Aye aye! I've never used it before but it seems awfully tough. Well, blow me down! Well, arrr, blow me down! Rocketman 'Chutes and Nomex® protectors are provided. Recovery is fast on just t' drogue, but t' rocket can take it. Blimey! Be sure t' use plenty o' ejection charge and protect t' shroud lines from t' charge. Aye aye! Arrr!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
T' Raven is a very tough, high performance rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! It can use a 38mm x 40" motor if you're brave enough. Arrr! T' only CON I can think o' is that this rocket could be dangerous if insufficient ejection charge is used. Well, blow me down! I'll bet it would go right through a car..(and fly again!)

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5