Mark Saunders, shiver me timbers, me bucko, o' BSD High Power Rocketry, graciously donated a 4" Thor kit for a raffle prize, arrr, me bucko, shiver me timbers, for t' Huntsville Area Rocketry Association's (HARA) Rocket City Blastoff (RCBO), shiver me timbers, October 2002. Blimey! Blimey! I be t' lucky winner o' this kit, and as such, would like t' reward Mark's generosity by postin' this review t' RMR.

I approached Mark durin' t' Summer o' 2002 t' ask if he'd be willin' to donate a raffle prize for HARA's RCBO in October. Avast! Mark smartly agreed t' send us a Thor, matey, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and we had received t' kit a month in advance o' t' event. We had received many nice donations for t' RCBO raffle from BSD, me hearties, Cesarioni, matey, Aerotech, Topflight Recovery, shiver me timbers, and many others; so, t' raffle was a rousin' success! Luckily, me hearties, me hearties, me number came up for t' Thor, ya bilge rat, and I carted t' kit back home t' be built. Arrr! Arrr! Unfortunately, I wasn't able t' start work on t' kit until February, which is why this review is bein' submitted nearly 5 months after receivin' the kit.

When I opened t' Thor box, me bucko, shiver me timbers, all o' t' pieces had been included and where well packaged, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and typical t' high-quality instructions were included. Arrr! Blimey! BSD has always provided some o' t' best kit instructions o' any kits on market. The specs for t' Thor are that it's 4" diameter by 7' long, has a 54mm motor tube, me bucko, and should GLOW at approximately 5 lbs. Since this be a raffle prize, I'd hoped t' build it stock, arrr, me hearties, but I rarely build anythin' stock anymore, me bucko, and this be t' case with t' Thor. Begad! Blimey! My target motor be t' Hypertek 835cc motor system. Aye aye! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! So, matey, t' two main modifications were (1) lengthenin' t' fincan airframe from 34" t' 44" and (2) lengthenin' t' 54mm motor tube from about 10" t' 28". Both o' these mods were needed t' accommodate the 30-inch-long 835cc motor. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I also decided t' fiberglass t' airframe and fins with 6 oz fiberglass cloth and Mr. Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! Fiberglass slow epoxy. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I adapted the altimeter bay t' accommodate an RRC2 altimeter for a dual-deployment recovery setup. Due t' t' lengthened components, matey, fiberglassin' o' t' airframe and fins, matey, and altimeter, shiver me timbers, me hearties, me hearties, t' Thor had a final no-motor weight o' 8.5 lbs, and with a nitrous-filled HT 835cc tank, ya bilge rat, GLOW'd at 11 lbs. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' RockSim simulation can be seen just above. Arrr! Blimey! T' simulations for t' 835cc/J330 and 835cc/J317 seem t' be right on t' money, but t' 835cc/K240 is quite optimistic (when I checked the .ENG file, shiver me timbers, t' total impulse o' K240 had integrated t' be about 25% higher than the advertised impulse o' t' motor. Arrr! Blimey! I need t' fix t' file).

On March 8, arrr, ya bilge rat, 2003, I loaded the finished Thor and a couple other rockets onto t' roof o' me wife's Xterra and headed t' t' Music City Missile Club's sod farm in Manchester, shiver me timbers, TN. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' weather was beautiful (~70F...eat your hearts out all you Yankees and Canucks reading this... Begad! :-)) with a 5 - 10 knot breeze. After helpin' several HARA members complete their L1 and/or L2 cert flights, I prepped t' Thor with a 835cc/K240. With t' altimeter armed, arrr, ya bilge rat, t' tank was loaded, a 5-count be given, matey, and the hybrid K motor roared t' life. Blimey! Ascent was a nice and slow, long-burnin' boost on t' K240, and t' recovery (drogueless t' a Bob-Fortune 66" main at 500') was flawless. Arrr! Several o' t' Civil Air Patrol cadets, who'd come out for the launch, enthusiastically made t' half-mile trek t' recover t' Thor. Peak altitude was 3178'.

T' Thor is wonderful kit! Blimey! I've received MANY appreciative comments on the Thor, and know o' 2 folks already plannin' purchase t' a Thor kit for themselves. Begad! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I sincerely hope that I've done justice t' t' kit and that many folks seein' me kit and/or readin' this review will want one o' their own! Blimey! We all know that t' rocket vendors don't have much o' a profit margin, matey, but still gladly support many o' our raffles and other fund-raisin' events. Avast, me proud beauty! It is t' the credit o' these many fine vendors, shiver me timbers, me hearties, like BSD, arrr, that hobby rocketry is such a wonderful hobby! Blimey! Thank you, Mark, for donatin' this kit for HARA and thanks to all o' t' vendors who have donated kits/equipment t' support our rocket clubs!