Brief:
I'm goin' t' be takin' part in a rocket exhibition for some elementary aged kids next month and wanted t' show a wide variety o' types. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! In thinkin' about it, I realized that I have nay built a true helicopter recovery model before. Blimey! Ahoy! I began t' look around t' see if I had a really simple one and I found t' Estes SkyWinder which seemed t' fit t' bill.

Construction:
T' first step in construction is t' locate t' two halves o' t' plastic fin can. I found them and test fit them. Avast! Avast! They seemed t' fit together fine but I did find some plastic flash I wanted t' clear off usin' a razor knife. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! I then put t' halves together usin' Plastuct instead o' t' tube type cement recommended.

Next up was t' lower launch lug. Arrr! It be found on a sprue which ostensibly contained t' upper lug as well but t' instructions said t' discard t' upper part since on this rocket t' upper lug is molded into a different part. Aye aye! Avast! T' lug be placed with Plastruct as well.

After t' lug came t' fins. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! There are four plastic fins t' be attached. I test fit them and found 2 t' be perfect fits and 2 t' need a little trimming. Avast! Begad! Blimey! T' fins were then bonded into place with Plastruct.

T' shoulder for t' lower rotor hub be then located as be a cardboard centerin' rin' that needed t' be inserted within it. Blimey! I sanded around t' rin' t' smooth it up a bit and test fit it. Begad! Avast! That's when I noticed that thar be a directional key slot. Ahoy! It will fit correctly only in t' right orientation. Aye aye! For this step, arrr, t' rin' was bonded with Testor's tube style cement. Begad! Ahoy! T' shoulder also required t' insertion o' a blue BT-5 sized insert. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! I assume that t' cardboard hold up t' t' ejection charge better than t' plastic but that's just a guess. Ahoy! It too was placed with t' tube cement, and as per t' instructions, shiver me timbers, every effort was made t' clean up any excess at t' end. With that, t' aft shoulder was slid into place on t' fin can. Blimey! It is keyed so that it can fit only in t' correct orientation. It was bonded into place with more Plastruct.

T' rotor hub was easy t' locate and identify because it is a white plastic piece in t' midst o' mostly black plastic. It was placed on t' shoulder and checked t' make sure it rotated freely. Ya scallywag! It did without any problem. Begad! T' cap t' hold it in place was then located. Aye aye! Its a short piece o' red coupler tubin' for BT-5. Blimey! I test fit that and found thar was no problem thar either. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' coupler be then pulled back off and given a dose o' tube cement and then replaced, makin' sure that it did nay interfere with t' rotor.

T' rotor hinges were t' other bits o' white plastic. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! They were located and, shiver me timbers, after careful examination o' t' illustrations in t' instruction t' ensure proper orientation, matey, were snapped into place. Aye aye! Blimey! They did nay travel as freely as I expected but I suspect that t' range o' movement is adequate.

T' actual body tube for this rocket is a white section o' BT-5. Arrr! It was located along with a plastic stop meant t' fit into one end. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! As per instructions, t' stop was installed with tube cement.

T' upper slide is another plastic black component. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! It was located along with a black cardboard rin' meant t' be installed around t' tongs o' t' slide t' prevent them from openin' too much. Avast, me proud beauty! T' rin' be bonded with more o' t' tube cement and allowed t' dry. Ahoy! T' slide be then fit around t' bottom o' t' BT and slid up into place.

With t' upper body assembled and put onto t' BT, t' BT then had t' be placed onto t' red coupler just above t' hub. Ahoy! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! T' fit was too tight and t' cement joint betwixt t' plastic and paper coupler sheared almost immediately. Ya scallywag! I did some sandin' on t' coupler and then reseated t' BT usin' some thick CA as t' adhesive this time. Begad! I also made sure nay t' get any onto t' rotor.

T' kit comes with four "butter pats" o' clay t' be used as a nose weight. From what I have read on T' Rocketry Forum, me hearties, that makes this rocket particularly heavy on prone t' damage on landing. I've also read that failure t' use it can lead t' very unstable flights. Avast, me proud beauty! T' instruction method is t' roll t' clay into snakes and tamp it into t' nose cone. Avast! Avast! I did nay want t' do that. Arrr! Instead, matey, I measured out an equivalent weight in BBs and poured those into t' plastic nose cone. I then mixed some 15 minute epoxy and poured that in on top t' keep it all in place.

