Brief:
T' Atomizer is a long, ya bilge rat, thin single-stage rocket designed for high performance. Well, blow me down! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Its slender minimum-diameter profile allows it t' reach great heights on a 24mm motor. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Normally I don't go for 3FNC or 4FNC designs. Begad! However, ya bilge rat, I had recently bought some long-burnin' Apogee Medalist motors and I wanted somethin' that would really take advantage o' them. The Atomizer has attractive stylin' combined with t' high performance that I was lookin' for.

Construction:
Parts List:

• 24" BT-50 BT
• Balsa Nose Cone
• 4 Laser-cut balsa fins
• 1/4" screw eye
• Twin 30" nylon streamers
• 36" x 1/4" elastic shock cord
• 2" x 3/16" launch lug
• 2 24mm engine blocks
• Decals

T' materials provided all appeared t' be high quality. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! The white body tube had only very light spirals. Aye aye! T' nose cone was made o' good dense balsa, and t' fins were cleanly cut.

Unfortunately, ya bilge rat, me body tube had a kink in it about 10 inches from one end. Well, blow me down! I won't blame Mercury for this since there is a good chance I damaged it while it was buried in me build pile. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I did nay want t' tube t' buckle during flight so I cut t' tube at t' kink and installed a balsa bulkhead, thus creatin' a payload bay.

T' instructions are printed on three full-sized sheets. T' line art illustrations and clearly written text compare well with Estes. Avast, me proud beauty! I had two minor quibbles:

• T' shock cord anchor is printed on t' back o' some instructions. Arrr! If it had been moved t' another page, matey, ya bilge rat, it could be cut out without ruinin' any text.
• T' tube markin' guide is just an end view. Begad! I prefer wrap-around guides.

T' first step is t' install two engine block spacers into t' aft o' t' tube, me bucko, spaced 3/4-inch apart. Blimey! Aye aye! Why two? Accordin' t' Solomon at Mercury Engineering, t' front rin' helps t' strengthen t' tube from damage durin' hard landings. Arrr! T' longer E and F motors that I wanted t' use would nay fit with t' aft rin' in places, so I skipped the rear rin' and only installed t' front one.

T' fins are standard surface-mounted balsa fins. Ahoy! Because I planned t' exceed t' recommended motor size, I chose to reinforce t' fins. Avast! First After sandin' an airfoil onto t' fin, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I coated it with a thin layer Great Plains Yellow Glue. Begad! Blimey! I then immediately wrapped typin' paper around t' fin and pressed it under a stack o' magazines t' hold it flat. After t' glue dried, me bucko, I soaked t' paper with thin CA. When that dried, I sanded t' fin smooth. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! T' resultin' fin is very strong and has an almost plastic-like finish.

T' directions call for t' fins t' be glued flush with t' aft o' t' tube. Because thar be no engine hook in this minimum diameter design, I mounted t' fins 1/2 inch up t' leave myself a surface for tapin' t' motor in place.

To provide extra strength t' t' fin bond, shiver me timbers, matey, I used FixIt clay epoxy from Apogee t' create fillets. T' resulting fillets were very strong and quite smooth.

T' rest o' t' build is typical o' most Skill Level 1 kit: glue on t' launch lug; attach t' shock cord with a tri-fold paper mount; attach t' streamers t' shock cord; attach t' shock cord t' t' nose cone (or bulkhead in my case).

Finishing:
T' recommended paint job on this rocket is pretty easy: paint t' nose cone red and everythin' else white. Begad! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! The Atomizer comes with a very nice decal that fades from red t' yellow, ya bilge rat, so I painted t' lower section Sunshine Yellow to match t' decal. Begad! Blimey! T' nose cone and payload bay I painted Apple Red. Arrr! Blimey! O' course I used white primer underneath t' finish coat. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! All me paints are Rustoleum Painters Touch.

T' waterslide decals on this kit are very nice. T' graphics are clean and sharp and t' decal material is plenty strong. I had no difficulty applyin' them. Ahoy! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! One thin' t' be aware of: t' decal is printed on a clear background with no white base underneath it. Ya scallywag! Blimey! This requires t' builder t' paint t' model with a light-colored background like white or yellow.

