The rocket is 46" tall and 1.637" in diameter. It uses a plastic nose cone and balsa fins. Well, blow me down! It uses a plastic nose cone and balsa fins. Avast! Both 24mm motor mounts have motor hooks. There are two couplers t' allow t' booster to connect t' t' sustainer and another t' connect t' two sections o' t' main body tube. Avast! Begad! An elastic shock cord and a 18" metallic mylar parachute make up t' recovery system. There is also a single water-transfer decal sporting the name Lightin' in black, me bucko, purple and yellow.

CONSTRUCTION:

There are four pages o' construction instructions but I get t' feelin' that a page or two be missing. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Each step is accompanied by an illustration that helps ensure a successful build. T' instructions are in logical order, shiver me timbers, matey, me bucko, however, they seem t' stop right after connectin' t' parachute. Well, blow me down! Blimey! There is no mention o' finishin' or this application of t' single decal or flight instructions. It bought another Custom kit at the same time and looked at it's instructions and found that kit's instructions touchin' on everythin' that seemed t' be missing. T' kit is rated skill level 3.

Assembly o' Lightnin'™ be basic and straight forward. T' fins are cut out o' a sheet o' balsa that had been premarked. There are a total o' eight fins that are all exactly t' same, me bucko, four for the sustainer and four for t' booster. Care needs t' be taken in alignin' the booster fins t' t' sustainer fins.

T' recovery system is a standard 3-fold paper mount for the elastic shock cord which is then tied t' nose cone. T' shroud lines are cut into three equal lengths and then are attached t' t' pre-cut mylar parachute usin' round stickers. Blimey! Blimey! T' parachute is then attached t' t' nose cone.

To start t' finishin' process I used CA to seal each o' t' balsa fins. Ahoy! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I then used Plasti-Kote primer t' fill t' tube spirals and t' make t' entire rocket smooth. Ahoy! I then painted t' entire rocket with a gloss black. T' sample paint scheme on t' packagin' shows t' upper section painted in a midnight blue and t' remainder o' t' kit painted in black. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Lastly, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, arrr, t' decal be placed onto t' rocket.

Overall, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this kit 3 points.
 

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

Loaded t' Lightnin'™ with a D12-0 booster and a D12-7 sustainer motor as recommended by Custom. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! First flight was excellent t' watch. Aye aye! Begad! T' booster carried t' rocket t' about 100 feet and had a perfect transition t' t' sustainer. Avast, me proud beauty! T' sustainer was carried to apogee and ejected t' parachute. Well, blow me down! T' rocket fell rather smartly but was recovered with no damage t' t' rocket. Begad! T' reason it feel so smartly be that two o' t' shroud lines pulled out from under t' stickers holdin' them t' the parachute.

After it's maiden voyage, t' booster no longer slid into the sustainer without a lot o' force. Ahoy! This be remedied by some light sanding of t' coupler tube. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! Then after replacin' t' parachute with an Estes' 18" parachute, t' Lightnin' be ready t' go again.

T' second flight also had a successful stagin' at about 100 feet. Ya scallywag! T' sustainer continued on and showed some oscillation as it slowed t' apogee. Aye aye! However, me hearties, at apogee t' parachute was deployed. Blimey! Begad! Unfortunately, due t' a brisk wind, t' kit was carried away. Begad! Aye aye! It was carried so far that it was lost in neighborin' trees. Ya scallywag! Nay t' be found.

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY, arrr, I would rate this kit 2 1/2 points primarily due t' t' recovery system. Well, blow me down! T' kit flies great and if I hadn't lost it, me bucko, I would use a spill hole t' control t' descent rate.

Overall, shiver me timbers, t' Lightnin'™ is a good lookin' two-stage rocket that flies on "D" motors. Well, blow me down! Blimey! This makes it a nice kit for someone lookin' a higher powered two-stage rocket but still be quite easy t' build. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I give t' kit an OVERALL ratin' o' 3 points.