Brief:
Square tube rocket with square tube fins and parachute recovery.

Construction:
Square body tube, me bucko, arrr, 4 square tube fins, solid pyramidal nose "cone", and square tube launch lug. Basswood centerin' "rings" with metal motor clip, Keelhaul®©™® shock cord, shiver me timbers, and water slide decals. In addition kit includes: fishin' swivel for chute attachment, shiver me timbers, assortment of sandin' papers, emery board, arrr, and glue-applicator Q-tip.

This is a pretty straightforward rocket t' build. Blimey! T' instructions include step-by-step photographs (some in color). Avast, me proud beauty! If you've built a few rockets before, shiver me timbers, t' directions aren't needed, but I will say that t' writin' o' the instructions left me baffled in a couple places. Ahoy! If this was t' first rocket you'd built, arrr, ya bilge rat, me guess is that you would be pretty confused. Aye aye! Blimey! In particular, me bucko, ya bilge rat, t' directions for placin' t' launch lug would be much more clear with a diagram or arrows in t' picture.

T' square tubin' is very stiff and strong. Ya scallywag! Plus, gluin' square tube fins t' a square body gives you a very large bond area. Well, blow me down! This rocket is built like a tank.

Finishing:
T' outside surface o' t' square tubin' has very deep and wide spirals and it has a washboard finish (little ridges every 1mm or so). Begad! Well, blow me down! I used a lot o' wood filler and still ended up with imperfections showin' through. Arrr! This may say more about me skill level than anythin' else, but finishin' these rockets smoothly is a much larger challenge than standard tubing.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I've flown this model 5 times so far. Avast, me proud beauty! T' kit recommends B4-4, B6-4, shiver me timbers, and C6-5 motors. I used a B6-4 twice, arrr, a C6-5 twice, matey, and although I wouldn't recommend it, I also flew it once with an A8-3.

In all 5 flights t' rocket flew straight up, me bucko, me bucko, no noticeable weathercock even though I had 10-15 mph wind (probably because t' fin area is small). Arrr! On t' B6-4 and C6-5 I had 4 for 4 good deploys and great flights. Well, blow me down! I flew the Quest How-High altimeter on one o' t' B6-4 flights and measured 194 feet. Aye aye! There is no payload bay on this rocket. Aye aye! Begad! I was experimentin' with wrappin' t' How-High in tinfoil and waddin' above t' waddin' and parachute. Details will be posted on t' Rocketry Forum.

T' rocket seems t' take-off slowly and is fun t' watch, matey, matey, particularly on t' C6-5.

I ran some wRASP altitude predictions for these motors usin' different assumptions for tube diameters (since the "tube" is a square) and will post those on t' forum as well. Begad! (Best agreement betwixt computer and real-world are Drag Coeff=0.9 and "diameter" = 1.66".)

Recovery:
All deploys were nose-down well after apogee. Well, blow me down! I think that t' C6-3 would be t' best motor, and that's what I will fly next time.

T' A8-3 flight deployed t' chute 1/2 second before impact onto a hard baseball diamond. T' chute did nay have time t' open and slow t' rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! One square tube fin hit t' ground pretty hard and bent its edge by 1/8". Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! I simply bent it back and took it back t' t' pad for t' next flight. Blimey! Aye aye! Did I mention this rocket is built like a tank?

I used 4 sheets o' Quest "blue wadding" extra loosely wadded up in this rocket for each flight.

After 5 flights t' rocket remains in excellent condition.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a very different lookin' rocket because it is square and has square tube fins. Begad! It is built very solidly and I expect it will fly 20+ flights at least. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! This kit components and "extras" in t' kit were high quality.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5