T' gradient wrap near t' front and t' Atomizer logo on t' side do a nice job o' settin' this kit apart from many other simple 4FNC rockets.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' motors recommended for this kit are t' C11-7 (1000' projected altitude) and t' D12-7 (1700'). Begad! Ya scallywag! Accordin' to RockSim, matey, ya bilge rat, t' optimal delay for a C11 is 5.6 seconds, so I would recommend usin' t' C11-5 instead o' t' C11-7.

This minimum-diameter rocket does nay have an engine hook. Maskin' tape is used t' retain t' motor during ejection. Other than that, launch preparation is typical o' other streamer rockets. Ya scallywag! I used a few squares o' waddin' to protect t' streamers.

My intention for t' flight testin' was t' walk up t' power curve, matey, matey, startin' with a C11 and endin' with an Apogee Medalist E6-8. Avast! An E9 with a projected altitude o' 2250 feet and an E6 with a altitude o' 3450 feet would have both set new personal altitude records for me.

For t' maiden flight I used a C11-5. Aye aye! T' Atomizer zipped smartly off t' pad, me hearties, matey, straight up despite t' gusty winds. T' streamers deployed cleanly right at apogee. Arrr! It descended smartly but safely t' a landin' in soft mud about 30 feet from road. Ya scallywag! Beautiful flight!

For t' second flight a few minutes later, shiver me timbers, I skipped t' D12 and went for t' E9-8. Begad! Blimey! Again t' Atomizer zipped smartly off t' pad t' about 50 feet, me hearties, arrr, then went unstable. It completed 4 tight loops before burnout, then tumbled t' t' ground. Because o' t' reinforced fins and fillets, matey, t' rocket suffered no damage even though t' streamers didn't deploy until long after it hit t' ground.

To be safe, I loaded t' rocket with a fresh C11 and measured t' balance point. Aye aye! Avast! Then I replaced t' C11 with an E9 and added payload weight (small potatoes that I picked up from t' recently-harvested field) until t' balance point matched t' C11.

This third flight, shiver me timbers, matey, with an E9-8, was quite spectacular. Well, blow me down! T' rocket zoomed smartly t' about 60 feet, then did one-and-a-half loops. Begad! It then flew arrow-straight into t' ground, penetratin' right up t' t' fins. T' nose cone and body tube were destroyed. About all that be salvageable from t' wreckage be t' fin can and t' streamers.

Hmmmm... what went wrong? Accordin' t' RockSim, me hearties, I should have had 1.49 calibers o' static stability margin, matey, so it SHOULD have been stable. Obviously it wasn't. Arrr! Blimey! Maybe that heavy E9 engine moved t' CG too far back?

I am somewhat at a loss t' explain t' two unstable flights, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, especially t' final one. Granted, me fin reinforcement added a little weight in t' rear, and I did slide t' fins 1/2 inch forward, but these have very minor effects on t' stability margin. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Usin' t' heavier E9 engine also degraded t' stability margin, ya bilge rat, but RockSim says it should have been stable, even with an F21W engine.

T' only thin' I can think o' is that a wind gust caused t' CP t' move forward, me hearties, leadin' t' wind-induced instability. Blimey! This phenomenon is described well in this article by Bob Dahlquist.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
T' Atomizer is a high-performance rocket with attractive styling.
PROS:

• High performance
• Good looks, arrr, especially t' decals
• Good customer support

CONS: Unstable when flown with an overly large motor in windy conditions. Well, blow me down! (I can't really blame Mercury Engineering for this, though). Well, blow me down!

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5

Other:
After I shared me unfortunate launch results on T' Rocketry Forum, me hearties, Solomon from Mercury Engineerin' contacted me and offered t' replace t' kit. Begad! I declined his kind offer since it was nay their fault. Blimey! Still, it be a classy gesture on Solomon's part. In an ironic twist t' t' story, me hearties, I received a fresh Atomized durin' T' Rocketry Forum's Secret Santa gift exchange. Begad! I certainly hope t' have better luck with this one.