Picture courtesy o' Madcow Rocketry    

Brief:
Modified for dual deploy. 24" Drogue and a 36" main. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! A 38mm and 1/4" plywood fins were also added.

Construction:
15.5" and 10.5" body tubes, matey, me hearties, 4 1/4" plywood fins, me hearties, 1 1/8" centerin' ring, 1 balsa tail cone, plastic nose cone, arrr, 36" chute, chute protector, shiver me timbers, Keelhaul®©™® shock cord.

T' standard Madcow Hawk is a 29mm motor with a single 25.5" body tube. Mike responded he had t' components for a 38mm model. He upgraded t' fins t' 1/4", parachute t' 36", and sent 10.5" and 15.5" body tubes per me request for dual deploy. T' construction was no problem and consisted o' quality parts. I wanted t' build this sturdy for larger 38mm motors. Arrr! I was concerned with t' 1/8" centerin' rin' so I reinforced that with some scrap carbon fiber. Avast! T' body tubes were reinforced with fiberglassed sleeves from Soller composites. Ya scallywag! T' fins are mounted through t' wall and butted against t' forward centerin' ring, epoxy fillets, and then foamed. Ya scallywag! I cut some slots in t' balsa tail cone as it did nay clear t' fins inside t' body tube. Ya scallywag! I also reamed out t' bottom part of the tail cone with a Dremel t' insert an Aero Pack retainer. Begad! After t' tail cone was epoxied in place, arrr, I added tip to tip fiberglass over t' fins and t' t' aft o' t' tail cone. Arrr! Ahoy! T' pieces went together without a problem other than the tail cone insert which was an easy fix. Blimey! After usin' RockSim t' simulate a J350 flight, I had t' add 10oz o' weight to t' nose cone. Avast, me proud beauty! This was done by pourin' in some finishin' epoxy, addin' lead shot, me bucko, and then more epoxy topped off with foam. Blimey! Ahoy! There wasn't much room leftover in t' payload bay so t' eye hook would nay work in t' nose cone. Blimey! I drilled two holes and ran a Keelhaul®©™® cord through t' holes. Arrr! Begad! With t' added weight, a 48" chute would be best, but it will nay fit so I stuck with the 36" chute. Also for t' altimeter bay, I used a 2.6" setup that I had already built for another rocket. Arrr! I also used rail buttons rather than lugs.

Finishing:
I used Kilz for t' filler and after a lot o' sanding, I sprayed a coat or two o' Krylon camouflage Olive paint for the body and a flat black for t' nose cone. T' finishin' coat was Krylon matte clear. This is nay t' most visible of colors, arrr, ya bilge rat, but I wanted t' keep it somewhat scale. Avast! One decal with t' kit showin' US ARMY. Begad! Another addition was 3 holes to the nose cone for shear pins. Arrr!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' maiden flight for t' MIM23B was on an I357T. Ahoy! I was ready t' stick a J500G in it, me bucko, but thar was too much wind...maybe next time. Ya scallywag!

RockSim indicated a flight t' 2531'. This was also an opportunity t' try out a new tracker. We angled t' rail about 10 degrees into t' 15mph wind and off it went. Avast, me proud beauty! Great flight, and it didn't seem like t' wind affected it. Everyone lost sight o' it and after several nervous seconds, I saw it about 400' off t' ground under both chutes.

Recovery:
After recoverin' it, me bucko, matey, t' first thin' I noticed be t' tracker had been ripped from t' Keelhaul®©™® cord I attached it with. It also tried t' zipper but only very minor damage was done thanks t' t' fiberglassing. Ya scallywag! It can fly again without repair. Aye aye! Begad! But why did we nay see it under t' bright orange drogue? Turns out t' ematch failed for apogee deployment so it came in at about 205mph t' 500' where I has set t' MAWD t' deploy t' main. Arrr! This pulled the payload out from t' booster. Ya scallywag! Begad! A few fellow fliers heard a whistle over t' wind, me hearties, which must have been t' high speed descent. Well, blow me down! This model has t' split fins so a whistle is expected at high speed. Avast! T' altimeter chirped off an altitude of 3510', just a bit more than RockSim said. Ahoy!

I have t' wonder what it will really do on a J--RockSim says 5200' on a J-350W. Aye aye! There's nay enough room for a 38/1080 so I'll have t' stick with 38/720. Aye aye! I also really like t' Aero Pack retainer. Begad! Simplicity at its best. As far as the tracker goes, ya bilge rat, it works. Ahoy! Begad! We were able t' locate it in t' middle o' t' field after goin' back for t' receiver. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! If it wasn't for t' ematch, it would have been a perfect flight.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
I am happy with t' kit. I built it solid t' push it t' t' max. Ya scallywag!

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5