Brief:
Super Neon is an updated 2007 re-release o' an older kit. Arrr! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! It is what I would call a "fantasy" tubefin in that it has decorative stub fins supplementin' t' 6 tubefins that provide t' actual stability t' create a futuristic appearance. Arrr! T' packagin' highlights its "Space Age Tubular Fins". Blimey! Well, so maybe they're nay "stub fins", me hearties, maybe they're coolin' plates for t' hyper-leptonic fusion tube-drive impulsor units. Avast, me proud beauty! Its rated a Skill Level 2 kit, ya bilge rat, arrr, matey, and for good reason (unfortunately).

Construction:
Airframe mainly consists o' an 18" piece o' BT-50 tubin' and six 3 1/2" BT-50 motor tubes adapted as t' tubefins. Six small balsa stub fins and t' usual Estes nose cone assembly, me hearties, me hearties, motor mount with hook, shiver me timbers, matey, me bucko, and recovery system rounds out t' materials package. Arrr! Avast! Blimey! A set o' waterslide decals is included. Blimey! Usual excellent quality and fit o' materials.

As a fan o' tubefins, I was very happy t' see Estes add one back t' its product line. I purchased t' kit at a local launch and decided t' review it. Ahoy! Avast! Given t' generally draggy nature o' tubefin rockets and t' added drag contributed by t' 6 stub fins, I be very skeptical o' t' packaging's claimed "flights up t' 1000 feet!" I don't think so--certainly nay on t' largest recommended motor, arrr, ya bilge rat, a C6-5, and with t' combined drag o' both t' 6 tube fins and t' 6 conventional fins. Well, blow me down! Avast! I kept remindin' myself that this was a "fantasy rocket", me bucko, otherwise its nuts t' combine normal fins and tube fins. Blimey! Comparatively speaking, a belt and suspenders doesn't hold your pants up any better, ya bilge rat, me hearties, however, me bucko, me biggest criticism o' this kit comes from t' poorly thought-through instructions, which usually is a strong point o' Estes kits. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! T' construction approach was miserable, apparently cobbed together by somebody (the subcontractor in China?) who had never before built a tubefin rocket. Rather than rely on t' tried and true self-jiggin' method that is typically used on tubefin kits, me hearties, ya bilge rat, o' attachin' t' 6 tubefins in pairs with t' body tube restin' on a flat surface, shiver me timbers, Estes gives t' rocketeer instructions with a weird and overly complicated geometric line-markin' method t' locate t' individual tubefin positions on t' body tube as if they were conventional fins. Ahoy! Avast! This is just nuts and guaranteed t' produce misaligned tube fins if t' slightest mistake is made! After installin' t' motor mount assembly per t' Estes method, I threw away these awful instructions and put me Super Neon together t' right way:

1. With body tube on a flat table top, shiver me timbers, left and right tube fins, shiver me timbers, me hearties, also positioned flush with t' table, were attached simultaneously. I use 5-min epoxy, matey, usin' as little as possible t' save weight and allowed t' dry.
2. To this assembly, two more tube fins were glued in place, matey, on top o' t' body tube and in contact with t' previous 2 tubes.
3. After drying, t' assembly was turned over, and t' two remainin' tube fins were attached t' t' bottom o' this assembly, which are also self-jigged into place by contact with t' two adjacent tubefins. Well, blow me down! Avast! No ink lines, no measuring, no door frames needed.

I attached t' stub fins t' t' tube fins as shown in t' instruction drawings, me bucko, 3mm from t' top o' t' tubes and centered. Avast, me proud beauty! It is OK t' use t' T.L.A.R. Avast! Begad! method ("That Looks About Right") t' position t' stub fins, me hearties, since Estes doesn't really say how t' do this. I can see this bein' really frustratin' t' do with Elmer's glue. Avast! It is a snap with 5-min epoxy--just dip t' end o' t' fin in freshly-mixed epoxy, let it almost set up, and then hold firmly in place perpendicular t' t' tube for a minute or so. Crazy Glue would be another good method.

