Brief:
A unique three motor parallel staged rocket.

Construction:
T' Gamma III came in t' usual clear plastic bag packagin' with five smaller packages in addition t' t' tubes, shiver me timbers, nose cones, and fin stock. Ahoy! T' four body tubes were t' brown Estes type, but t' three nose cones were rather thin plastic, which made for rather weak points t' screw in a screw eye (the kit now comes with balsa cones). Ahoy! Avast! A Rockethead Rockets 15" mylar chute, shiver me timbers, and two mylar streamers were also included. Well, blow me down! Arrr! T' recovery items were very high quality. A DMB Rocketry three motor Clip Whip had been thrown in as well. Begad! Basswood fin stock and fiber centerin' rings round t' kit off nicely.

Construction is fairly straightforward for t' experienced modeler. The included instructions were clear and contained photos and line drawings to illustrate t' steps. Arrr! Templates were on a separate sheet. Aye aye! Begad! Cuttin' t' fins out of t' basswood stock was a little tricky with a hobby knife, but t' method mentioned in t' instructions works well. Aye aye! I used medium CA throughout t' build and filleted t' fins with epoxy. Avast! This is definitely a builder's kit as you have t' cut dowels, shiver me timbers, arrr, arrr, body tubes, and launch lugs. Arrr!

Finishing:
There are no special finishin' requirements nor decals included with t' kit. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! I went with purplely-bluey on t' sustainer and green on t' fins and pods.

I'm givin' this four and a half out o' five. Ya scallywag! It just misses out on full marks because o' t' nose cones.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' first flight o' t' Gamma III was at BigEARS '05 in Cambridge, arrr, England. Blimey! Aye aye! I loaded it up with a D12-5 and C6-3s in t' boosters. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Waddin' was inserted into the boosters and sustainer. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! I decided t' use an 18" nylon chute in the sustainer due t' t' hard ground. I hooked up t' DMB clip whip t' the igniters, matey, and went out t' t' pads. Ahoy! T' wind was gustin' around 7-10mph, me hearties, and I was a bit nervous about launchin' but I went for it anyway. Aye aye! After a quick countdown, shiver me timbers, t' rocket left t' pad with all three motors burnin' then shot over towards t' campin' area, me hearties, goin' close t' horizontal. Blimey! It managed a tight loop before it hit apogee then t' boosters ejected at about 20ft above ground, while t' sustainer hit t' ground and ejected almost simultaneously. An excitin' flight but nay what I had in mind! After a 20 minute search o' the field for t' boosters (as t' crops were at that annoyin' height when it's easy t' lose smaller rockets in), we managed t' find one booster and t' nose cone from t' other, me bucko, which had separated and taken t' streamer with it. Aye aye! The sustainer was found a little further down, with t' nosecone about 4" into the hard mud. Arrr! Ahoy! T' top o' t' body tube be crimped beyond repair and t' motor mount had moved a couple o' inches into t' body. Avast! It seemed t' crash had been caused by a short launch rod, me bucko, t' wind, and late ignition o' one o' the boosters, which was confirmed by lookin' at t' spent igniters: two were completely burnt up but t' other one still had most o' t' paper on it.

After a quick rebuild, it was ready for another flight, which took place at UKRA '05. Aye aye! It was loaded up again with a couple o' C6-3's and a D12-5. Begad! This time, I used Quickmatch (fast burnin' fuse ignited by an Estes igniter) t' light t' motors, shiver me timbers, which practically guaranteed simultaneous ignition o' all t' motors. Ya scallywag! After worryin' about flyin' it in t' high wind (higher than BigEARS), I loaded it up onto a pad with a long rod. Ya scallywag! Arrr! All three motors lit at t' same time thanks t' t' Quickmatch and t' Gamma shot off the pad, barely weathercocking. Right on cue, me bucko, t' boosters ejected and separated from t' sustainer. One booster kicked its motor, shiver me timbers, matey, which was me fault for not securin' it properly, shiver me timbers, and both nose cones separated from t' tubes. Well, blow me down! The sustainer continued skyward for 3-4 more seconds, arrr, and then ejected right on apogee. Aye aye! All parts were recovered nicely.

Take-off picture by Dan Westley

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
An excellent kit, ya bilge rat, with very excitin' flights. Ahoy! I was slightly let down by the weak nose cones but that has been fixed with t' Rockethead version o' this kit.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5