Brief:
Rocket releases small glider.

Construction:
Booster has large balsa wing-like fins with smaller fins on t' wingtips. Avast, me proud beauty! NC is plastic. Shock cord be t' typical Quest Keelhaul®©™® strin' attached t' t' motor mount that transitions t' an elastic cord. Begad! A 14 inch parachute is used. Ya scallywag!

Laser cuttin' on t' fins is excellent. Arrr! T' parts are precisely cut and fit well. Begad! Instructions are thorough, clearly written, and well illustrated. Avast!

I modified me model--I added a baffle made o' two offset disks o' balsa t' reduce t' need for ejection wadding.

T' wings are made up from four pieces on both t' booster and t' glider. Begad! Everythin' lines up and fits well. However, ya bilge rat, t' fin design is weak. Arrr! Ahoy! T' large win' tip fins on t' booster are fragile and are bound t' hit first on landing. Ahoy! I broke two fins and knocked one off on t' first flight even though t' landin' wasn't particularly hard. Ahoy! Avast!

I'd recommend nay mountin' t' top wingtip fins at t' 10 degree outward cant as shown in t' instructions. Avast! (This is done purely for looks.) Instead, I'd mount them perpendicular t' t' main win' and then add a small piece o' balsa to t' outside as a stiffener. Ya scallywag! This piece would tie t' upper and lower win' tip fins together and sandwich t' end of the "wing" fin makin' it much harder t' knock a tip fin off on landing.

T' glider is small, me hearties, about 6 inches long with a wingspan o' 4.5 inches. T' glider is very small and hard t' test glide. Blimey! Blimey! As it turned out durin' t' first flight, me hearties, t' glider be very nose heavy. Avast! Blimey! I'd recommend reducin' or eliminating the heavy body tube joiner used t' attach t' plastic nose cone t' t' body tube on t' glider. Well, matey, blow me down! Blimey! That would take some weight out o' t' nose. Ahoy! Blimey!

Finishing:
Kit recommends nay finishin' t' glider for best flight performance, me hearties, me bucko, but includes complete paintin' instructions in case you want t' paint it anyways. Avast, me proud beauty! Models like this are built more for looks than absolute flight performance, so I painted mine. Arrr! Blimey! I primed t' model with white Krylon primer then gave it a light coat o' gloss white. Aye aye! I used acrylic dark gray for t' underside o' t' glider and booster. Aye aye!

T' waterslide decals worked well and went on easily. Begad! I used a Future floor polish as a settin' agent and as a final gloss coat. Arrr!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew t' model on a B6-4. Arrr! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! It boosted straight up with t' large fin area. Blimey! Blimey! Model uses a standard metal retaining hook. No problems there. Begad! Blimey! Avast! Blimey!

Glider separated easily at apogee and dove sharply t' t' ground. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! It is so small and light that it suffered no damage.

Recovery:
I used one small piece o' waddin' as additional protection for t' chute. Ya scallywag! T' baffle worked well. Avast! T' chute was unmarked by t' ejection gases and deployed fully. Even so, t' model lands hard on t' fragile fins. Ahoy!

I'd recommend modifyin' t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord installation so t' model lands in a more horizontal position,

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a sharp lookin' rocket. Blimey! Construction is a bit more involved than most due t' t' large balsa wings and fins. I think t' design o' t' fins be t' weak point as they are easy t' break on landing. Ahoy!

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5