Brief:
USS Enterprise, shiver me timbers, matey, arrr, Skill Level 4, approx 17" long, me bucko, with 28" stability tube that houses parachute. Begad! Single engine, ya bilge rat, 18" parachute, 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. Avast! Ahoy! When first flown, shiver me timbers, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! T' next launch went somewhat better, except for t' takin' a right hand turn and flyin' into trees, arrr, damagin' t' stability tube. Avast! Begad! Apparently t' front o' t' disk be damaged somewhat also, as I can see where it has been repaired. Aye aye! Arrr! Then it sat around until t' last few weeks, which resulted in t' engine pod pylons warpin' somewhat. I made repairs t' t' stability tube, addin' a launch lug and new hold down components. T' 12 page assembly manual is pretty comprehensive, and includes 2 pages o' details for decal locations and painting, which has nay yet been done. Well, blow me down! Every type o' glue known is needed - Elmers, me hearties, liquid plastic cement, tube plastic cement, and CA (which I don't think be used durin' initial assembly).

Finishing:
We have nay finished t' rocket yet. Begad! It has just been painted primer gray, which looks close t' Enterprise Gray, and white Krylon for t' stability tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! T' fit looks pretty good. Begad! Aye aye! I can see areas where t' flashin' could have been trimmed more durin' assembly. Blimey! 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 be Mother's Day mornin' (fitting, matey, matey, since it's her rocket). We also used a homemade 12" ripstop nylon chute, havin' gotten fed up with repairin' Estes plastic chutes after recent launches. Aye aye! Blimey! It went up pretty shakily and turned sideways pretty low down, but luckily t' chute popped before t' whole assembly hit t' ground. Avast! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! Next flight was on a C6-3, and went up much straighter and steadier, arrr, 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). Begad! Blimey! A 3rd flight also went quite well, with similar results.

Recovery:
T' shock cord is elastic mounted at t' top o' t' stability tube. Ahoy! I can see some blackenin' on it from t' ejection charge. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! 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. Begad! Blimey! It looks good so far, ya bilge rat, and I think will look great once it is painted and t' decals added.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5