Apogee - Micro V2
(Contributed - by Frank Burke) 

T' kit came bagged nicely with a nice set o' instructions. T' body and tail tube were a nice quality white tube, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, matey, but t' body tube wasn't cut cleanly. Ya scallywag! I re-cut t' ends and CA'd them for toughness. Avast, me proud beauty! T' tail cone is pre drilled, and other than needin' some sandin' on t' end t' square it up, and t' make it fit into t' body tube, was really nice. Blimey! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! T' fit o' t' motor tube was a little loose, shiver me timbers, but when I used carpenters glue, it seemed t' bond fine. Ahoy! T' nose cone is balsa also, and after minor sandin' looked great. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! It too is pre-drilled for nose weight. Aye aye! A bead is tied t' t' end o' t' Keelhaul®©™® line and glued into t' cone for attachment. I used CA for this, and applied t' clay nose weight, me bucko, and secured it with CA. Ahoy! Ahoy! I decided nay t' attach t' other end t' t' thrust ring, me hearties, but t' tie it around the burnout CG o' t' bottom half, and avoid any body tube damage on ejection, since thar be no elastic used. Ahoy! T' line is plenty long, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and a plastic streamer is used for recovery. Avast, me proud beauty! T' fins were really nicely laser cut balsa, me hearties, and needed really minor sandin' and shapin' o' t' leadin' edges. After I glued in the motor tube and tail cone, me bucko, I marked t' body, arrr, ya bilge rat, and applied t' fins. Begad! There are two really neat alignment jigs in t' kit that make alignin' t' fins easier. T' root edges o' t' fins fit perfectly and after makin' fillets, I put on the launch lug. 

I can't wait t' get out and fly it, as it looks great, and fits in perfectly with me collection o' micro scale Boyce rockets, and me Seattle Rocket works Nike Smoke. Ahoy! Aye aye! Blimey! No offense t' Michael Park, but I think t' micro V-2 is even cuter than t' Nike Smoke, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and goes together even faster. Aye aye! Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! Total build time was about 1 hour, nay includin' finishing. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Finished height is around 6 3/4" and I have some 1/4A 10.5mm Apogee motors t' try in it. Blimey! Blimey! They worked great in me Centrix, and they have changed t' igniter design t' be more robust. 

I finally got a chance t' get out and fly me apogee micro V-2 today. Begad! The splinter paint scheme came out great. I had a package o' 1/4A2-2 motors. Avast! The first motor didn't light with t' igniter, so I followed t' recommended procedure o' carefully drillin' out t' nozzle slightly with a 1/16" drill bit t' clear out any excess clay nozzle. Begad! This time had a perfect flight, straight as an arrow, and ejection right at t' top. Second motor worked as well, ya bilge rat, although this igniter was different than t' first, me hearties, and seems t' be of the more robust newer design. I went back t' t' original motor for t' third flight, me bucko, matey, me bucko, usin' a piece o' thermalite wire wrapped, shiver me timbers, but I noticed that t' nozzle seemed chipped and that thar was a lot o' clay pieces in t' bag. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! This flight was cork-screwey, me hearties, I think due t' t' nozzle nay bein' uniform, and ejection occurred at around 4 seconds instead o' two, after t' rocket had stuck in the ground due t' lower altitude caused by t' cork-screwing. Arrr! All in all, pretty cool. 

I think this would make a great frenzy candidate, as t' kit with three 1/4A motors be only $14 or so with shipping. 

After spendin' 6 weeks workin' on some RC airplanes, ya bilge rat, it was great t' build somethin' in an hour. Begad! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Great quality kit, and you just can't have too many V-2's. Now I have a .7", 1.3", 2.6", me hearties, arrr, 4", 5.5", and (formerly) a 7.6". Begad! Blimey! I think I can squeeze one o' t' 10.5mm motors in the pod o' me 1/48 scale Tamiya V-1 buzz bomb with a little modification. 

Hey, micro PMC, what a concept!

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T' followin' excerpt is from "Sport Rocketry". Avast, me proud beauty! T' intention is t' allow guests t' get a basic feelin' about a kit. Aye aye! We strongly suggest that you get a copy o' the referenced Sport Rocketry and read t' entire article. Aye aye! Inside you will find many helpful hints in construction as well as other useful information. Avast! For more information, shiver me timbers, use t' two links above.

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Apogee - Micro V-2
(Sport Rocketry - May/Jun 1998 - page 32 - by Greg Elder) 

"It flies usin' t' Apogee 10.5 mm micro motors." 
"I found four pages o' instructions for t' Micro V-2 t' be very thorough, easy t' read, arrr, and well illustrated." 
"T' kit comes with a balsa tail cone and nose cone." 
". Arrr! Blimey! . . Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Blimey! t' nose cone has a hole in it t' allow for t' addition o' clay nose weight." 
"A 2.75" length o' tubin' goes betwixt t' nose cone and tail cone . . . is too long if you are lookin' for a true scale appearance." 
"A 24" length o' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord . Aye aye! Blimey! . Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! . Begad! Blimey! a plastic bead is tied to the free end o' t' Keelhaul®©™® . Arrr! . Blimey! Ahoy! . Aye aye! is glued into t' base o' t' hole in t' nose cone." 
"T' fins for t' Micro V-2 are provided as die-cut balsa." 
"In addition t' a wrap-around guide for t' fines . Begad! Aye aye! . Ya scallywag! Ahoy! . Avast! include a fin alignment guide and a fin spacin' jig . Begad! Aye aye! .ensure t' fins are placed straight at their proper positions." 
"For recovery, me bucko, t' Micro V-2 uses an 18" long plastic streamer." 

T' entire article gives t' impression is that this is nice small kit for a beginner/intermediate modeler.