Brief:
Square tube rocket with square tube fins and parachute recovery.

Construction:
Square body tube, shiver me timbers, arrr, 4 square tube fins, solid pyramidal nose "cone", me bucko, and square tube launch lug. Aye aye! Basswood centerin' "rings" with metal motor clip, arrr, Keelhaul®©™® shock cord, and water slide decals. Begad! In addition kit includes: fishin' swivel for chute attachment, matey, arrr, assortment of sandin' papers, ya bilge rat, emery board, shiver me timbers, and glue-applicator Q-tip.

This is a pretty straightforward rocket t' build. Begad! T' instructions include step-by-step photographs (some in color). If you've built a few rockets before, me bucko, matey, t' directions aren't needed, arrr, arrr, but I will say that t' writin' o' the instructions left me baffled in a couple places. Ahoy! If this was t' first rocket you'd built, me bucko, ya bilge rat, me guess is that you would be pretty confused. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! In particular, t' directions for placin' t' launch lug would be much more clear with a diagram or arrows in t' picture.

T' square tubin' is very stiff and strong. Ya scallywag! Plus, gluin' square tube fins t' a square body gives you a very large bond area. Begad! This rocket is built like a tank.

Finishing:
T' outside surface o' t' square tubin' has very deep and wide spirals and it has a washboard finish (little ridges every 1mm or so). I used a lot o' wood filler and still ended up with imperfections showin' through. Arrr! Ahoy! This may say more about me skill level than anythin' else, matey, but finishin' these rockets smoothly is a much larger challenge than standard tubing.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I've flown this model 5 times so far. Avast! T' kit recommends B4-4, B6-4, ya bilge rat, and C6-5 motors. I used a B6-4 twice, ya bilge rat, a C6-5 twice, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and although I wouldn't recommend it, ya bilge rat, I also flew it once with an A8-3.

In all 5 flights t' rocket flew straight up, ya bilge rat, no noticeable weathercock even though I had 10-15 mph wind (probably because t' fin area is small). On t' B6-4 and C6-5 I had 4 for 4 good deploys and great flights. Well, matey, blow me down! I flew the Quest How-High altimeter on one o' t' B6-4 flights and measured 194 feet. There is no payload bay on this rocket. Blimey! Blimey! I was experimentin' with wrappin' t' How-High in tinfoil and waddin' above t' waddin' and parachute. Details will be posted on t' Rocketry Forum.

T' rocket seems t' take-off slowly and is fun t' watch, matey, particularly on t' C6-5.

I ran some wRASP altitude predictions for these motors usin' different assumptions for tube diameters (since the "tube" is a square) and will post those on t' forum as well. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! (Best agreement betwixt computer and real-world are Drag Coeff=0.9 and "diameter" = 1.66".)

Recovery:
All deploys were nose-down well after apogee. Arrr! I think that t' C6-3 would be t' best motor, and that's what I will fly next time.

T' A8-3 flight deployed t' chute 1/2 second before impact onto a hard baseball diamond. Ahoy! T' chute did nay have time t' open and slow t' rocket. Arrr! Begad! One square tube fin hit t' ground pretty hard and bent its edge by 1/8". I simply bent it back and took it back t' t' pad for t' next flight. Begad! Did I mention this rocket is built like a tank?

I used 4 sheets o' Quest "blue wadding" extra loosely wadded up in this rocket for each flight.

After 5 flights t' rocket remains in excellent condition.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a very different lookin' rocket because it is square and has square tube fins. Blimey! Arrr! It is built very solidly and I expect it will fly 20+ flights at least. This kit components and "extras" in t' kit were high quality.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5