Brief:
Balsa Machinin' Service began offerin' a Clone o' t' Month kit in t' sprin' o' 2008. Aye aye! Under this program, an old classic kit would be offered in bag-of-parts format (no instructions), me bucko, minus any chute or streamer, and pre-order only. By accumulatin' all t' orders, me bucko, Bill could run a single large batch, have little or no leftover materials, matey, ya bilge rat, and make this a very affordable offering--kits typically in t' $7-8 range. Well, t' program has been quite popular although nay as regular as monthly. Arrr! T' date (August 2008) thar have been only 3 kits offered--the FSI Viking, matey, t' Astron Invader, ya bilge rat, and this: t' Astron Drifter. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! T' Drifter features long, swept fins and a tapered boat tail. Ahoy! It be featured in t' 1966 catalog as a competition model usin' either 12" or 24" chutes. Don't pack a 24" in this if you ever want it back. Blimey! Ya scallywag! T' cover art changed a number o' times over t' years, gettin' progressively simpler from t' original checkered roll pattern.

Construction:
Your bag o' parts includes:

• BT-50 body tube 7.75" long
• BNC50K balsa nose cone
• 18mm engine tube, matey, centerin' rings, coupler
• 1/8" x 24" elastic shock cord
• Laser cut balsa fins
• 1/8" launch lug
• pattern set for shroud, me bucko, arrr, fin, tube markin' guide

Instructions are nay included with this kit although scans o' t' original are available on t' JimZ archive site.

Assembly o' t' motor mount is a little off t' beaten path. Arrr! Blimey! I had t' bond centerin' rings t' either end o' a TC-50 tube coupler then slide t' motor tube into t' TC-50/rin' assembly. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Spacin' is critical here as thar needs t' be appropriate room (~1.5") for t' boat tail.

T' boat tail is formed from a paper shroud pattern. I felt this was a bit flimsy, especially since it serves as part o' t' fin attachment point, so I soaked it in thin CA. Aye aye! T' boat tail then slides onto t' BT-20 motor tube and rests against t' TC-50 coupler. Begad! Begad! T' boat tail assembly can then be mounted inside t' body tube. Begad! Ahoy! Careful alignment is in order--if you line up t' boat tail seam with one o' t' three fin lines, then it gets completely covered, me hearties, meanin' no unsightly seam t' fill.

Fins are precut, which is a very nice benefit considerin' t' tapered root edge necessary t' conform t' t' boat tail. Blimey! In me case, thar were very slight gaps, which were easily filled through t' fillet process.

Shock cord attachment is standard paper tri-fold.

Finishing:
I went with one o' t' simpler paint schemes, circa 1977, me bucko, which features base white with blue nose and fins. Nothin' special about t' finish, just t' usual two coats primer, matey, two coats base, arrr, one coat o' trim, arrr, me hearties, Krylon rattle cans t' whole way.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
As skinny and light as this is, me bucko, I be afraid t' shoot for much more than t' A8-3 starter, ya bilge rat, wantin' a relatively short recovery walk. Avast! This thin' be amazingly fast on t' way up although it spun a good bit with some obvious fin flutter.

T' -3 delay was clearly a bit too early, me bucko, as it was still climbin' when t' chute deployed.

I followed up with a second flight, me hearties, also on A8-3, and t' fin flutter was severe enough t' break off a small piece from t' end o' one fin (clearly nay impact damage, as thar was no trace o' it anywhere nearby in t' short grass landin' area). Ya scallywag! It definitely needs a -5 instead o' a -3...

Recovery:
I had supplied a 12" chute form me range box, and this is plenty o' chute for this model. Ya scallywag! Slow descent, arrr, gentle landing. Begad! Ya scallywag! It could probably do well on a streamer as well, though with such fragile fins this might nay be wise.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
I love t' stylin' o' this and think it's a fantastic value as a clone kit. T' only drawback I can see be t' clearly weak fins, matey, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, which cause flutter and roll and are prone t' breaking. Begad! I would definitely suggest reinforcin' either trough laminating. I really wish I had a do-over on this one, matey, as I'd fly t' bejeebers out o' it if it could handle it. Blimey! As it is, arrr, matey, this is fragile enough that with frequent repairs I will probably nay fly it very often.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5