Brief:
Inspired by t' return o' NARCON in 2009 t' t' New England area, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, this oddroc is a flyin' lighthouse. Thanks t' some outstandin' engineering/prototypin' and excellent instructions, ya bilge rat, this is nay nearly as difficult t' build as you'd think and it flies perfectly.

Construction:
Parts are top quality and include:

• BT-55 body tube
• BT-50 motor tube (24mm)
• 3/16" launch lug (actually a long tube)
• Balsa nose block/bulkhead
• Metal motor hook
• Keelhaul®©™®/elastic shock cord
• 16" plastic parachute
• 1/8" balsa fin stock
• Assorted wood dowels, me bucko, do-dads
• Cardstock shrouds, patterns
• Clay weight

One item nay included in t' kit that you'll seriously want t' consider be t' pre-printed shroud. T' stock kit comes with a plain white cardstock shroud that you can decorate yourself. Arrr! Begad! At time o' release, Jim made t' beautiful pre-printed design I used available via a free download and had plans t' offer up several other designs as well. The design can be printed on 2 pieces o' 8.5" x 11" cardstock (for two seams) or on a single 11" x 17" piece (for one seam). Ahoy! I didn't have 11" x 17" and wasn't goin' t' buy a batch for this one project, so hit my neighborhood Kinko's for a quick and easy shroud that cost me an additional $1.50.

While this is nay too difficult a build, arrr, it does require some unusual skills and techniques, so payin' careful attention t' t' instructions are in order. It's rated a skill level 2.5, which I'd agree is a fair assessment due to the formin' o' a couple shrouds and some tricky fit/trim o' interior structures.

Startin' with t' motor mount is a fairly standard assembly usin' a 24mm tube, centerin' rin' block, a couple 50/55 centerin' rings and a metal hook with t' Keelhaul®©™® line anchored t' t' forward centerin' ring. Begad! T' instructions assume you're goin' t' stick with shorter D motors but do describe an optional modification for E motors. Arrr! Begad! One thin' nay pointed out in that modification, ya bilge rat, though, is that the metal motor hook furnished is nay long enough t' support Es. Avast, me proud beauty! I generally prefer in 24mm kits t' longer hooks and configuration for Es as t' default with a 1" section o' coupler or somethin' similar t' serve as an E-D adapter.

After buildin' t' motor mount, shiver me timbers, you're on t' t' nose cone section. Arrr! Avast! There's a laser-cut fiberboard base with a number o' holes and a few alignment marks near t' center. A balsa block gets glued t' t' center inside t' alignment marks and a series o' dowels go in t' holes circlin' t' center. These dowels are t' posts o' t' "tower". T' "beacon" consists o' a wooden ball mounted t' another dowel section, which in turn gets mounted through the base and into t' balsa bulkhead, matey, ensurin' a nice strong bond which should help keep everythin' together at ejection. You'll want t' think through your paint scheme before goin' too far along at this point as t' dowels and base wind up gettin' mostly covered in t' next few steps. Arrr! There's another fiberboard disk with holes that goes on top of t' dowel posts. Ahoy! Avast! You'll add t' clay nose weight t' this, then cover it up with a cardstock shroud cone. Blimey! As a finishin' touch, matey, thar's a fence/railin' that surrounds t' base o' t' tower, shiver me timbers, which is formed from a cardstock pattern. There's a lot o' cuttin' involved t' get all t' little squares out, matey, but it's worth t' effort.

T' main structure o' t' rocket consists o' a BT-55 body tube and 4 balsa braces supported by a fiberboard disk base. Well, blow me down! T' braces need t' be hand cut from balsa stock based upon cardstock patterns and need t' be very precisely traced and cut. Avast! Ahoy! They taper as they go up t' body coincidin' with t' taper o' t' lighthouse shroud. One o' t' brace sections is actually 2 pieces--an inner section that t' interior launch lug butts up against and an outer section between t' lug and t' shroud. Blimey! T' top o' t' main structure gets a fiberboard disk/centerin' rin' t' support t' top of t' shroud.

With t' braces carefully aligned, you'll want t' take a good look at t' taper and t' fit o' t' braces. Ya scallywag! In my case, they stuck just a hair too far out and would have caused t' shroud t' bulge a bit so I had t' sand them down slightly. Ahoy! Avast! I used a long sandin' block and basically held a straight taper from t' lower base disk t' t' upper disk.

