Brief:
This is a single stage, three fin rocket with a parachute recovery

Construction:
T' kit comes in a sturdy transparent bag, matey, with a header card printed in three colors (which, me hearties, conveniently, ya bilge rat, me bucko, means that t' picture o' t' rocket on t' card is in full color). Ya scallywag! Ahoy! T' body o' t' rocket is comprised o' two body tubes of glassine-coated kraft paper. Blimey! Well, blow me down! There is no payload section. Begad! There are three laser-cut balsa fins, with three tiny "auxiliary" fins above and parallel t' t' primaries. T' fins are already removed at t' factory from the balsa sheetin' and included in their own individual baggie. They, as well as t' nose cone, me hearties, are o' a very fine-grain balsa. Begad! Ya scallywag! There were no dents in t' nose cone. T' nose cone, screw eye and shock cords are individually bagged, as is the motor mount assembly. Ya scallywag! T' centerin' rings for t' motor mount are made o' an unknown, arrr, rigid substance (perhaps lightweight plastic or some sort o' dense foam with a flat black coating) but were as sturdy as balsa and definitely more sturdy than paper. An 18 mm cardboard ring, intended t' be used as a motor block and a typical engine hook, matey, shiver me timbers, are included. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! T' shock cord is comprised o' Keelhaul®©™® cord, attached t' t' motor mount, which is long enough t' actually extend a few inches further than t' length o' the rocket. Attached t' that is an elastic shock cord. Begad! T' nose cone is balsa, attached t' t' shock cord with a screw eye. T' parachute is a Hartle Engineerin' 20-inch Thermal Rider chute. Arrr! T' decals are water-slide type. Ahoy! T' large "Blue Bird Zero" decal comes in its own bag with some sort o' protective, waxy sheet coverin' t' lettering. T' smaller decals are also bagged.

T' Blue Bird Zero is firmly a Skill Level 2 kit, in that one has t' assemble t' parachute (a Hartle Engineering Thermal Rider parachute kit) and align t' auxiliary fins with t' primaries. There are no "gotchas" in the assembly. Avast, me proud beauty! T' instructions are in logical order. T' motor mount assembly is first in t' instructions. T' motor block is glued flush with t' top o' t' motor mount tube. Ahoy! T' above-mentioned motor mount centerin' rings worked well with Elmer's Glue-All® (used throughout t' build) which makes me think that they are made o' high-density foam or some derivative o' paper. T' engine hook is nay attached t' t' motor mount by t' typical plastic ring; instead one cuts out a printed strip of paper from t' last page o' t' instructions and glues that around t' engine hook. On t' last page o' the instructions, thar be t' standard printed tube markin' guide which one has t' cut out and tape around t' tube. Aye aye! Blimey! There is also a printed tri-fold shock cord attachment, if one chooses t' attach t' shock cord by this method although such is nay described in t' instructions. Aye aye! Blimey! I used t' time-tested door-frame method t' lengthen t' pencil marks I made on either side o' t' tube markin' guide; I had t' go back and lengthen t' pencil lines further, though, because I had forgotten about t' auxiliary fins! Blimey! Fortunately, I caught this before I had glued t' primary fins onto t' body tube. T' instructions show how t' cut t' included launch lug in half as well as where t' glue t' resultin' two lugs onto the rocket. There is a view-from-above, arrr, smaller-than-scale drawin' in t' instructions showin' how t' attach t' fins at 120 degree angles from each other. Blimey! Blimey! I lengthened t' lines representin' t' fins in t' drawin' t' full scale. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Before pressin' t' fins on, I let t' glue dry for a few minutes first; then placed t' body tube on top o' t' drawin' I had modified and used line-of-sight t' press t' fins on at t' correct angles. After screwin' t' screw eye in and out of the nose cone, I dropped some glue into t' resultin' hole, arrr, and screwed t' screw eye back in. Arrr! Blimey! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' Hartle™ chute material is already cut out t' a hexagon shape; one merely has t' apply t' adhesive reinforcin' rings t' both sides o' t' corners o' t' chute, and cut t' included thread into 3 equal-length pieces. A few knots later, me hearties, the assembly is done!

