Brief:
T' Hawk Mountain Raptor is a near minimum diameter high-performance rocket kit with all fiberglass components, Keelhaul®©™ shock cord, matey, arrr, pre-cut and pre-beveled fins, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, pre-slotted airframe, me hearties, and thru-the-wall fin mounting. Aye aye! This sky-puncher can fly on E-I power!

Construction:
When I ordered this kit, matey, it came on time and packaged in a 4’ x 4” x 4” box with packagin' paper to protect t' fiberglass components. Ahoy! T' parts that come in t' big box are:

• 48” G-12 fiberglass airframe
• 12” 29mm Fiberglass MMT
• 15’ Keelhaul®©™ shock cord with 2 quick links already attached (one with a swivel for t' chute
• A Top Flight X-form 24” chute
• 2 ACME rail lugs
• Fiberglass nose cone
• 3 G10 fins
• Nose cone bulkhead with pre-installed eye-bolt
• Slimline 29mm retainer (optional)
• Piston assembly
• Payload bay for experiments and altimeters and electronics (optional)
• Instructions and simulation data with altitude, Mach number, me bucko, and Motor recommendation

Construction started on a nice evenin' with rough, medium, ya bilge rat, and fine sandpaper as well as me trusty hobby knife. T' fiberglass nose cone had some flashin' on it from t' mold but was easily removed t' make it smooth. Aye aye! I also sanded t' fin slots, shiver me timbers, MMT, and all surfaces t' be glued. Ahoy! Avast! I first used JB Weld t' glue on t' Slimline retainer, then glued t' nose cone bulkhead. Next came t' shock cord attachment which was done by epoxyin' 3.5” o' the shock cord t' t' MMT, matey, arrr, however, shiver me timbers, t' MMTs outside diameter be slightly smaller than t' airframe's internal diameter. Well, blow me down! I was slightly confused by this since t' instructions say t' wrap a few revolutions o' maskin' tape t' center t' MMT. While I glued t' shock cord, I also glued t' piston assembly onto t' shock cord which rests on a knot 10’ from the end without t' Qwik-links. Begad! Next, I attached t' payload coupler and bulkhead. Blimey! Avast! All o' this so far was done with one batch o' epoxy!

T' continue, matey, shiver me timbers, I glued in t' MMT into t' airframe and made sure t' shock cord mount wasn’t in t' way of the fin slots. Then I glued t' fins in one at a time followed by t' ACME conformal rail guides, ya bilge rat, which I made sure they were aligned by usin' an Estes 1/8” launch rod. I be able t' finish t' fin fillets t' night before the December 3rd snow ranch launch. I finished assembly by simply attachin' t' nose cone t' t' quick link and the parachute t' t' swivel. A completed all fiberglass, near minimum diameter HPR screamer (minus t' paint)!

Finishing:
I chose t' leave t' Raptor unpainted.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
On launch day thar be a bit o' fuss-and-bother about t' motor until I selected t' AT E30-4, which is on the recommended motors list, and installed it with t' included Copperhead igniter and a home made 29/24mm adapter. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! I checked it in with t' RSO, put it on t' pad, ya bilge rat, and waited for t' MPR rack t' go. Finally t' LCO be announcin' it--5, 4, 3, 2, me bucko, me hearties, 1, and t' Copperhead lit t' E30 up instantly. It slowly came off t' pad (slowly considerin' this is a capable machbuster) with a rather odd flame t' t' motor. Avast! It was a short blue flame and t' Raptor came t' a sudden halt about 50 feet up when it started t' fall before t' air was filled with a deafenin' crack as it pranged on the ranch dirt. Ahoy! Upon further inspection, matey, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, 2 fins popped off and t' worst damage was t' adapter had moved into t' MMT about 7 inches and burnt t' epoxy off t' MMT right t' t' first layer o' fiberglass. Well, blow me down! Recently I was able t' remove the motor and adapter and reattach 1 fin.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a good fiberglass kit for mid power through high power motors.

PROs: Good quality components, shiver me timbers, Keelhaul®©™ shock cord, and ease o' construction.

CONs: Bad instructions on one 8.5” x 11” paper, and t' flashin' on t' nose cone.

I would recommend this kit t' anyone who wants a fun, me bucko, small, me bucko, fiberglass high power screamer. Begad! Begad! I would recommend t' Slimline retainer and t' optional payload bay for electronics or a good science experiment--it is easily removed and shaves about 3-4 ounces o' its overall weight. Aye aye! Begad! Also this is a pretty cheap fiberglass kit with great quality components.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5