Brief:
Estes Blue Bird Zero upscale; uses 24-inch parachute recovery..

Construction:
T' Estes Blue Bird Zero be me first model rocket. Naturally, when I became a BAR, I wanted t' clone one. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! A quick check o' Jim Z’s site revealed that thar were no plans available. Begad! Nay one t' be deterred, I searched on. Aye aye! Avast! T' make a long story short, I found someone through t' internet who would provide me t' plans and fin tracings. Begad! Begad! I decided t' do a slight upscale t' BT-60 from t' stock BT-55 size mostly because that is what I had on hand at t' time. Avast! I needed 44.5-inches o' tubin' for correct scale. Arrr! I installed a 24mm motor mount and glued both sets o' fins t' t' lower body tube. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! I then proceeded t' join t' body tubes. Everythin' was glued with 30min epoxy. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! (author’s note: BBZ plans are available on Jim Z’s website, thanks in part t' yours truly.)

When all t' gluin' was complete, t' entire rocket was skim-coated with thinned Fill ’N’ Finish and sanded smooth. Avast! I then proceeded t' prime, and paint t' blue section o' t' rocket first. After drying, I masked t' blue section and painted t' white section, arrr, then clear coat over t' entire rocket. Ya scallywag! T' decals for this rocket were a challenge. I ended up drawin' them myself and printin' them on self-adhesive stock. Begad! T' decals turned out good, and t' finished product looked great!

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
I prepped t' BBZ for her maiden flight on a D12-3. Begad! I installed t' wadding, shiver me timbers, matey, motor, parachute, and set her on t' pad. Ya scallywag! This rocket gives a nice, matey, ya bilge rat, semi-slow, smokey, takeoff. Arrr! She went up straight as an arrow — a very stable rocket.. Well, blow me down! Ejection be near apogee, and it recovered with no damage. Begad! After a perfect third flight, it landed on t' neighbors’ roof and slid about halfway down t' roof t' t' gutter. Avast! T' BBZ was OK, arrr, except for some bilge-suckin' shingle rash on t' edges o' t' fins. Begad! Flight number six would prove t' be fatal. Arrr! Aye aye! After a perfect boost and ejection, t' chute did nay open due t' bein' tangled on t' shroud lines. Begad! It crashed on t' asphalt HARD — rest in pieces.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I have t' give both construction and flight five out o' five. Construction was fairly easy, and t' rocket flies very well.