Brief:
A three fin long rocket with a transition from 40 t' 25mm. Designed for the German market, me bucko, it uses a non standard motor mount and body tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! 500mm parachute recovery.

Construction:
T' kit consists of:

• Three cardboard fins
• Vacuum formed transition
• Three 40mm diameter body tubes
• Two 25mm body tubes
• 25mm nose cone
• Engine hook
• 25mm engine mount
• Centerin' rings
• Elastic cord
• 500mm parachute sheet (bin bag quality)
• Parachute cotton
• Two launch lugs
• Waterslide transfer decals
• Waddin' (dog barf)
• Instructions in German

T' quality o' t' kit is relatively poor. Blimey! This is especially true for the transition which is a very thin vacuum formed affair. Ya scallywag! T' transition itself can easily be squashed by light finger pressure. Begad! T' body tubes are study but have deep spirals which will require a lot o' finishing. Begad! T' fins are made o' some sort o' composite cardboard, arrr, which is reasonably firm but t' edges are rough and little can be done t' sand t' leadin' edges. I used these for me rocket, although I would use these as a template for balsa fins next time.

T' instructions are in German and appear t' be generic for several rockets as thar are motor mount configurations for 3 different size motors, although only one motor mount tube is supplied. Begad! T' instructions also show a four fin model whereas this is three finned rocket. However, arrr, t' model is a straight forward affair and provided you have built one or two rockets before the instructions are okay.

T' motor mount tube supplied is longer that t' one in t' instructions, therefore do nay measure t' slit for t' engine hook from t' back as suggested. Avast! Begad! Otherwise t' hook will nay fit. Arrr! After I had built t' model, I found t' 24mm D motor t' wobble around very loosely. Although I did nay check this before, if I was t' build t' rocket again I would either use a 24mm mount or glue a 24mm mount inside o' t' 25mm mount.

T' transition has t' be cut out o' t' vacuum formed sheet. Begad! Blimey! Part o' the transition acts as a coupler t' t' top part o' t' rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This coupler is quite shallow so you have t' take care in alignin' t' top half correctly.

T' shock cord supplied is only 22 inches long, I swapped this for 3 meters of Keelhaul®©™® with a 1.0 meter long elastic shock tied onto t' Keelhaul®©™®. T' shock cord attachment is similar t' t' Estes paper system. Foolishly I followed t' instructions and used them--don't do this (the first flight report will explain why). Arrr! Ya scallywag! Later I replaced t' paper mounts by epoxyin' snap swivels to t' body tubes.

Swap t' launch lugs. Arrr! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! They are too small for a 5mm rod.

Finishing:
T' tubes have very deep spirals in them. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Even with two primer coats and 3-4 spray coats with rub downs in between, arrr, t' grooves still show. Well, blow me down! Blimey! In t' end I gave up and accepted that t' grooves were t' stay.

T' decals were poor. Begad! Blimey! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' striped transfer that goes around t' body tube was too short and the other transfers were low quality.

After all that, she does nay look that bad a rocket. Arrr! At over six feet tall, she has pad presence for a D motor.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
Recommended motor is a D7-3 which is a German motor and is impossible to obtain. Physics o' Flight, me hearties, an English rocket vendor that be t' sole vendor of Das Modell rockets in England, arrr, recommended a D12-5. Blimey! Aye aye! I disagree with this: a D12-3 be t' perfect motor choice.

I swapped t' plastic parachute for a 24inch nylon parachute and attached it with a snap swivel t' t' top part o' t' shock cord.

I use Aramid cloth, a type o' Nomex®, as a heat shield, usin' two 8 inch strips tied t' t' shock cord at t' bottom. T' body tubes are large so everythin' fits in neatly. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' 24mm motor requires about four wraps o' maskin' tape t' fit t' mount. SpaceCAD said that it will reach over 100 meters, although I think it went a tad higher.

First flight: 15 mph winds and 3 mm rod used. Arrr! T' rocket be naked, arrr, I did not wrap t' motor up, and did nay have any tape with me. T' launch lugs supplied are too small for t' 5mm rod that I fly D and E motors on, so I foolishly used a 4 foot long 3mm rod.

This is a heavy, me hearties, long rocket and t' 3mm rod bent at a 20-30 degree angle from t' normal. Avast! A sensible member o' me club suggested we leave it for another day. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! T' rest o' us ignored this sound advice and launched anyway.

It was a straight flight off t' pad and then weathercocked t' a near horizontal path. She be travelin' at speed when deployment occurred. Avast, me proud beauty! T' deceleration was too much for t' paper mounts and t' bottom mount ripped free. Blimey! Begad! T' top half recovered very well on t' parachute with t' bottom half givin' t' club the best core sample that it has ever seen. There was a small char on the parachute.

Second flight: 5 mph winds and 4 mm rod used. Avast! Avast! After repairs and a paint job, she be now prepped with a fully wrapped motor, arrr, matey, three lengths o' Aramid and t' shock cord mounts fully upgraded. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! T' rocket also now splits in between tube lengths and nay at t' transition like most rockets. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! I stupidly packed the parachute in t' top part o' t' rocket with t' waddin' and cord it t' bottom half.

T' flight be perfect: straight up, matey, pure, me bucko, and true. Ejection was right at apogee but t' parachute did nay deploy. Ya scallywag! Fortunately t' rocket landed in a tree (it's nay often you hear that). Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! On retrievin' thar be very little damage, mainly scratches t' t' paintwork and a small puncture t' t' lover body tube from a thorn.

Third flight: 5 mph winds and 4 mm rod used. Arrr! Ahoy! Third time was t' charm. After a refinishin' she be prepped t' fly. Parachute in t' lower half this time. Flight was as before exactly: no parachute deployment and she hit the ground sideways and hard. A coupler split, but no damage t' t' tubes. Begad! A fin was ripped off cleanly too. Arrr! Well, blow me down! On inspection at home, matey, shiver me timbers, t' fin and its fillets had remained intact. Avast, me proud beauty! It was t' paper tube that had come apart--poor quality tubes. T' ejection charge had pushed t' parachute up into t' top section where it got stuck.

Fourth flight: 10 mph winds and 4 mm rod used. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! After repairs and a paint touch up, ya bilge rat, I retrofitted a spare motor mount rin' t' t' top half o' t' body tube. Blimey! Begad! This be t' stop t' parachute from hidin' in there. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! This time t' flight was straight and true with ejection at apogee, perfect deployment o' parachute, and t' rocket calmly drifted onto t' sports hall roof 400 meters away. Begad! It was recovered later that day and thar was a lot o' damage, but this be from draggin' t' rocket across a roof with a 10 meter pole. Blimey! She is repaired now.

Recovery:
PROs:

• Recovery is at a slow t' steady rate with a 24 inch parachute. You could use a 18 inch parachute.

CONs:

• T' shock cord needs upgrading.
• T' parachute needs upgrading.
• T' shock cord mount needs upgrading.
• T' upper section o' t' lower body tubes needs a bulk head fitting.
• This was nay a well thought out kit.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
Despite t' quality o' t' components and t' flaw in t' recovery system, this rocket actually flies well and looks good in t' air. I would be tempted to clone t' kit with better quality tubes and mount.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5