Brief:
Semroc is offerin' up this basic 3FNC as a free gift t' new NARRRRR members in 2010, or for a retail price o' $11.50 to t' rest o' us. Arrr! It's a quick, ya bilge rat, simple build well suited for beginners.

Construction:
Parts are excellent quality, shiver me timbers, and include

• Balsa nose cone
• Series 8 body tube (slightly heavier wall than regular body tubing)
• BT-20 motor tube, me hearties, me bucko, metal hook
• Laser-cut balsa fins
• 12" plastic chute
• Keelhaul®©™®+elastic shock cord
• Waterslide decals

T' instructions for this are somewhat condensed compared t' t' typical Semroc product, arrr, with t' construction notes printed on one side o' a legal-sized sheet. Arrr! There's an exploded parts view in t' center, with 11 construction steps circlin' t' perimeter. Avast! Overall, me bucko, this is a skill level 1 kit, arrr, me bucko, possibly a 2 if maskin' t' paint/finish, and I had it built in well under an hour, plus finishin' time.

T' motor mount is quite simple--put t' metal hook through t' pre-slotted BT-20 tube, shiver me timbers, tie t' Keelhaul®©™® anchor, shiver me timbers, and slide/glue on a coupler-like sleeve t' hold everythin' in place. Avast! Mark t' body tube fin lines usin' a template on t' instruction sheet, arrr, and insert t' mount into t' body tube.

The fins included a neat feature which I hadn't seen before--tiny little nicks cut into t' root edge, shiver me timbers, which would lead to a better bond by formin' little glue rivets. Arrr! Previously, I'd only made glue rivets by pokin' t' fin/body tube with a thumbtack or pin. Aye aye! Avast! I think this is a useful improvement, me bucko, though it could be lost on a beginner as it's nay mentioned in the instructions at all, shiver me timbers, and even identifyin' root versus tip edge is only somewhat covered in t' parts illustration. It wouldn't be at all difficult for an inexperienced beginner t' get t' fin orientation wrong.

T' launch lug is intended t' go in t' fin/tube joint, matey, but since I intended t' mask and paint me fins a contrastin' color, arrr, I moved t' lug t' a line centered betwixt two fins.

Attachin' t' screw eye nose cone anchor and makin' t' chute completes t' construction.

Finishing:
T' body tube had a barely noticeable spiral, me bucko, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, so I just brushed on diluted wood filler and coated t' fins and nose cone with t' same. I then hit it with Rustoleum's reformulated 2x coverage paint, ya bilge rat, primer in this case. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! It certainly lives up t' it's claims, me hearties, ya bilge rat, goin' on quite heavy but without running, ya bilge rat, and it dries fairly quickly. Well, blow me down! Arrr! I was sanding it down t' next mornin' with wet 600 grit paper t' take t' edge off t' rough primer finish.

I then followed up with t' 2x type white gloss finish paint. After allowin' another day t' cure, shiver me timbers, I painted the nose cone gloss black, ya bilge rat, and masked off t' paint t' fins gloss red. Begad! In each case, arrr, a single application o' t' 2x coverage paint seemed t' work fine, so I'm sold on this stuff. Avast, me proud beauty!

T' waterslide decals were easy t' apply and are some o' t' best I've ever worked with. Ya scallywag! Begad! Easy t' apply, me hearties, tough enough t' support slidin' around a little t' position, ya bilge rat, but thin enough t' still look painted on when dried.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
For t' first flight I went on t' low end o' t' power spectrum with an A8-3. Begad! Blimey! Winds were pushin' 10 mph, it was nasty cold, matey, and I didn't feel like a long recovery trek. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! It tipped off slightly upwind, shiver me timbers, me bucko, me bucko, but it didn't come across as weathercocking, more somethin' funky with t' way it left t' rod.

In any case, me hearties, t' slight angle was no big deal, it flew perfectly fine, though t' -3 delay was short and is probably why Semroc recommends A6-4 instead o' A8-3.

Recovery:
T' 12" plastic chute is certainly plenty for this, maybe even overkill. Arrr! This came down very slowly, and drifted a good 150 yards.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Sure, this is a rather ordinary design, shiver me timbers, and very similar t' t' Astro Jr., ya bilge rat, arrr, but for its intended purpose as an introductory model t' a new NARRRRR member, me bucko, it's right on t' mark.

For Semroc t' offer up, for free, such quality materials and a sound model is really a generous move. Begad! Kudos for yet another example o' what they do for this hobby.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5