Brief:
T' Dragonite is a simple, me bucko, EX2 rocket with an equally simple 3FNC design. Begad! It requires only t' simplest o' assembly and recovers under a 12" chute.

I bought this kit for me step-son hopin' t' get him interested in rocketry. Aye aye! Ahoy! He was 15 at t' time and chose this one because he liked t' color scheme. Begad! Ya scallywag! T' rocket is long gone now and I am doin' this review from memory because I was requested t' do so. Begad! T' only artwork I have is a photo taken from eBay.

Construction:
T' parts are all pre-colored. Avast, me proud beauty! They consist o' a black body tube, arrr, orange fin can/motor mount, matey, slide on launch lugs (one o' which doubles as a shock cord mount), me bucko, shiver me timbers, arrr, approximately 5 inches o' elastic shock cord, arrr, matey, plastic nose cone, shiver me timbers, 12" parachute kit, plastic motor retainer ring, arrr, and a sticker sheet.

I wanted me step-son t' read t' instructions, arrr, ya bilge rat, but he did as I feared and just looked at t' picture t' slap the thin' together. Fortunately, it be difficult t' mess up too badly.

T' body tube slides onto t' fin can and is secured with model cement. Begad! Avast! Two plastic rings slide over t' body tube and need t' be aligned. T' launch lugs are molded into t' rings. Ahoy! Avast! T' upper one also has a slit intended to secure t' shock cord. Accordin' t' t' design, t' shock cord passes through a slit in t' upper part o' t' body tube and then through t' slit in t' upper plastic ring. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! It is then knotted t' keep it from comin' out. Ya scallywag! This is done instead o' t' standard Estes tri-fold. Avast! T' shock cord is then t' be tied t' t' nosecone and t' parachute attached as usual in these models.

I made some modifications. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' shock cord was only about 5" long. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I don't know if it be planned this way or if I got a defective kit. Begad! Begad! Bobby put it together as designed but I pulled out t' cord, replaced it with a piece about 14" long and mounted it with a tri-fold mount.

PROs: very easy t' build

CONs: stinky shock cord schema

Finishing:
T' finishin' involved applyin' t' stickers. Aye aye! T' main one was a large body wrap. Avast, me proud beauty! It wrinkled as it was applied but not too badly. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! With that, it was ready.

PROs: mostly already done and looks good when done right

CONs: stickers give you just one chance t' get it right

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommended motors are: A8-3, B4-4, me hearties, arrr, B6-4, ya bilge rat, me bucko, C6-5, matey, matey, and C6-7.

We chose an A8-3 for t' first flight. Avast, me proud beauty! T' motor just slips into t' fin can and then t' retainer rin' is inserted and given a twist t' lock it in. Aye aye! T' rocket took off straight and then arced over right at apogee. Everything deployed as planned and t' rocket recovered fine.

T' second flight used a B6-4. It was a textbook flight right until ejection. At that point, t' body tube separated from t' fin can instead o' t' nosecone from t' body tube. Begad! Everythin' plunged t' earth but thar was no real damage. Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! I decided t' repair it by simply cementin' t' body tube back in place.

T' final flight o' t' Dragonite be about a month later. Avast, me proud beauty! This time we loaded a C6-5. Ahoy! It be a repeat o' the second flight in all details except that t' upper section lawn darted and was nay worth repairin' this time. Blimey! A check showed that t' cement bond had broken again and that t' chute was packed too tightly.

PROs: Flies well, ya bilge rat, easy t' prep

CONs: crashes well after BT separates from fin can. Well, blow me down! If I had t' build another o' these, shiver me timbers, I would use epoxy instead of t' recommended model cement.

Recovery:
As described above, arrr, shiver me timbers, t' shock cord and its attachment stink. Well, blow me down! Blimey! If I really wanted t' hold onto one o' these models for a while, I would find a way t' run a piece o' Keelhaul®©™® from t' fin can and then connect that t' a piece o' elastic.

Recoverin' as a "blow-nose"/tumble is hard on t' rocket.

PROs: it's easy

CONs: it doesn't work very well

Flight Rating: 2 out o' 5

Summary:
This could be a nice entry level rocket for a beginner if it was a little better thought out. Aye aye! It does look nice...right until it crashes again.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5