Attachment o' t' rotors is probably t' most difficult aspect o' t' build, but it is nay particularly difficult. T' rotors are clear plastic and have slots that fit over a protrusion on t' hinges. Blimey! Arrr! T' only real issue is tryin' t' identify t' correct orientation since t' illustrations are nay very clear. A little thought and t' text pointin' out that that rotors form a "tube" around t' BT gave only one possible option, me hearties, even though t' result does nay look much like a tube t' me.

Finishing:
For t' most part, this rocket is pre-finished. All t' parts are colored and thar are some stickers with which t' decorate it. I chose t' do some minimal paintin' though. Avast, me proud beauty! T' plastic nose cone had some pretty bad seams on it. Avast, me proud beauty! I sanded them down but that left t' black plastic lookin' awful. Ya scallywag! I decided t' paint t' NC. Ya scallywag! So it was that I sanded it a little more and then shot it with white primer. Ahoy! It got 2 coats o' t' primer.

After t' primer, ya bilge rat, I decided t' go with an orange nose cone instead o' black and sprayed on 2 coats o' Testor's Competition Orange. Avast! I happened t' have it sittin' out for another project it so grated on me less than most oranges do. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I actually liked t' result.

Since t' nose cone would look pretty silly sittin' on t' bench while t' rest o' t' rocket went flying, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I used some tube cement t' bond it into t' upper slide. That just left t' motor retainer t' put into place before I could finish "finishing" me rocket with t' stickers.

I detest stickers. Ahoy! Aye aye! I would much rather have waterslide decals and sometimes scan stickers t' print me own waterslides. Avast! Blimey! I would nay do that with a kit like this so I was pleasantly surprised when I actually took a close look at t' stickers. Aye aye! Aye aye! Most o' t' time, ya bilge rat, stickers are thick things that do nay want t' follow a curve too well. Ahoy! Arrr! These were not. Blimey! Avast! They are fairly thin, nay much thicker than waterslides. I learned that they stick better than most stickers also.

T' first t' be applied were t' stripe pattern on t' rotor blades. Once in place, ya bilge rat, they greatly improved t' look o' t' rocket and made t' blades much more visible t' boot.

One thin' I did nay consider when paintin' t' NC orange was t' placement o' a bar pattern sticker on t' cone. Aye aye! T' oranges did nay match up and t' pattern would have been much more visible on t' black, matey, but it's nay completely terrible.

Another group o' stickers intended for t' NC was a series o' three long, arrr, shiver me timbers, orange triangles t' length o' t' NC. Avast, me proud beauty! I used only two o' them and they did nay show up all that well (although better than in t' photo).

One o' me common pet peeves with Estes is their inability t' count compounded by their unwillingness t' often provide enough stickers/decals for both sides o' t' fins. In this kit, me bucko, they were guilty o' both. Avast, me proud beauty! In a perfect world, arrr, thar would have been 8 stickers; this would handle both sides o' 4 fins. Ya scallywag! In actuality, it came with three so that three fins have a single sticker and one is stayin' "nekkid".

Placement o' t' fin stickers completed me build but I wanted t' try somethin' first and make sure that t' rotors would deploy. Ahoy! Blimey! As such, I added t' rubber bands, folded them against t' BT, arrr, and set t' slide in place t' retain them. Blimey! I pulled up t' NC and t' rotors deployed. Aye aye! Blimey! I then got stupid and tried t' fumble with t' camera while manipulatin' t' NC, fins and rotors and wound up with this short sequence.

Personally, shiver me timbers, I would nay classify this kit as bein' an E2X. Blimey! Blimey! It is easy but it does take a little bit o' building. Level 1 should be about right.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight and Recovery:
For t' first flight I chose t' B4-2, me bucko, me hearties, t' recommended motor. I did this even though many on TRF said it be underpowered. Ahoy! They were right.

It took off and arced over. Begad! I be very thankful for just havin' a 2-second delay when I saw t' blades pop out. Begad! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! T' rotation was fine and, except for landin' nose first in a fresh cow patty, matey, it be fine.

A video o' t' first flight can be seen here.

For t' second flight, arrr, me bucko, me hearties, I used a C6-3. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! This time everythin' went right and I had me first real heli-recovery rocket operational. Blimey! A video can be seen here.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This rocket is nay a bad introduction t' helicopter recovery. Avast, me proud beauty! From what I understand, it is a piece o' cake compared t' other copters. Aye aye! Begad! Its probably nay t' most durable choice but its somethin' just about anyone can build.

Don't pick a B4 motor!

Persons interested in followin' t' development o' this rocket in photos and vids are invited to check here.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5