Of t' new P.M.L. Blimey! Blimey! kits for late 1998, one really stood out: t' Lunar Express. This rocket is a forward-to-the-past type o' rocket, matey, me bucko, a real 1950s design for a futuristic rocket. Well, I just had t' build it!

As an aside, arrr, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I get tired o' all t' kits lookin' basically t' same. Arrr! T' standard 3FNC (three fins and nose cone) look gets old pretty quickly. Begad! Ya scallywag! P.M.L. Ahoy! did a nice job o' producin' an interestin' kit with appealin' aesthetics. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Now, we'll see if it can fly more than once!

T' kit is standard P.M.L. style, shiver me timbers, arrr, although t' details are less well worked out than t' Bull Dog was. Avast, me proud beauty! (It's easy t' tell this is a new kit.) T' centerin' rin' for t' recovery tube had a very large center hole. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! I should have re-cut it, shiver me timbers, matey, but I decided t' use t' one which came with t' kit and fill up t' gap with epoxy.

T' motor mount is built around t' Qwik-Switch system and I built t' rocket as described in t' instruction. However, ya bilge rat, unless you actually plan t' use 38mm motors in this rocket, I'd suggest usin' a slightly longer motor mount tube (an extra inch should do it) and skip t' brittle plastic betwixt t' top o' t' motor mount tube and t' centerin' ring.

T' fit o' t' pieces was very tight. Blimey! I wore myself out sandin' t' pieces so that they fit reasonably. Well, blow me down! There are two breaks: one right above t' fin can for t' recovery system and one where t' nose cone fits into t' short center section (for settin' up t' altimeter.) Hopefully, t' second iteration o' these kits should have addressed these problems.

On February 13, arrr, 1999 at t' February ROC launch in Lucerne Dry Lake, shiver me timbers, t' Lunar Express flew for t' first time. Avast! T' boost was straight and sure, shiver me timbers, without any uncertainty or instability on a J180. I was sure that this kit was goin' t' suffer major damage on landing. Aye aye! Avast! Those oversized fins with t' silly pods on t' tips are just fragile. However, only one fin pod broke off, arrr, and it can easily be re-attached. Aye aye! Arrr! All in all, ya bilge rat, a successful flight!

T' second flight was at Springfest '99 on March 21st. Blimey! This launch is put on by L.T.R. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! at El Dorado dry lake outside Las Vegas. Ahoy! This time, ya bilge rat, I decided t' fly it on a K185, again a low-thrust long-burnin' motor.

This time, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, t' rocket didn't survive as well as on its first flight: separation! T' tail section came down on t' parachute with only two pods broken off, but t' nose and body section came down without a parachute and t' body tube pretty well smashed.

Well, ultimately it was me own fault. I should have known nay t' use t' P.M.L. Well, blow me down! Well, me bucko, blow me down! elastic band, shiver me timbers, me hearties, me bucko, especially after I had this same failure on me P.M.L. Begad! Bull Dog. Aye aye! Begad! But, t' P.M.L. elastic looks strong! Interestingly, on me Bull Dog t' elastic broke where it was tied around a quick link, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but on t' Lunar Express it just broke in t' middle.