Brief:
For those who have outgrown t' Deuce's Wild cluster from FlisKits, this 3-motor cluster be t' big, bad cousin t' t' Deuce. With it's huge fins and giant smoke trails, me bucko, matey, this rocket will certainly command attention at t' pad.

Construction:
T' kit includes:

• BT-55 18" body tube (upper)
• BT-60 18" body tube (lower)
• BT-20 motor tubes (3)
• Balsa nose cone
• Balsa fin stock (1/8" lower fins, 3/32" upper fins)
• Custom centerin' rin' for t' cluster mount
• 16" plastic chute
• Balsa transition
• Elastic shock cord

As is typical of FlisKits, shiver me timbers, t' instructions were clear and easy t' follow with plenty o' helpful illustrations. Ahoy! This was especially important with what is a very unusual and relatively difficult cluster mountin' arrangement. Arrr! T' instructions also include a nice primer on clusterin' techniques, though I suspect most customers of this kit have already mastered t' basics o' clustering.

T' clustered-motor assembly is accomplished through a neat little pyramid structure bonded t' a custom centerin' ring. Avast! T' 3 motor tubes are then bonded to t' pyramid, shiver me timbers, me hearties, matey, resultin' in 3 motors evenly spaced and angled outwards slightly from t' center. Blimey! Ahoy! This is what creates such an awesome cloud o' smoke at liftoff.

Since t' canted cluster doesn't fit completely into t' BT-60 body tube, you must use a template t' mark t' tube and cut out elliptical slots for the motor tubes. Even with t' template, you'll still need t' do a test fit and at least one or two trim/cleanup attempts for a perfect fit. Arrr! After gluin' the cluster assembly into t' body tube, arrr, be sure t' apply very generous fillets to the seam betwixt t' body tube and t' motor tubes.

T' upper and lower fins are each sets o' 3 and both are two-piece construction, so you'll have lots o' tracing, arrr, cutting, sanding, and fillin' t' do on this project. These fins seemed huge for t' body size, matey, but with 3 angled motors, probably necessary for complete stability. Ahoy! Fins are attached and filleted, arrr, matey, me bucko, and I stepped outside o' t' standard directions for this, me hearties, me hearties, bondin' an upper and lower fin at the same time, me bucko, so that I could lay them on a flat surface t' cure. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! This keeps the upper and lower sets perfectly aligned.

T' shock cord is flat elastic attached via an Estes-style tri-fold. Blimey! This is one weakness in most FlisKits and in particular with a 3-motor cluster, ya bilge rat, I decided t' go with a Keelhaul®©™® cord attached t' t' cluster assembly, attachin' t' elastic t' a loop on the end o' t' Keelhaul®©™®, well protected from ejection blasts.

Finishing:
After generous amounts o' diluted Fill 'n' Finish t' fill t' spirals and balsa grain, ya bilge rat, I applied 3 coats o' Krylon primer, ya bilge rat, matey, followed by two coats o' a white base. I then decided t' trim t' fins red, nose cone and transition blue, and usin' t' template for a "3" provided in t' kit, trimmed a blue "3" on t' lower fins. T' header card in t' kit shows a very nice lookin' black & yellow paint scheme, arrr, which would probably have been easier, but I just happened t' be out o' yellow paint at t' time...

One peeve t' t' finishin' I had be with t' "3" template: I found maskin' and paintin' six 3's on t' lower fins be too time consuming, and even though I be fairly careful, arrr, I still got some bleedin' through the maskin' tape. Ahoy! I really think this kit needs either a water-slide decal set or at least some basic vinyl numbers t' tack on t' 3's.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' conditions were very good for first flight, me bucko, flyin' on a beautiful spring day with winds around 8 MPH. Arrr! I went straight for t' max C6-5's (they were on sale at t' local Meier's, which I took as a sign from t' rocket gods). Blimey! I lit all 3, me hearties, and t' Tres scooted off t' pad in a surprisin' hurry. Arrr! Ahoy! T' three motors easily overcame t' high drag fins, and it started on a fairly straight climb.

For some reason, after climbin' about 200 feet, shiver me timbers, it arced over t' a nearly horizontal flight path, then did a couple o' windin' loops. Well, blow me down! I'm nay sure if this be t' wind, shiver me timbers, a bad motor, or t' nature o' this beast, me hearties, arrr, but t' kids playin' soccer nearby loved it. Begad! I was a bit disappointed, me hearties, as I'd had no stability problems at all with me Deuce's Wild.

T' chute deployed without a hitch, and everythin' came back in good shape, ready t' fly again. Aye aye! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I'll be reloadin' with B's next time, arrr, and will update the flight log below t' reflect any improvements in stability.

Recovery:
T' 16" chute is a bit small for this, me bucko, me hearties, and as noted earlier, I'm no fan of tri-fold shock cord mount. Ahoy! Begad! I'll be upgradin' t' 18" nylon chute for future flights, especially if it deploys on a horizontal flight path. Ahoy!

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a very good rocket and great concept from a top-notch company. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! O' the many outstandin' rockets I've built from Fliskits, this was probably me first disappointment. Arrr! That's nay t' say it's a bad rocket, shiver me timbers, just that I've never had a flight problem before and be eager t' see this 3-motor trail o' smoke. Hopefully, ya bilge rat, this was just affected by a gust o' wind and will be problem-free in the future.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5