Brief:
This be t' Sport Scale SR-71 Blackbird Model Rocket. It is an 18mm motor with parachute recovery Estes challenge kit. Ya scallywag! T' SR-71 was designed at t' famous "Skunk Works" with a mission o' high alititude reconnaissance!

Construction:
T' Blackbird kit comes in a box with a color picture o' t' built kit on t' outside. Avast! I built kit number EST-7003. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! It is labeled as a "Challenge" kit series with a skill level three. Inside t' box you will find three body tubes, a plastic nose cone, arrr, two plastic tail/inlet cones and one die-crunched balsa sheet. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Also included are two green centerin' rings, engine mount tube, me bucko, matey, engine hook, one launch lug, die-cut paper patterns for t' win' and jigs, arrr, a parachute kit, matey, shiver me timbers, me hearties, some shock cord and a rectangle o' water slide decals. Avast, me proud beauty! Two sheets o' folded paper instructions are included in t' kit box with 26 step by step instructions on 8 pages. Aye aye! Begad! T' instructions are good and easy t' follow. There is even a decal placement chart. Begad! This kit be given t' me by a friend o' a friend so I don't know how old it is, matey, ya bilge rat, but t' box says "made in t' US" so it must be vintage!

To build t' curved fuselage o' t' SR-71 Estes uses a body tube with two long fins glued t' t' sides. Ahoy! Blimey! You must first glue t' fin sections together then glue t' fins t' t' sides o' t' main body tube. Aye aye! Blimey! T' kit provides two cardstock "jigs" t' lay t' fins on while they are dryin' in order t' keep them aligned. Begad! Begad! Blimey! T' jigs are used again on t' outer fins t' keep them level with t' inner "wings". I used aliphatic resin ( carpenters yellow glue). Arrr! Ahoy! Blimey! I put a bead o' glue on t' fin, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, let it sit for a minute t' thicken. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! While holdin' t' fins in place for another couple o' minutes, I aligned t' fins with t' triangular win' jig.

Finishing:
T' win' alignment is rather "fiddley". Avast! I was skeptical o' its effectiveness but if you have a nice flat table and you are careful with t' win' jigs it works fine. Avast, me proud beauty! T' fins came out pretty straight.

T' trick in this kit be t' center paper fuselage overlay. Arrr! Blimey! There is a top and a separate bottom piece. Aye aye! Blimey! T' paper is almost impossible t' line up exactly with t' balsa fins. Aye aye! Partly because o' t' poor quality o' t' die cuttin' on t' balsa. Blimey! You can use small black sprin' type paper clips t' hold t' paper around t' edge o' t' balsa fins. Glue t' paper in steps, as per t' instructions and take your time, it actually works!

You could scratch build this kit. Ya scallywag! You would just have t' cut out your own paper pattern for t' center fuselage piece. T' flat arrow head nose cone would present a carvin' challenge however.

There are angled card stock fin templates for t' top fins with t' bottom fins bein' a different template. Begad! T' top fins angle in and t' lower fins angle outward as per prototype. Arrr! T' die-cut fins required some filler on t' ends where t' die-cut machine smashed them and t' water slide decals weren't very sticky. Perhaps they were just old. Arrr! They went on nicely but came off after just one night o' drying!

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommendced motors are B4-2, B6-2, B6-4 and C6-5. Considerin' that t' box cover weight shown is 3.2 oz. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I don't know where they came up with this number, matey, matey, this thin' is heavy! Ours came in at 4.1+ . Begad! T' instructions tell t' builder t' add ALL o' t' provided clay in t' nose cone. So I did t' very first launch with a C6 engine. Aye aye! As far as launching, ya bilge rat, t' model is very conventional and it does requrie recovery wadding. Begad! T' motor retention is standard Estes wire clip.

T' Blackbird looks awsome when finished. Aye aye! Blimey! In addition it is a somewhat unusual rocket t' brin' out t' t' launch pad.

T' first flight was loaded with an Estes 18mm C6-3 and four sheets o' blue recovery wadding. Ahoy! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! T' ignition and liftoff were fine but at an altitude o' 50 feet t' rocket veered badly down wind and continued up in a smokey angled climb. Aye aye! Begad! T' ejection charged fired normally and t' flight be a success. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! We were worried that t' parachute might be a little small for such a heavy rocket but it worked fine all three times with no damage t' t' rocket.

Recovery:
Recovery is via parachute and shock cord. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! T' provided shock cord is way too short, matey, so we added 18 inches o' some after market shock cord. Well, blow me down! It be gluded in via t' three fold card stock method, arrr, matey, shiver me timbers, just like any other rocket kit. Avast, me proud beauty! T' recovery parachute is good. Avast, me proud beauty! T' included plastic parachute seemed a bit small but it turned out t' work fine for this rocket at 4.1 oz.

T' second test launch utilized a Quest B6-4. Avast! We taped t' motor casin' with some scotch tape t' make up for t' smaller diameter. With less power, t' Blackbird flew straighter for some reason! This was a great flight with perfect ejection. Avast! T' next flight on another Estes C6-5 arched over again and t' ejection charge burned t' parachute a little and t' heavy nose cone made a small dent on t' top o' t' fuselage.

Flight Rating: 2 out o' 5

Summary:
T' SR-71 kit by Estes is a challenge kit. Aye aye! Arrr! It takes several days t' build, me bucko, because you have t' wait for t' glue really t' dry on one operation in order t' proceed t' t' next step. T' die-cut balsa fins would be much better if they were laser cut. Ahoy! As they were, it took some re-sanding, arrr, matey, fillin' and fittin' t' get them t' fit properly. Arrr! T' plastic parts supplied look nice and fit perfectly.

I believe t' decals were just old, me bucko, some o' them did nay stick well at all. Arrr! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! Overall t' rocket looks good, matey, it was fun t' build. T' kit instructions directed t' builder t' put all o' t' supplied clay in t' nose cone. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I'm nay sure this helped t' stability as it was intended.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5

Other:
T' win' jigs supplied in t' kit look flimsy and usin' them is "fiddley" but they do work. We will need t' do a center o' pressure study on t' model t' see if we can improve t' stability durin' boost. Ya scallywag! We might experiment with removin' some o' t' nose clay.