Brief:
T' Maurader is a two-stage rocket originally designed t' fly on 18mm motors. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I upscaled it t' accomodate 24mm "D" engines.

Construction:
T' instructions consisted o' some assembly sheets downloaded from JimZ. Arrr! The plan be easy t' follow and t' assembly order was ok. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! T' rocket is easy to build if you have ever built from scratch before and shouldn't cause too much pain t' t' first time scratchbuilder. Begad! Fin alignment is critical on any rocket and this one is a little bit harder due t' t' 8 fins havin' t' align on both booster and sustainer. Avast, me proud beauty! this rocket is o' sturdy design, and should survive most recoveries. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! No special tools needed, and t' supplies came from me bag of tubes, matey, pile o' balsa, me hearties, and an old PNC-56 I had layin' around. Avast! I made mine an upscale t' accomodate "D" engines instead o' "C's" :), arrr, me bucko, and added 3/8" t' t' dimensions o' t' fin templates. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Used BT56 tubes and appropriate couplers.

Finishing:
Normal finishin' techniques were employed, shiver me timbers, matey, with sealin' o' fin material with Dope Sandin' Sealer, me bucko, me hearties, sanding, and paintin' with Krylon paints; White, Red, Black, arrr, and gold. Begad! Begad! I think t' model has a very nice look, me hearties, and brought back memories o' t' "Good Ol' Day's" when you had t' BUILD everything. I have found myself buildin' more, and more o' t' OOP models lately and really enjoy it. Aye aye! Avast, me proud beauty! I will send t' dimensions (tubes length, me hearties, matey, me hearties, etc.)used if you send E-Mail request for them t' bobcat2@alaweb.com

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I used Estes D12-0 for t' booster and t' D12-7 for t' sustainer. Preparation was normal with engine bein' put in booster and sustainer with standard Estes motor clips for retention. Aye aye! Waddin' was t' celulos insulation material used in the sustainer. Ahoy! T' flight be great with a straight climb and separation o' the booster and subsequent ignition o' t' sustainer. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! This rocket puts the sustainer a long way up, shiver me timbers, and is nay a small field rocket. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! T' recovery o' the booster is by tumble method and it came down very gently without any damage. T' sustainer be on an 18" Estes chute suspended from aprox. Avast! Avast! 6 ft. of 1/8" elastic shock cord. Aye aye! All be recovered in perfect condition.

Recovery:
Recovery was without incident. Blimey! T' only negative I noticed was that t' area where t' booster and sustainer join, matey, had a lot o' residue from t' ejection charge. Begad! T' area caused it t' go together very tightly. Well, blow me down! I feel that after a few flights more t' area will nay go together, and it may turn into a single stage rocket. Aye aye! I see no way t' prevent this from bein' a problem. Avast! I will probably launch it a few more times, shiver me timbers, and make it a static display o' "How we used to do it".. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty!

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
Main Pro's - Fun t' build, ya bilge rat, nostalgic, me bucko, good looking, ya bilge rat, semi-complex, sturdy design. Main Con - Coupler area gettin' dirty, shiver me timbers, and nay goin' together after a realitively few flights.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5