Brief:
This classic has been reintroduced as a "limited edition" run for about a year now. It's a very unusual swing-win' design with t' win' springing out at separation t' convert t' rocket into a glider. Begad! With colorful decals, it's a beautiful lookin' bird.

Construction:
T' kit contains:

• BT-50 body tube
• BT-20 motor/pod tube
• Metal engine hook
• BT-50 "rudder" tube
• PNC-50Y nose cone
• Laser-cut balsa stock for wings, fins
• Plastic swing-win' hardware
• 12" plastic chute (pre-assembled)
• Peel 'n' stick decals (actually pretty decent quality)

T' instructions are typical Estes--fairly well illustrated and reasonably well written, me hearties, me hearties, arrr, although a bit confusin' t' follow with t' combination of "major" numbered steps and "minor" lettered sub-steps. Well, matey, blow me down! If you rush through construction, me bucko, it's easy t' overlook critical details buried in the sub-steps. Overall, me hearties, this was rated a skill level 3 kit, which I think is a bit overstated as t' construction really isn't that difficult.

Construction begins with t' motor mount. Avast, me proud beauty! It's a basic tube/hook/centering rin' assembly, albeit usin' a fairly long (12") pod. T' pod also offers extra stability durin' boost, me bucko, and gets a couple o' fins tacked on as well. They each get a brace too, which I thought was a little overly complex versus applyin' decent fillets. Avast, me proud beauty! T' pod gets one last overly-engineered detail: a dowel mounted on a 5-piece brace. Ya scallywag! T' dowel winds up slidin' forward t' hold the win' in place durin' boost and when it (and t' pod) slide back during ejection, shiver me timbers, t' dowel releases t' wing.

T' wing "assembly" is comparatively simple thanks t' a nice 3-piece plastic pivot assembly. Begad! Arrr! Blimey! There's a round base which slips into a pre-cut hole in the wing. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! A round top slips on from t' other side o' t' wing, and t' two parts are then held together by gluin' in a plastic retainer cap. Ahoy! Blimey! You need t' be very careful with t' glue, as excess can ooze out onto t' pivot parts which need to be able t' spin freely. Aye aye! Blimey! T' base o' this assembly is molded t' conform to the contour o' t' BT-50 body tube, so gluin' onto t' tube is also very simple.

Next up is tackin' on t' stabilizer at t' rear, arrr, and taping on the elevators, arrr, which need t' be able t' flip up usin' some pretty wimpy elastic thread. Begad! On top o' t' stabilizer are a couple o' trim braces t' hold t' proper elevator angle, me hearties, a short BT-50 tube rudder, and a dorsal fin.

T' nose cone gets a small clip bonded t' it t' keep t' win' from breakin' loose under boost. Ya scallywag! It should also only be friction fit initially until you've had a chance to adjust t' nose weight, arrr, trimmin' based on actual flights rather than just hand-tossing.

Finishing:
While t' paint scheme on this is simple, arrr, you'll need t' be careful nay t' lay it on too thick. Arrr! Too much paint adds performance-killin' weight, plus it can gum up t' movement o' t' swing-wing. Begad! Multiple light coats with sanding between coats is definitely in order here.

T' pod should get some color t' it t' assist in tracking. T' stock scheme is t' paint t' fins black and leave t' rest unpainted. Begad! Aye aye! I masked off the rings, ya bilge rat, and painted most o' t' pod black, figurin' that will help with spotting it on t' ground and in t' air if t' chute doesn't deploy.

T' glider is solid white. Ahoy! Aye aye! I used two light coats o' white primer and two coats o' glossy white finish. I followed up with one coat o' clear.

Normally, I can't stand peel 'n' stick decals as they're hard t' adjust and prone t' fingerprint smudges. Ya scallywag! These decals though looked pretty sharp and I was careful t' use tweezers t' apply them. Begad! Avast! T' decals really add nice accent trim and t' result is an impressive beauty.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Prior t' buildin' this, I'd heard lots o' complaints about a number o' problems with t' scissor win' mechanism, t' elastic line on t' stabilizer, and the rubber band slippin' off. Aye aye! I decided t' come up with me own, less common problem. Begad! Despite a bulkhead and reasonably good friction-fit, t' nose cone I'd tacked in place temporarily so that I could add/remove nose weight t' trim popped off at ejection, arrr, ya bilge rat, resultin' in more o' a floppin' maple-leaf "glide".

Recovery:
Given t' nose cone snag, ya bilge rat, I can't really judge t' recovery/glide portion of the flight yet. I'll have t' replace t' nose and add a comment later t' update this review.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5