Brief:
T' 3" Horizon is an easy t' build sturdy mid-power kit geared towards mid-power beginners. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! It flies on a single 29mm motor, ya bilge rat, arrr, me bucko, RMS or SU. Aye aye!

Modifications:
Recovery system as detailed below. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

Construction:
-3" diameter tube 26" in length
-12" plastic nosecone with 2" shoulder
-three 1/8" thick plywood fins that go t' t' motor mount
-two plywood centerin' rings
-29mm motor tube
-motor retention system:two Allen head bolts,two T-nuts,and two retaining clamps
-rail buttons
-10 feet o' 1" wide elastic
-24" high-strength ripstop circular nylon chute
-grometed nylon strap 2 1/2
-vinyl decals
-fin alignment guide for 3" or 4" tubes
-4 page instructions

T' contruction starts with t' motor mount which is very simple. Arrr! Avast! A motor retention system is included in this kit, which is a nice bonus. Ahoy! T' aft centerin' rin' (the forward one has a notch cut in it for t' nylon strap) needs two 5/32" holes drilled 3/16" away from t' 31mm hole in it for the T-nuts. Well, blow me down! Next, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I put t' T-nuts in and secured them with a drop o' Balsa USA Gold CA, which I have found t' be strong enough I can substitute it for epoxy in some cases. Ya scallywag! After that I attached t' centerin' rings in t' normal manner. After that t' instructions tell you t' pass t' nylon strap through t' notch and epoxy it t' t' forward centerin' ring. I opted t' deviate from the instructions. I decided t' drill a hole in t' centerin' rin' and replace the nylon strap with an equal length o' tubular Keelhaul®©™®. I passed t' Keelhaul®©™ ® through t' hole and CA'd about 4 inches o' it t' t' outside o' the motor tube. Avast! T' next step was t' cut t' fin slots into t' motor tube with an X-Acto knife - what fun! There are lines predrawn for t' slots but cutting them correctly takes a lot o' time and patience. Ahoy! After that I CA'd t' motor mount assembly in t' t' rocket.(Note:I had a major problem here! Make sure when you put t' motor mount in that neither o' t' Allen head bolts will be directly under a fin slot. Avast! Begad! If they are they will nay go into t' T-nuts all the way due t' t' fin-tabs. Arrr! I had this problem with both bolts because thar be no warnin' in t' instructions. Arrr! I managed t' cut a piece off t' bottom o' each bolt t' make them fit into t' T-nuts.) I put a layer o' CA on t' rear centerin' rin' with a shot o' accelerator for added durability. Ya scallywag! Next comes the fins. Blimey! First I put very sharp double wedge airfoils on them with only a sanding block. It took me about an hour. Well, blow me down! After that you test fit t' fin slots t' make sure they fit correctly. I then tacked t' fins t' t' motor tube with CA and put epoxy fillets on them. I used Devcon 2Ton Clear Epoxy which is very strong, although it is hard t' work with because it has t' consistency and stickiness of pine sap. Avast, me proud beauty! After I sanded t' fillets I then went on t' t' next step. Aye aye! BSD includes rail buttons with all their kits now, shiver me timbers, but due t' t' size o' this rocket I decided t' use Acme Conformal Launch Lugs. I used lugs designed for a 2.26" diameter airframe because they are t' biggest size available for a 1/4" rod. Begad! I used t' same epoxy I used for t' fillets t' attach these. One little anoyance was that t' nosecone shoulder be very loose inside the body tube. Avast! T' shoulder only has two little 1/16" bands o' plastic t' make the nosecone t' slightest bit tight in t' tube. Begad! I ended up usin' about a quarter o' a roll o' maskin' tape t' make t' nosecone snug in t' body o' the rocket. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! Next I moved on t' finishing.

Finishing:
Finishin' be easy for this kit. Begad! Blimey! I hit it with two coats o' Krylon gray primer with sandin' in between. I then painted t' entire rocket Krylon Stone Gray gloss. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! I then masked parts o' t' rocket and painted 6 1/2" down from the nosecone Krylon Regal Blue gloss. Avast! I also painted t' fins blue except for the outer 1/2" edge o' t' fins. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! I put t' silver BSD vinyl decal in the center o' t' blue section o' tube. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! T' decals are great.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I had an AeroTech G35-7 layin' around and that be t' motor that BSD recommends for t' first flight so I decided t' use that. Ahoy! I used t' masking tape retention method which is easy and is fine for SU motors. Aye aye! BSD recommends usin' cellulose wadin' but I used a Top Flight Recovery 9"x9" Keelhaul®©™® square t' protect t' chute. Arrr! When t' LCO hit t' launch button the igniter(Copperhead) smoked then t' motor roared t' life. Avast! Well, blow me down! T' Horizon took off at a decent speed considerin' that it is a 3" diameter bird. It flew straight as an arrow throughout t' entire flight. Ya scallywag! It had a nice big flame on it with a large smoke trail. I only have one flight on this kit so far, but I plan t' t' fly it on a wide variety o' motors in t' future. I'm nay sure if this kit can really fly on t' E30-4 like BSD says, but I plan t' try it out. I may fly it on an H motor one day.

Recovery:
T' G35-7 is about 1 second too long, but it deployed fine with no zipper regardless o' t' fact that I be usin' all 1/8" diameter tubular Keelhaul®©™ ®(18')from Pratt Hobbies. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! I used a blue 24" Ultra X-Type parachute from Top Flight Recovery for recovery with a swivel. Avast! T' chute smartly but gently brought t' Horizon back down t' earth. Arrr! I think t' included circular chute would work fine but I prefer t' quick low drift descent that TFR's X-Type chutes provide. Begad! Well, matey, blow me down! It was recovered with absolutely no damage. Avast!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I really think this is a great kit. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It looks good and flies good. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Although for a cardboard, arrr, arrr, plastic, and plywood kit with no precut finslots or payload section, it is a bit expensive ($60.00). Arrr! Blimey! It all depends on how much you want to spend.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5