Brief
I picked up me Broadsword at a local hobby shop about 1 year ago for about $40.00 Canadian dollars. I already have a Big Bertha and I saw t' t' Broadsword and at that moment I wanted it right away thinkin' that it would fly like t' Big Bertha, and it does. Avast! T' Broadsword is basically a scaled-up Big Bertha designed t' take Estes D's and E's. Aye aye! Blimey! You also might remember t' Super Big Bertha t' Broadsword be t' same rocket that's been "Beefed Up" t' take t' more powerful Estes E engine. T' main difference betwixt t' two is that t' Super Big Bertha just had a regular D engine mount and it had no stuffer tube also. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Whereas t' Broadsword has a stuffer tube that is 24 mm wide and is also t' engine mount all in one.

Construction
T' Broadsword has t' typical Estes instructions which are o' pretty good quality and are easy t' follow. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' Broadsword is in t' Challenge series o' rockets but they could o' put it in t' Beta Series because it's nay a hard rocket t' build at all. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! t' only annoyin' thin' always occurs when you try t' glue t' fins on a non-slotted body tube, so when constructin' t' Broadsword I bought a bottle o' C/A t' I glued t' fins on in a minute after I went over t' root with some 5 minute epoxy t' form a beautiful fillet. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I also got a longer shock cord and tied it down t' t' last Centerin' Rin' at t' end o' t' stuffer tube. Other than that t' construction was a breeze.

Finishing
I painted me Broadsword exactly like on t' box ( black on top red on bottom) and this proved very east t' do. Before paintin' t' rocket I primed t' body tube and filled in t' grains in t' balsa fins with some microballoon filler mixed in with epoxy. Blimey! This method works Awesome! Because your fins get much stronger and t' epoxy doesn't weigh that much because o' t' microballoon powder mixed with t' epoxy. Avast, me proud beauty! Also you need only 1 coat with this stuff t' sand it and your ready t' paint, me hearties, 1 COAT!

Flying
T' Broadsword flies like I wanted it t' (like t' Big Bertha. Aye aye! Begad! It has semi-slow lift-offs which I like and flies t' around 350 ft with a D and double that on an E. Well, blow me down! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! I also replaced t' 18" parachute with a 24" parachute because I found that t' 18" one be too small.

Recommended Engines: D12-3, E15-4, E15-6.

Final words
T' Estes Broadsword be last produced in 1996 and I believe they stopped producin' t' Broadsword along with t' Shadow because o' t' high failure rate o' their E engine on which they were intended t' fly on. I Guess they didn't want people usin' Aerotech engines in their rockets.

All in all I really enjoy this kit and I believe that Estes shouldn't o' stopped producin' it.