Brief:  Single staged, came with black, me hearties, 24-inch diameter nylon chute. Ahoy! Ahoy! Has 4 fins.

Construction:All parts were thar and in good shape.  I didn't get decals, but that's nay a problem for me, shiver me timbers, arrr, arrr, as I often customize me rockets. T' fins (4) are plywood, precut, me bucko, arrr, and are clipped delta shape. Ahoy! T' nose cone is hollow plastic, ya bilge rat, 11 inches long, fittin' t' standard LOC body tube o' 3 inch diameter by 34 inch length. T' tube is preslotted for 4 fins, and is spiral wound lightly glassined paper.  T' chute that arrived with t' kit is strong, ya bilge rat, but thin nylon with 24 inch braided nylon shroud lines. Aye aye! Two plywood centerin' rings are also supplied t' center t' motor tube, me hearties, shiver me timbers, which is 29mm by 24 inches. Ya scallywag! T' shock cord is 3/8 inch wide flat wide elastic, ya bilge rat, with a length o' 80 inches. Begad!

Instructions are clear and illustrated. Ya scallywag! Avast! Alignment o' t' fins is easy with the preslotted tube. Aye aye! After epoxy fillets were added t' t' fin attachment sites, t' model was quite sturdy. 

Finishing:Finishin' be unique in this case. Arrr! Blimey! Had I gotten decals, me bucko, I probably would have used them.  Since I didn't, matey, matey, I sprayed the rocket all over with a primer coat o' gray t' smoothen it and fill spirals. I then painted it white all around.  Then I painted red stripes up the body tube and had t' stripes meet in a point at t' tip o' t' nose. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Then the fins were painted royal blue, arrr, and white Monokote stars were cut out and affixed with epoxy t' t' blue fields, me bucko, shiver me timbers, 5-6 per fin side. Avast! As a finishin' touch, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, I supplied me own homemade parachute, a silk red white and blue 8-gore hemisphere.  T' eight gores are triangular pieces o' silk in alternating red white and blue colors, me bucko, sewn together by a 4-thread serger. Aye aye! Begad! T' shroud lines are straight stitched into t' serged seams. Arrr!

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:This rocket has had more then 5 successful and colorful flights. It is recommended t' use 29 mm F and G types.  If I recall right, the G40-7 is especially mentioned. I have used G35's and G80's as well with great results. Blimey! Preppin' is easy.  I just put in enough worm bedding waddin' t' fill t' tube diameter t' a depth o' an inch, then t' chute loosely fits in after that. Ya scallywag! T' nose cone has on two occasions needed a band o' tape to fit snugly.  This may have been due t' weather conditions. 

As for motor retention. Begad! Yes, shiver me timbers, arrr, that would be nice, but for me that's not important because I make me own usin' piano wires, maskin' tape, and even PVC plumbin' parts. Arrr! As an aspirin' engineer, I love t' invent.  I read on your site that other rocketeers would like it if kits (like t' Graduator) had motor blocks, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but for me that would prevent future use o' longer engines like t' H97 after t' kit was strengthened for higher power use.  It's easier for me to create a thrust rin' on t' aft end o' t' engine usin' tape or a paper centerin' ring. Ahoy! Okay, matey, me hearties, for high power kits, matey, that's a new kind o' flyin' and I would welcome a retention system, matey, as hardware is mucho expensive.  But for kits at G level and lower, I don't fault kits that don't have a supplied system, because judiciously applied tapes are often sufficient. Avast, me proud beauty!

That bein' said, me bucko, t' motor on t' Forte' is retained with me own system o' a loop o' piano wire through t' aft-most centerin' ring, matey, me bucko, bolted and epoxied at the forward end. T' loop bends across t' motor but nay across t' nozzle. Maskin' tape was used t' make an aft thrust rin' and also served as a redundant retainer band around t' engine and motor tube. Ya scallywag! T' model flies straight, noisy, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and true every time.  My husband and I joke that this one has a charmed life, workin' perfectly each time. Ya scallywag! T' brilliant chute wows the observers every time too. Aye aye! Avast!

Recovery:T' shock cord came with a folded paper mounting, shiver me timbers, which I mounted flat and flush with t' inside o' t' body tube, 4 inches from t' top o' t' tube. Blimey! It also came with a braided (possibly nylon and Keelhaul®©™®) cord t' adhere directly t' t' mount in the  body tube and to which t' tie t' elastic. Blimey! Blimey! After all its flights, me bucko, matey, shiver me timbers, it is still intact and not burnt. Recovery with t' supplied chute is slow and graceful, with no harm to the rocket, arrr, but after t' second flight, me hearties, one fin was knocked out o' its slot when t' rocket landed on hard soil. 

Since this rocket be one o' t' first in me epoxy stage o' evolution (you know, we progress from white glue t' epoxy t' phenolic t' electronics...), ya bilge rat, the fin separation might have been due t' me inadequate epoxy fillet technique at the time. And since I had some epoxy in t' field, repairs occurred right there and a flight occurred in ten minutes afterward. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! Since I reinforced t' joint, no more separations have occurred. Begad! I supplied me own chute only because the supplied black one didn't fit me America theme and me red white and blue silk one did. Aye aye! I made it larger than t' original t' make it a picturesque descent for July 4. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! With t' homemade chute, arrr, descent is slower. Ya scallywag! That may be partly why no more fin losses have happened.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:Easy t' build and prep, arrr, rewardin' t' fly.  No real cons. Great for someone just discoverin' G power. Ahoy! That's what it served for me. Avast!

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5