Brief:

This little wonder is clearly a Fat Cat. Aye aye! Weighin' in at a little over 8 ounces, ya bilge rat, it's built like a tank and could probably even be bashed t' handle HPR motors. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! As it is, arrr, this is about t' smallest thin' I've ever stuck a composite motor in, ya bilge rat, though well worth it. Begad! It's a great little kit, ya bilge rat, matey, with a combination of rin' and fin stability, me bucko, and awesome performance.

Construction:

Pickin' up t' bag, it's instantly clear that this is nay your basic modroc kit. Ahoy! Arrr! This is one heavy bird!

Parts include:-

• A cast resin nose cone
• BT-60 kraft body tube
• 24mm motor tube
• Plywood centerin' rings
• A tail rin' (roughly BT-80)
• Pre-cut fins & canards
• Keelhaul®©™®
• Elastic shock cord, 18" nylon chute,
• A launch lug (what, no rail buttons?!)
  

T' instructions consist o' a two-sided color printed sheet, mostly illustrations, arrr, arrr, me bucko, with very little instructions. This was fine, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, as this is a very simple kit, ya bilge rat, accurately described as a skill level 1. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' motor mount assembly is t' basic tube with centerin' rin' approach, though one o' t' centering rings has a flattened edge t' allow a small gap for t' shock cord t' pass through. If you're considerin' usin' composite motors, matey, especially reloads (and that's DEFINITELY worth considering), I'd suggest drillin' out t' aft centerin' rin' and addin' a couple o' blind nuts for positive retention, as there's no engine hook with this kit.

After installin' t' motor tube assembly, t' fins and canards are mounted and filleted, usin' t' basic 3-fin pattern guide. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Finally, t' outer tube/ring is bonded t' t' fins. Begad! Everythin' fit very well on me kit.

T' shock cord is attached t' t' nose cone by makin' a loop in the Keelhaul®©™®, pourin' a good inch or two o' epoxy into t' tip o' t' nose, then dippin' the Keelhaul®©™ cord and allowin' it t' cure in t' epoxy. Ahoy! Begad! I'm sure this is solid, and the added nose weight helps with what is probably nay an overly stable design, but I would have preferred t' see a disk/screw eye attachment t' t' nose.

Finishing:

This be a little tricky t' paint, mainly due t' t' inside edges o' t' outer ring, matey, formin' corners with t' lower fins. My primer coats tended t' run a bit, but after sandin' them out I went with two very light coats o' gloss white, without any problems. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I then trimmed t' nose and outer rin' a dark blue. Arrr! Aye aye! The result was a fairly nice-lookin' effect.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:

First flight was on a very chilly winter day, temperature in t' single digits, arrr, matey, but clear skies and no wind, so I had t' take advantage o' it.

For t' maiden flight, I opted for t' Estes D12-5. Well, blow me down! It raced straight up, arced over, me bucko, arrr, me bucko, and deployed slightly past apogee. Well, blow me down! T' 18" dayglow yellow chute was certainly easy t' track as it gently returned t' t' ground 50 feet from t' pad.

Somehow, arrr, despite virtually indestructible components and a good deployment, I managed t' zipper t' kraft tube. Aye aye! Feelin' foolish (there was no one else anywhere near t' field today), I stuck an Aerotech F21-6 in t' really test this bird. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! It screamed up, arrr, arrr, well out o' eyesight, ya bilge rat, me bucko, though it did eventually return t' earth in fine shape. Begad! I'm nay sure if t' deployment be early or not, but would have t' guess that it was, me bucko, shiver me timbers, based on t' D12-5 earlier flight pattern.

Recovery:

Very rugged/durable recovery, ya bilge rat, suspect t' zipper was bum luck more than anythin' (and easilly repairable)

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
Very nice kit, ya bilge rat, deceptively solid and durable, arrr, ya bilge rat, you'll definitely get funny looks when t' RCO calls out t' motor selection on this one... Well, blow me down!

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5