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

Construction:
T' Estes Blue Bird Zero be me first model rocket. Begad! Well, blow me down! Naturally, me hearties, when I became a BAR, me bucko, I wanted t' clone one. A quick check o' Jim Z’s site revealed that thar were no plans available. Nay one t' be deterred, ya bilge rat, me bucko, I searched on. Ahoy! Avast! T' make a long story short, I found someone through t' internet who would provide me t' plans and fin tracings. 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. Ahoy! Aye aye! I needed 44.5-inches o' tubin' for correct scale. Ya scallywag! I installed a 24mm motor mount and glued both sets o' fins t' t' lower body tube. Begad! Begad! I then proceeded t' join t' body tubes. Ahoy! Begad! Everythin' was glued with 30min epoxy. (author’s note: BBZ plans are available on Jim Z’s website, thanks in part t' yours truly.)

When all t' gluin' was complete, me bucko, matey, t' entire rocket be skim-coated with thinned Fill ’N’ Finish and sanded smooth. Ya scallywag! I then proceeded t' prime, me bucko, arrr, and paint t' blue section o' t' rocket first. Begad! Blimey! After drying, arrr, I masked t' blue section and painted t' white section, then clear coat over t' entire rocket. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! T' decals for this rocket were a challenge. Begad! I ended up drawin' them myself and printin' them on self-adhesive stock. T' decals turned out good, me hearties, 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. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! I installed t' wadding, motor, matey, parachute, arrr, and set her on t' pad. Begad! Aye aye! This rocket gives a nice, ya bilge rat, semi-slow, smokey, matey, me hearties, takeoff. She went up straight as an arrow — a very stable rocket.. Arrr! Ejection was near apogee, me hearties, arrr, and it recovered with no damage. Begad! Arrr! After a perfect third flight, it landed on t' neighbors’ roof and slid about halfway down t' roof t' t' gutter. Ahoy! T' BBZ was OK, except for some bilge-suckin' shingle rash on t' edges o' t' fins. Begad! Flight number six would prove t' be fatal. Blimey! After a perfect boost and ejection, t' chute did nay open due t' bein' tangled on t' shroud lines. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! 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, arrr, and t' rocket flies very well.