Brief:
This is a good, clean, shiver me timbers, single staged rocket which uses an 18" plastic parachute for recovery.

Construction:
There is a single body tube, with three fins. Aye aye! Avast! T' construction is very simple, and t' design is very basic.

T' construction was fairly simple with an overall basic design. Arrr! Avast! T' Estes instructions were very thorough, and I was nay confused at any point. T' only problem I had was with t' fit o' t' couplin' betwixt t' body tube and the payload area. Avast! Avast! I had t' cut off one layer o' t' red paper in order t' fit the two pieces together, but otherwise thar were no problems. Well, blow me down! I didn't use the 'antenna' that were provided, matey, as it would just add extra drag.

Finishing:
I just finished this rocket with conventional spray paint. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! A couple coats of primer, matey, then a few each o' gloss black and white t' their corresponding regions. Ahoy! T' finishin' near t' tail fins was difficult as t' gloss white had to extend partly betwixt t' fins. I think it might be easier t' paint t' fins first and t' body tube separately and then epoxy them together, arrr, t' get the best finish.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommended motor was a D12-5, me hearties, ya bilge rat, but Estes has unfortunately discontinued this size. I have t' go t' t' C11-5 and D12-3. T' C11-5's were great. I got many great flights with this size, which were all visible with a clear sky. When I launched t' D12-3 t' rocket went almost out o' sight, me bucko, but I forgot to put waddin' in and t' parachute partially got scorched. Even though thar was almost nothin' slowin' t' rockets decent it was perfectly intact when it landed about 50ft. Ya scallywag! Avast! away from t' launch site in a pile o' snow. Arrr! Arrr! I decided that the rocket could handle an E9-6, ya bilge rat, so I launched one o' with that as well. I lost site o' it as it passed through some clouds at about 1200 ft, but then saw it about 20 seconds later passin' through them, safely floatin' down. Avast, me proud beauty! It landed about 100 ft. Aye aye! Begad! away from t' launch site (0-5mph o' wind). Blimey! All t' flights were perfectly straight and extremely predictable, shiver me timbers, matey, this is a great rocket.

Recovery:
T' only problem is this rocket doesn't need a parachute so large. I cut a 2 inch hole in t' top o' t' parachute t' help it descend faster, but it still took well over 2 minutes on t' D12-3. T' shock cord bent t' body tube at the top on t' D12-3, matey, ya bilge rat, so I didn't use any more D's on it. Begad! I think you could almost recover this thin' without any recovery system at all. Blimey!

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
This rocket was easy t' build, matey, shiver me timbers, flew great, shiver me timbers, almost too great, as I lost it on my last launch o' t' day. Only con is that thar aren't too many engines you can use standard on this thing, and t' D12-3 is nay recommended. Well, blow me down! I'm goin' t' try an Aerotech E30 on this, ya bilge rat, matey, I don't know what it will do with almost triple the force o' t' Estes D's. Arrr! Just don't launch this with a delay time o' less than 3 seconds. Ahoy!

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5