Finishing:
I rounded t' leadin' edges o' t' fins. I used 3 coats o' Sig™ sandin' sealer on t' primary fins (and t' nose cone), sandin' with 400 grit sandpaper betwixt coats, ya bilge rat, matey, before gluing the fins on t' body tube. Ya scallywag! After completin' assembly, I sprayed t' entire rocket with three coats o' Kilz primer, again sandin' betwixt coats with 400 grit. Ahoy! Avast! Blimey! This completely covered t' balsa grain and t' spirals in t' body tube (which were shallow t' begin with). T' balsa grain o' t' auxiliary fins barely showed upon close inspection; but since these are covered by decals, that was satisfactory t' me (besides, ya bilge rat, sandin' such tiny fins would have driven me crazy!). Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Blimey! In retrospect, I think I'll try another coat or two o' Kilz™ on me future balsa rocket components, skip t' sandin' sealer and see if I can cover t' grain that way.

Bein' a cheapskate, I checked t' compatability o' t' paint I already had, arrr, rather than goin' out first t' buy all Krylon™ products. Blimey! I had Design Master Larkspur Blue® (which me daughter had chosen for one o' her rockets) and Quick Color white® (99 cents from Home Depot™) on me shelf, so I sprayed them over Kilz™ on a spare piece o' body tube. Avast! After drying, I coated these paints with Krylon gloss clear®, which, ya bilge rat, again, I had on me shelf. Ya scallywag! I also tested t' Krylon clear on a corner o' decal sheetin' which I cut off from the decal sheet included with t' kit. Blimey! Begad! There were no devastatin' reactions betwixt these paints. Ya scallywag! I sprayed t' Quick Color white® on t' bottom half o' t' rocket, then masked it off with newspaper and Frog green tape t' spray t' top half with Larkspur Blue. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! After removin' t' newspaper, I found that some o' t' printin' had come off on t' white paint; so I sprayed one more coat o' white over it.

T' decals were t' best with which I've ever worked! They were thin enough t' glide over curved surfaces, arrr, but thick enough nay t' break. Aye aye! They practically slid themselves into place! A few nudges with me finger, me hearties, and they were done!

One historical note: I've always been somewhat bothered by t' combination o' English text ("Blue Bird Zero") and WWII German markings. Aye aye! (I'm strange that way!). Well, blow me down! I briefly considered makin' me own decal with a German translation o' "Blue Bird Zero;" instead I decided that this rocket was from an "alternate timeline" in which t' Germans and British were allies durin' WWII. Begad! Accordingly, I added Sir Oswald Mosley's lightning-bolt logo t' t' center o' t' wreath carried by t' German eagle. Avast, me proud beauty! (Google t' word "Mosley" if you're interested; he would have been t' obvious choice for Prime Minister durin' a German/British alliance. Well, blow me down! But I digress...).

I didn't have a chance t' clear-coat t' rocket until I got t' t' field. Fortunately, t' Krylon clear dries fast.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
I launched t' Blue Bird Zero three times on November 8. Avast! I only used recommended motors. Avast! T' maiden flight occurred on a B4-2, shiver me timbers, followed by flights on a B6-4 and a C6-5. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! T' chutes deployed at or slightly after apogee on all three flights. Blimey! Ya scallywag! I've read reviews o' scratch-built, upsized versions o' this rocket and t' flight characteristics o' my rocket seem similar. Ya scallywag! It doesn't catapult off t' pad (at least with t' motors I used) but accelerates smoothly, with minimal weather-cocking. Arrr! It's such a pretty rocket, I don't intend t' push it t' t' limit; so a C6-5 is as powerful as I'll use. Blimey! Arrr! It probably went 800 or 900 ft. on that motor as close as I can estimate.

Recovery:
T' Thermal Rider chute feels slightly slick, arrr, matey, ya bilge rat, doesn't stick t' itself, and rolls/packs easily. Begad! (They're so good, I ordered a 5-pack o' these chute kits, o' assorted sizes, for use in me other rockets!).T' parachute be t' perfect size for this rocket in terms o' descent rate and wind-drift. One primary fin was loosened after t' third flight, me bucko, shiver me timbers, but I attribute this t' t' very thin fillets o' Glue-All which I used. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! I added another fillet when I got home, and it's fixed.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
It's taken me 30-plus years; but I think I've finally learned how t' build a rocket accordin' t' t' instructions and achieve a paint-job which satisfies me! Accordingly, it's appropriate that I honed me skills on this kit, which dates from t' mid-1970s when I first got into this hobby. Avast! T' me, me Blue Bird Zero is a display piece. It's nay a high-performance bird; but that's O.K., because I don't want t' lose it. It's pretty; it's made o' high quality materials; and it's reliable. Aye aye! Ahoy! I've thoroughly enjoyed buildin' and flyin' this simple, shiver me timbers, but satisfying, me hearties, rocket. Avast! Ahoy! If this kit is representative o' other Inflight products, I'll definitely be shoppin' with this company again!

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5