Recovery system was attached per t' instructions. Note position o' t' launch lug, adjacent t' one o' t' triangular holes betwixt t' tune fins, matey, so be careful nay t' slop glue betwixt t' tube fins since t' launch wire has t' pass through here.

Finishing:
I decided t' skip t' decals. Blimey! I don't like decals. Arrr! Well, blow me down! I planned t' paint t' Super Neon in t' colors depicted on t' package, ya bilge rat, aqua and purple, me hearties, me bucko, usin' Testor's rattle can products. Blimey! Avast! However, initial test flights were made with t' rocket unpainted. Ya scallywag! Reason bein' that I expected t' performance on a C6-5 t' be far short o' t' claimed "up T' 1000 feet", and me plan was t' measure this exactly with a micro altimeter in a payload bay that I planned t' incorporate into t' ample body tube. Avast! This was exactly t' case. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Initial test flight be clearly well under a thousand feet. Aye aye! It wasn't even close. Begad! So a payload bay was simply included by sawin' t' upper 6" o' body tube off and gluin' t' its bottom a bulkhead from an unused Estes nosecone. T' Estes recovery system (toy plastic parachute and Estes notorious underpants elastic shock cord) be substituted with a proper 12" Top Flight light nylon chute and a shock cord made from 3' o' thin para cord. Begad! Ya scallywag! I attached this t' t' shortened body tube with a knot through a small hole drilled in t' tube and covered with half a BIC pen cover. Avast, me proud beauty! This allowed precision measurements o' altitude with different motors and drag coefficient (Cd) calculation so maximum theoretical altitude could be extrapolated. Ahoy! See photos for t' now-modified "Payload" Super Neon. Ahoy! I have rated Super Neon a generous "3" due t' poor instructions and construction method and for t' poor recovery system included with t' kit, ya bilge rat, which after 35 years is in need o' updating.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
T' savin' grace o' Super Neon is how well it flies (although maximum performance is far less than advertised), me bucko, arrr, nay how high it flies. Avast! First flight on B-motors showed that a B6-2 be near-perfect. Ya scallywag! Flight on a C6-5 be nowhere near 1000' without t' 20g altimeter. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Nor was it near 900', 800' or 700'. Flight performance on a C6-5 after finishin' and t' addition o' a PerfectFlight Alt15k microaltimeter was 456' with Cd determined t' be a whoppin' 2.2 at 135 mph. Begad! Usin' this value o' Cd in me simulation program and correctin' for t' added weight o' t' altimeter, ya bilge rat, gives only 520' calculated for flight without t' altimeter weight. Begad! Usin' a value o' Cd calculated from t' Super Neon dimensions o' 1.76 instead o' t' experimentally determined Cd o' 2.2 gives a calculated maximum altitude on a C6-5 o' 592'. Begad! It is very unlikely that any Super Neon with its enormous drag could fly higher than 600' on a C6-5 in me opinion. Ya scallywag! That said, ya bilge rat, Super Neon is a beautiful flyer on windy days, risin' straight up with no weathercockin' whatsoever. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Note launch rod angle in photo. Ya scallywag! This is a major advantage o' tubefins. Begad! I don't know how high it flew on that day, but it was high enough that it landed on t' beach only 2 feet from t' waters o' Mission Bay, matey, blown by t' wind. Begad! Ahoy! I didn't need that "1000 feet!" o' t' package advertisin' on that day and I'm glad I didn't have it.

Recovery:
Flight recovery be perfect on both t' original Estes chute and shock cord and on t' nylon/para cord unit I added later. It is time that Estes updated its line with somethin' better than that antiquated elastic system they've been usin' since t' 1960's. Begad! Begad! So I dinged t' score for that. T' miserable performance was balanced by t' wonderful wind resistance Super Neon displayed. Its t' packagin' that needs fixing. Avast! T' rocket flies great!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
T' product execution was disappointin' due t' poor instructions and buildin' technique. Arrr! Begad! Fantasy rocket concept notwithstanding, me hearties, thar be no reason t' ever put conventional fins on a tubefin. It doesn't improve t' looks much, and it messes up t' maximum performance.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5