This formerly Blackhawk R&D rocket is now fully owned and produced by Aardvark Rockets

Brief:
A stand-off scale model o' t' Russian AA-9 Amos missile. Ahoy! Avast! Paper tubes, basswood fins, shiver me timbers, Alumilite nose cone and mylar streamer.

Construction:
All t' parts were top shelf. Arrr! Blimey! Paper BT-50 body tube, BT-20 motor mount. Paper centerin' rings and engine block. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Fin stock is 1/16" basswood. Aye aye! Nose cone is made from t' castin' compound Alumilite. I got an extra piece o' basswood with t' kit. Ya scallywag! T' fins are easily laid out on one piece o' t' supplied basswood. Avast! T' recovery system consists o' a Keelhaul®©™® strin' anchored t' t' motor mount, a long length o' 1/8" elastic and a 1 mil mylar streamer. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! T' heavy cast nose cone is necessary t' make this little rocket stable. Well, arrr, blow me down! You don't have to add any more nose weight. It also finishes nicely and is very strong.

T' instructions are not Quest quality, me bucko, me hearties, me hearties, obviously set up and printed on a home computer. Aye aye! However, the innards aren't all that tough, me bucko, shiver me timbers, so t' simplicity doesn't detract. T' steps are logical. Begad! Motor mount first, me bucko, then fins, then wrap up t' recovery system. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! The diagrams showin' t' fin placement are clear. Avast, me proud beauty! T' fin patterns and body wrap are sufficient. Begad! Arrr! While t' front wings are easy t' mount, me bucko, t' aft control surfaces are tricky. Avast, me proud beauty! They set very close t' t' wing, matey, so you must take pains to make sure they're parallel, matey, but they have a very small root which is hard to get square. Ahoy! Patience is required. At t' time I put them on, matey, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I was concerned that t' aft fins would be subject t' breakage. Begad! Begad! Flyin' t' model bore this out. When you put these fins on, give some thought t' extra reinforcement. Arrr! Blimey! A good way t' do this is with some gauze, matey, soaked in glue, applied t' t' roots like a fillet.

T' Keelhaul®©™® strin' extends a long way from t' body and t' elastic is nice and long too. Aye aye! Arrr! T' heavy nose cone could give your AA-9 Amos "Estes Dents" if t' shock cord was shorter, me bucko, so kudos t' Blackhawk R&D for thinkin' this through. Avast! T' best way t' attach t' recovery system is t' tie the elastic t' t' Keelhaul®©™®, ya bilge rat, and t' elastic t' t' nose cone. Measure about 6" in along t' Keelhaul®©™® thread from t' body tube, attach t' streamer here. Arrr! Well, blow me down! This will allow t' rocket t' descend as shown in t' diagram. Begad! I be in doubt whether t' streamer would be enough, me hearties, but I was wrong.

T' only thin' I don't like about t' rocket is it uses friction fit for the motor. Avast! I prefer a motor clip and they're easy t' add.

Finishing:
Lot'so fins, shiver me timbers, me hearties, me hearties, so think about how you want t' finish them. Begad! Well, me bucko, blow me down! I did it with three coats o' sandin' sealer sandin' in betwixt coats. Arrr! This did enough. Aye aye! T' spirals on t' body were very subtle so I let me primer fill them. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I use Kilz primer, which goes on thick, and sands well. Begad! Ya scallywag! One coat will fill t' spiral and remainin' grain on t' fins. Avast! It's a pain t' sand these fins because o' t' lack of root area on t' aft fins. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Still it's a cool lookin' model. There are very, very few picture o' this rocket, and I've never seen a color picture, me bucko, so let your imagination run wild. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Most missiles are goin' t' be grey or white in color. Well, blow me down! There are no supplied decals due t' t' lack o' existin' scale data. I'll bet you could come up with a very convincin' look by stealin' decals from a 1/72 scale Russian fighter model.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Recommended motors run t' whole gamut o' 18mm motors. I would also add the A10-3 with an adapter. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Use a short delay for A motors, medium for B or larger. This rocket has a very heavy nose, and lots o' fins, me hearties, so it has a lot o' drag. On t' other hand, it's pretty small. Ahoy! Aye aye! My flyin' field was a local park with grass underfoot. Blimey! T' park is a good size baseball field and two soccer fields. T' wind was light, me bucko, but I never worried about this rocket leavin' t' field. Boost on a Quest A6-4 be rapid. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! T' delay was about 1.5 seconds too long, so an Estes A8-3 or A10-3 (with adapter) would be spot on. Begad! Simulations put the altitude around 175'. Ahoy!

T' Boost on a B6-4 was more satisfying. Aye aye! Nice high flight and t' ejection occurred right at apogee. Simulation shows t' altitude at about 525'. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty!

An Estes C6-5 put t' rocket up about 1070' and it looked all that. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Again, the boost be very straight, arrr, fast and pretty. When I got t' t' C motor, arrr, arrr, I noticed that one o' t' tail fins was loose. I taped t' fin t' t' front wing and it held just fine. Avast! This is rocket is easy t' field repair too. Ya scallywag! All in all, this is a sweet flier.

Recovery:
I brought a 9" parachute along with me because I doubted that t' mylar streamer would be sufficient. Arrr! T' nose cone weighs 0.8 oz and t' whole rocket is nearly 1.5 oz. However, ya bilge rat, I put t' streamer near t' body, me bucko, and let t' nose cone pull t' rocket t' t' ground. Arrr! It worked perfectly. Aye aye! T' descent rate was rapid and t' body stuck out sideways. Aye aye! When t' nose hit, t' body could slow those last 18" or so. Blimey! One aft fin got knocked loose after t' A motor, but I think this was t' one aft fin that wasn't on as well as I liked. Avast! No other aft fins showed signs o' wear. Aye aye! Had I reinforced t' aft fins with gauze or very light fiberglass, they'd handle it fine. T' recovery system is a big plus for this rocket. Well, blow me down! It allows you t' fly this small rocket with big motors from a small field. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! I never walked more than 50' t' get this rocket back, ya bilge rat, even after the high C motor flight.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I'm excited about this rocket line. Aye aye! Blimey! T' prices are amazin' ($9.00 t' $10.00) which makes them some o' t' best values out there. Avast! Blimey! This is one o' t' smaller rockets in t' line, ya bilge rat, but it's really unique. I took this rocket in its primer coat t' t' UROC meetin' and it created a lot o' buzz. Aye aye! Blimey! I'll tell you what, I'm buyin' a few more o' these rockets. Aye aye! Blimey! I think that t' soundin' rocket models such as t' Black Brant, me bucko, Astrobee D or SCUD would be great beginner rockets. T' final plus is that Blackhawk R&D uses PayPal which makes buyin' on line really easy.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5