When t' interior structure is complete, ya bilge rat, it's time t' cut out and attach t' main body shroud. Well, blow me down! Since it's such a large shroud, it's really nay too difficult--less risk o' wrinkling, me bucko, gentle curve that doesn't result in a tendency for flat spots, arrr, etc. T' shroud includes a small cutout section t' accommodate t' launch lug so it must be very carefully aligned as you slide it down t' interior structure. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' launch lug will protrude a good bit and must them be trimmed off flush with t' shroud. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! T' shroud itself is also too long (on purpose) and needs t' be trimmed at t' top flush with t' upper disk.

With t' shroud in place, you then cut 4 exterior fins from balsa stock and attach t' pre-marked spots along the outside o' t' shroud. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! There are 2 pattern options included: a standard pattern that has very pointy feet and an alternate pattern that has flatter feet less prone t' damage on landing. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! Knowin' me luck with hard landings, I opted for t' flatter pattern.

Finishing:
Since I went with a pre-printed body shroud, shiver me timbers, thar be nay that much finishin' involved. I had decided t' paint the tower white before coverin' it up, me bucko, then for t' lamp/beacon, matey, I hand painted it a day-glo yellow. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! I then formed t' top shroud/cone and painted it gold. With these pieces done, matey, I then glued t' cone t' t' top o' t' tower, completin' that assembly.

For t' fins, arrr, matey, I painted them before attachin' t' t' shroud and went with a blue that closely matched t' blue of the shroud pattern. Bein' t' obsessive compulsive/anal retentive type, shiver me timbers, t' even painted t' exposed launch lug interior t' match t' shroud pattern with white and blue sections. Aye aye! After attachin' t' fins, me bucko, I applied a couple white glue fillets, which dries clear and wouldn't mar t' finish.

While t' pre-printed shroud is beautiful, I will point out two minor issues I found with it from a finish perspective. Arrr! Begad! I believe corrections t' these are in t' works and will be posted soon. Begad! At t' top o' t' shroud where it needs t' be trimmed flush with t' disk, me bucko, matey, thar's a little text that says it's t' be cut away per t' instructions. Unfortunately, arrr, me bucko, this is printed on t' side o' t' line that stays on t' model, arrr, arrr, nay t' section that gets cut away. Also, t' regions marked for fin alignment are labeled nicely inside t' region for 3 o' t' 4, but t' fin area formed by t' seam overlap has t' label outside t' region. Ahoy! This means that only three o' t' four labels are covered up through mountin' t' fins.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
For t' first flight, me hearties, me hearties, I loaded up a D12-5, but things didn't work out so well. T' motor CATO'd in spectacular fashion, me hearties, blowin' t' flamin' propellant out t' forward end with enough force t' melt t' chute, me hearties, eject t' nose, me hearties, burn the elastic off, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, but leave t' main body (lighthouse) still on t' rod flamin' away. I was able t' blow out t' flames before it got beyond t' inner stuffer tube, but t' guts o' t' rocket were trashed.

With literally hundreds o' feet o' just about every imaginable tube size known t' man stashed in me basement, arrr, I figured t' repair wouldn't be too bad, but as it turns out, I didn't have any coupler tube stock for BT-55s other than some short sections, and I needed a full 9" or so t' slide down inside t' burnt BT-55 t' act as a replacement tube. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! I wound up tackin' it onto a BMS clone-of-the-month order and waited t' 4-8 weeks or so for that order t' ship before finally havin' t' parts t' repair me Nantucket Sound.

With t' proper tubing, t' repairs were simple: insert t' TC-55 down t' throat, ya bilge rat, sand down t' nose shoulder accordingly, replace t' elastic shock cord and chute.

T' repaired model went up on a fresh D12-5 in calm winds (maybe 3-4 mph). Blimey! Blimey! With a good motor t' boost was terrific--perfectly straight, arrr, shiver me timbers, nay even much o' a roll.

T' -5 delay be t' right choice for this as it was horizontal and just startin' t' turn nose-down when the deployment kicked.

Recovery:
My replacement chute was a standard FlisKits 16" plastic one, shiver me timbers, and while t' model came down a bit fast, everythin' be fine in t' tall grass. I can appreciate though that t' "alternate" fin template with squared aft ends could be t' way t' go on shorter grass/harder fields.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
Of t' couple dozen sport models I brought t' t' field today, shiver me timbers, this be t' one that caught t' kids' attention the most. Begad! Blimey! It certainly scores high on t' cool factor as well as t' oddball factor, me bucko, and t' flight was outstanding.

T' only cons I'd suggest, while very minor, would be relãted t' t' shroud markings having notes/instructions on t' "good" side o' t' line, arrr, which I believe have since been corrected.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5