Brief:
Quest Lightnin' Kit, Skill Level 1, 14” parachute recovery, plastic fin unit, ya bilge rat, me hearties, ya bilge rat, Length 18.5 Weight 3 oz, Max Altitude 1200’, shiver me timbers, arrr, motor list A6-4, B6-4, C6-5, C6-7

Construction:
I be lookin' for an easy and cheap kit t' start me nephews on. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! I wanted a Level 1 kit with a plastic fin can t' make t' buildin' as easy as possible. My nephews have very short attention spans and I did nay want them t' get bored while buildin' and I wanted t' finish them in one evening. Aye aye! I thought about some of t' Estes Kits but they tend t' run a few dollars higher per rocket than Quest. Avast! Blimey! Also I have never built a Quest and wanted t' check out t' quality.

I ordered t' kits from Discount Rocketry and got them right away, me bucko, I opened them t' check them out and found all o' t' parts present in each kit. I was pleased with t' quality o' t' parts and t' instructions. I found these kits to be on par with t' Estes kits that I had built.

My nephews came over and we got started, me bucko, arrr, this kit does nay have t' dual cardboard centerin' rings but a longer, hard cardboard tube that slides down over t' motor tube and engine hook. Ahoy! This makes buildin' t' motor mount very quick, easy and effective. Arrr! Ahoy! T' motor mount was set t' t' side t' dry and the fin can was glued on after a bit o' Star Wars viewin' we went back t' t' kits and glued t' motor mounts in. Begad! Aye aye! I really like t' Keelhaul®©™® strin' with t' Quest kits; it beats t' old tri-fold Estes method. We then cut out t' parachutes and added t' strings. I added some fishin' swivels t' the kit t' keep t' parachutes from tangling. Arrr! We had a good time applyin' the decals and they both came up with their own styles.

Finishing:
Other than t' decals, thar be nothin' else t' do t' finish t' rocket. Aye aye! Ahoy! I guess you could paint it if you wanted to, but it looks good just t' way it is. Start t' finish it took us less then 2 hours t' build with t' glue drying time included.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
We had waited until we had a nice windless day t' launch. Arrr! Avast! Blimey! We started with the A-8-3 and had some nice slow flights, we moved on t' B6-4, shiver me timbers, got some good, matey, air and then moved up t' t' C6-5 and these puppies really flew. Begad! Blimey! We flew each rocket 4 times and never had a problem worse than me bad parachute deployments, my fault. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! They flew straight and true each time and are ready t' go again. Begad!

I found t' kits t' be very robust as two o' t' flights t' parachutes failed t' open and t' rockets did a tumble recovery and came out fine, me hearties, me hearties, ready to fly again. Ya scallywag!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
T' only part o' t' rocket that be a small problem was t' motor tube getting squished by t' motor retention wire. Avast! T' way this centerin' rin' is on the middle o' t' tube thar be nothin' t' protect t' end o' t' motor tube. Blimey! Well, blow me down! The retention wire had a bit too much bend t' it and without an engine in t' mount it bends t' tube at t' end. Begad! Ahoy! You need t' be careful with this or you can end up ruinin' t' motor tube. Pros: Cheaper then Estes, quality parts, arrr, easy to build and flies great. Avast! Cons: Motor retention needs adjustment, decals could be cut out. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down!

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5