Brief:
USS Enterprise, Skill Level 4, approx 17" long, with 28" stability tube that houses parachute. Arrr! Single engine, ya bilge rat, 18" parachute, me bucko, arrr, stability tube stays attached for launch/recovery, and detaches for display.

Construction:
Numerous - see attached picture o' 12 page assembly manual.

My wife assembled this rocket 8-9 years ago, after havin' built a Klingon spaceship as a kid. Aye aye! When first flown, ya bilge rat, it got stuck on t' launch rod (which may nay have been quite straight) and fell t' t' ground where t' engine sputtered and smoked. Aye aye! Blimey! T' next launch went somewhat better, shiver me timbers, except for t' takin' a right hand turn and flyin' into trees, damagin' t' stability tube. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Apparently t' front o' t' disk be damaged somewhat also, shiver me timbers, matey, as I can see where it has been repaired. Then it sat around until t' last few weeks, which resulted in t' engine pod pylons warpin' somewhat. Avast, me proud beauty! I made repairs t' t' stability tube, addin' a launch lug and new hold down components. T' 12 page assembly manual is pretty comprehensive, me bucko, and includes 2 pages o' details for decal locations and painting, matey, which has nay yet been done. Avast! Begad! Blimey! Every type o' glue known is needed - Elmers, matey, liquid plastic cement, matey, me hearties, tube plastic cement, and CA (which I don't think be used durin' initial assembly).

Finishing:
We have nay finished t' rocket yet. Arrr! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! It has just been painted primer gray, which looks close t' Enterprise Gray, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and white Krylon for t' stability tube. Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' fit looks pretty good. Begad! Blimey! I can see areas where t' flashin' could have been trimmed more durin' assembly. T' hold down was beefed up usin' additional cardboard wrapped over t' holddown dowel t' keep it intact.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' 1st flight after repairs was Mother's Day mornin' (fitting, shiver me timbers, me bucko, since it's her rocket). Aye aye! We also used a homemade 12" ripstop nylon chute, me bucko, havin' gotten fed up with repairin' Estes plastic chutes after recent launches. Begad! It went up pretty shakily and turned sideways pretty low down, but luckily t' chute popped before t' whole assembly hit t' ground. Aye aye! Next flight was on a C6-3, matey, ya bilge rat, and went up much straighter and steadier, me bucko, with a nice recovery on t' 12" chute (although I see now t' manual calls for an 18" chute - maybe on a calm day we'll try that). Arrr! Aye aye! A 3rd flight also went quite well, with similar results.

Recovery:
T' shock cord is elastic mounted at t' top o' t' stability tube. Arrr! I can see some blackenin' on it from t' ejection charge. Aye aye! Blimey! I think I will extend it out o' t' body tube usin' Keelhaul®©™® yarn (like Quest rockets use) so it will nay burn thru and break in flight.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
I didn't assemble it, only performed maintenance and initial painting. Avast! It looks good so far, me hearties, and I think will look great once it is painted and t' decals added.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5