Brief:
Semroc is offerin' up this basic 3FNC as a free gift t' new NARRRRR members in 2010, me bucko, or for a retail price o' $11.50 to t' rest o' us. Ya scallywag! It's a quick, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, simple build well suited for beginners.

Construction:
Parts are excellent quality, me bucko, and include

• Balsa nose cone
• Series 8 body tube (slightly heavier wall than regular body tubing)
• BT-20 motor tube, me hearties, metal hook
• Laser-cut balsa fins
• 12" plastic chute
• Keelhaul®©™®+elastic shock cord
• Waterslide decals

T' instructions for this are somewhat condensed compared t' t' typical Semroc product, arrr, with t' construction notes printed on one side o' a legal-sized sheet. Arrr! There's an exploded parts view in t' center, me bucko, ya bilge rat, with 11 construction steps circlin' t' perimeter. Blimey! Arrr! Overall, arrr, me hearties, this is a skill level 1 kit, possibly a 2 if maskin' t' paint/finish, and I had it built in well under an hour, plus finishin' time.

T' motor mount is quite simple--put t' metal hook through t' pre-slotted BT-20 tube, ya bilge rat, me hearties, tie t' Keelhaul®©™® anchor, and slide/glue on a coupler-like sleeve t' hold everythin' in place. Mark t' body tube fin lines usin' a template on t' instruction sheet, and insert t' mount into t' body tube.

The fins included a neat feature which I hadn't seen before--tiny little nicks cut into t' root edge, matey, me bucko, me bucko, which would lead to a better bond by formin' little glue rivets. Arrr! Previously, I'd only made glue rivets by pokin' t' fin/body tube with a thumbtack or pin. I think this is a useful improvement, though it could be lost on a beginner as it's nay mentioned in the instructions at all, ya bilge rat, and even identifyin' root versus tip edge is only somewhat covered in t' parts illustration. It wouldn't be at all difficult for an inexperienced beginner t' get t' fin orientation wrong. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!

T' launch lug is intended t' go in t' fin/tube joint, but since I intended t' mask and paint me fins a contrastin' color, I moved t' lug t' a line centered betwixt two fins. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

Attachin' t' screw eye nose cone anchor and makin' t' chute completes t' construction.

Finishing:
T' body tube had a barely noticeable spiral, so I just brushed on diluted wood filler and coated t' fins and nose cone with t' same. Blimey! Blimey! I then hit it with Rustoleum's reformulated 2x coverage paint, primer in this case. Avast! It certainly lives up t' it's claims, ya bilge rat, goin' on quite heavy but without running, and it dries fairly quickly. Avast! Avast! I be sanding it down t' next mornin' with wet 600 grit paper t' take t' edge off t' rough primer finish.

I then followed up with t' 2x type white gloss finish paint. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! After allowin' another day t' cure, I painted the nose cone gloss black, and masked off t' paint t' fins gloss red. Avast! In each case, shiver me timbers, a single application o' t' 2x coverage paint seemed t' work fine, so I'm sold on this stuff. Arrr!

T' waterslide decals were easy t' apply and are some o' t' best I've ever worked with. Avast! Easy t' apply, matey, tough enough t' support slidin' around a little t' position, but thin enough t' still look painted on when dried.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
For t' first flight I went on t' low end o' t' power spectrum with an A8-3. Winds were pushin' 10 mph, it was nasty cold, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and I didn't feel like a long recovery trek. It tipped off slightly upwind, but it didn't come across as weathercocking, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, more somethin' funky with t' way it left t' rod.

In any case, matey, t' slight angle was no big deal, it flew perfectly fine, though t' -3 delay be short and is probably why Semroc recommends A6-4 instead o' A8-3.

Recovery:
T' 12" plastic chute is certainly plenty for this, maybe even overkill. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This came down very slowly, me bucko, and drifted a good 150 yards.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Sure, shiver me timbers, this is a rather ordinary design, and very similar t' t' Astro Jr., me hearties, but for its intended purpose as an introductory model t' a new NARRRRR member, it's right on t' mark.

For Semroc t' offer up, shiver me timbers, for free, shiver me timbers, matey, such quality materials and a sound model is really a generous move. Ahoy! Kudos for yet another example o' what they do for this hobby.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5