Brief:
This classic has been reintroduced as a "limited edition" run for about a year now. Aye aye! Ahoy! It's a very unusual swing-win' design with t' win' springing out at separation t' convert t' rocket into a glider. Blimey! With colorful decals, it's a beautiful lookin' bird.

Construction:
T' kit contains:

• BT-50 body tube
• BT-20 motor/pod tube
• Metal engine hook
• BT-50 "rudder" tube
• PNC-50Y nose cone
• Laser-cut balsa stock for wings, matey, ya bilge rat, fins
• Plastic swing-win' hardware
• 12" plastic chute (pre-assembled)
• Peel 'n' stick decals (actually pretty decent quality)

T' instructions are typical Estes--fairly well illustrated and reasonably well written, ya bilge rat, although a bit confusin' t' follow with t' combination of "major" numbered steps and "minor" lettered sub-steps. Arrr! If you rush through construction, shiver me timbers, matey, it's easy t' overlook critical details buried in the sub-steps. Begad! Overall, matey, this be rated a skill level 3 kit, arrr, which I think is a bit overstated as t' construction really isn't that difficult.

Construction begins with t' motor mount. It's a basic tube/hook/centering rin' assembly, ya bilge rat, albeit usin' a fairly long (12") pod. T' pod also offers extra stability durin' boost, me bucko, matey, and gets a couple o' fins tacked on as well. They each get a brace too, me hearties, which I thought was a little overly complex versus applyin' decent fillets. Begad! Blimey! T' pod gets one last overly-engineered detail: a dowel mounted on a 5-piece brace. Ahoy! Blimey! T' dowel winds up slidin' forward t' hold the win' in place durin' boost and when it (and t' pod) slide back during ejection, ya bilge rat, t' dowel releases t' wing.

T' wing "assembly" is comparatively simple thanks t' a nice 3-piece plastic pivot assembly. There's a round base which slips into a pre-cut hole in the wing. Blimey! Well, arrr, blow me down! A round top slips on from t' other side o' t' wing, and t' two parts are then held together by gluin' in a plastic retainer cap. Ya scallywag! Begad! You need t' be very careful with t' glue, as excess can ooze out onto t' pivot parts which need to be able t' spin freely. Blimey! Begad! T' base o' this assembly is molded t' conform to the contour o' t' BT-50 body tube, arrr, so gluin' onto t' tube is also very simple.

Next up is tackin' on t' stabilizer at t' rear, ya bilge rat, and taping on the elevators, which need t' be able t' flip up usin' some pretty wimpy elastic thread. Arrr! On top o' t' stabilizer are a couple o' trim braces t' hold t' proper elevator angle, arrr, a short BT-50 tube rudder, matey, and a dorsal fin.

T' nose cone gets a small clip bonded t' it t' keep t' win' from breakin' loose under boost. Blimey! It should also only be friction fit initially until you've had a chance to adjust t' nose weight, shiver me timbers, me bucko, trimmin' based on actual flights rather than just hand-tossing.

Finishing:
While t' paint scheme on this is simple, you'll need t' be careful nay t' lay it on too thick. Too much paint adds performance-killin' weight, plus it can gum up t' movement o' t' swing-wing. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Multiple light coats with sanding between coats is definitely in order here.

T' pod should get some color t' it t' assist in tracking. Avast! Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' stock scheme is t' paint t' fins black and leave t' rest unpainted. I masked off the rings, me hearties, and painted most o' t' pod black, me bucko, figurin' that will help with spotting it on t' ground and in t' air if t' chute doesn't deploy.

T' glider is solid white. I used two light coats o' white primer and two coats o' glossy white finish. Arrr! I followed up with one coat o' clear.

Normally, me bucko, matey, I can't stand peel 'n' stick decals as they're hard t' adjust and prone t' fingerprint smudges. Aye aye! These decals though looked pretty sharp and I was careful t' use tweezers t' apply them. T' decals really add nice accent trim and t' result is an impressive beauty.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Prior t' buildin' this, me bucko, I'd heard lots o' complaints about a number o' problems with t' scissor win' mechanism, shiver me timbers, matey, t' elastic line on t' stabilizer, me hearties, ya bilge rat, arrr, and the rubber band slippin' off. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I decided t' come up with me own, ya bilge rat, less common problem. Despite a bulkhead and reasonably good friction-fit, arrr, me hearties, t' nose cone I'd tacked in place temporarily so that I could add/remove nose weight t' trim popped off at ejection, resultin' in more o' a floppin' maple-leaf "glide".

Recovery:
Given t' nose cone snag, I can't really judge t' recovery/glide portion of the flight yet. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! I'll have t' replace t' nose and add a comment later t' update this review.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5