Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Manufacturer: | West Coast Rocketry |
Brief:
This is a single stage, ya bilge rat, Out-of-Production (OOP) mid and high power kit. Blimey! This rocket is great for E-H motors.
Construction:
There are two (2) nicely finished 2.25" body tubes, ya bilge rat, same thickness as LOC's, matey, me hearties, a nicely turned solid balsa nose cone, four (4) 1/8" plywood fins, elastic for t' shock cord (12 feet), matey, a coupler, arrr, me hearties, bulkhead, motor tube and two (2) centerin' rings along with a 1/4" launch lug.
In me kit I got, thar were no instructions, other then a header card, this kit is OOP, me hearties, so I figured that it must have gotten lost or somethin' along t' way. Arrr! Begad! But t' kit is simple enough for anyone t' figure out. All parts fit well, me hearties, I had t' make me own slots in t' body tube for t' fins, which is nay hard. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! All t' centerin' rings, bulkheads, ya bilge rat, coupler, and fins fit well and went together well. Arrr! Ya scallywag! I had t' put some filler in a few minor dents in t' nose cone from handlin' over t' years. I then put four coats o' sandin' sealer on it and primed it. Ahoy! Avast! T' kit comes with nose weight and have a pre-drilled hole in t' cone for t' weight, which is much easier then makin' your own hole in it. T' shock cord attaches t' t' top centerin' rin' with a steel cable and then attaches t' t' bulkhead screw-eye. T' over all finished kit seems pretty strong.
Finishing:
Finishin' be easy, me bucko, I filled t' seams with Elmers Fill'n Finish, then sanded down and primed. Begad! I then used Testors Gloss Cherry Red and Testors Gloss Black t' finish it off. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! It looks great. Ahoy! T' kit came with no decals, and looks just fine without them.
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
Flight:
There is a whole list o' recommended Kosdon and Aerotech motors. Ahoy! For t' first flight I choose a Aerotech E23-5 Blue Thunder motor. Arrr! A great, ya bilge rat, straight boost t' about 600 feet with a very nice parachute recovery.
I have flown this rocket 8 times, me bucko, ya bilge rat, with Aerotech F40-7's, an Aerotech G104-M, ya bilge rat, arrr, a Kosdon G40-10, an Aerotech G64-7, me bucko, matey, a Vulcan G200-10 (my favorite flight so far on this rocket) and an Aerotech F101-10. Well, blow me down! Blimey! All flights have went well other than t' shock cord breakin' on one, but all was recovered with only a broken fin.
T' model does require wadding, it was easy t' prep. Arrr! Aye aye! For motor retention I used tee-nuts with washers t' keep t' motor in place. Begad! Has nay failed.
Recovery:
For recovery, me bucko, me bucko, you can either use a 18" or 24" chute, if you are nay goin' t' put it all that high, me hearties, me bucko, use t' 24" chute, or if your flyin' area has a hard landin' surface, use t' 24" chute, but if you want t' minimize t' walk t' get it, go for t' 18".
Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5
Summary:
This rocket is great. T' kit is high quality and easy t' put together. Arrr! Blimey! Only bad side I saw t' t' kit is it came with no instructions. Begad! Blimey! There are no other cons t' this kit at all. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! If you ever can find one o' these, me hearties, arrr, make sure t' pick it up. Great kit!
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
Not too long ago, I won several kits from West Coast Rocketry on eBay. Not long after, I built my Screamer II, affectionately known as John Deer. Since my John Deere yellow and green paint cans have about one rocket left in them and I need the shelf space, I decided to build the Screamer which will be called the Jane Doe and painted with the contrasting paint scheme of the other one. The ...
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