Brief:
For seriously high performance in a sleek, arrr, ya bilge rat, beautiful bird, you'd be hard pressed t' beat t' Blackbird by ShadowAero Composites. Aye aye! Ahoy! I saw a brief reference t' a limited edition run o' these on TRF and shot a quick email t' Dave Triano, proprietor, matey, hopin' he hadn't run out. It had been pulled from his website, shiver me timbers, but Dave kindly offered t' scrounge up t' parts for one more kit.

This was an expensive kit ($240), arrr, but it is made from some amazingly high end materials and I am hugely impressed with t' engineerin' and fabrication that went into this.

Construction:
T' "kit" took about a month from order placement t' delivery and arrived in a very carefully packed box. T' packin' and peanuts were hardly necessary as I suspect with an airframe this solid, t' USPS truck could run over it and nay do any major damage. Arrr! Blimey! I use t' term "kit" lightly as Dave told me it required so little construction effort, I could be done in 15 minutes. Apparently Dave did nay grasp me fussiness and anal retentiveness as this took me nearly a full hour o' effort t' complete.

T' parts list includes:

• Custom cast nose cone
• Composite body tube with composite fins pre-bonded
• Thrust ring/bulkhead (composite)
• Keelhaul®©™ shock cord
• Nylon streamer
• Vinyl decals (multiple options)
• Acrylic adhesive

As I mentioned, construction on this is incredibly simple. Ahoy! Well, arrr, blow me down! I've also got t' be a bit vague on some details as ShadowAero asks customers nay t' share processes and techniques in public.

T' fins are conveniently pre-bonded. For a normal rocket, this would be no big factor, me bucko, but in this case, me bucko, ya bilge rat, t' material used t' bond and t' technique was special and certainly somethin' beyond t' typical modeler. Seein' them up close had me reminiscin' about me days workin' in an advanced aerospace composites house with lots o' prepreg, matey, resins, layup tables, autoclaves, etc. Suffice it t' say these fins will never come off t' airframe and had a very nice smooth fillet. Begad! Begad! All I had t' do was sand down feathered ends with a Dremel and file.

Next comes bondin' o' a thrust ring, me bucko, reinforced with a coupler. Ya scallywag! Before bondin' t' ring, you need t' decide how much motor you might eventually put in this thing. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' biggest commercial motor that it can handle runs about 23", ya bilge rat, although Kosdon offers a custom motor that is 28" long (and ShadowAero customers get a discount). Blimey! Begad! I probably will offend t' higher altitude gods but decided mine would probably never see anythin' larger than a basic Aerotech H since I don't want t' lose this and don't live anywhere near a dry lake bed.

Bondin' is done with a special adhesive supplied with t' kit, me hearties, which comes in a handy tube that mixes and dispenses at t' same time. Aye aye! It has a nasty odor, shiver me timbers, sets in about 20 minutes, arrr, and is lighter and tougher than any epoxy I've ever worked with before. More top secret stuff...

T' last step o' assembly is bondin' t' shock cord, which is done with a custom fit anchor. It was a little hard t' bond this far enough down from t' nose t' leave room for t' streamer and cord. Ya scallywag! Begad! I've got a tight fit as a result, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, but it worked out OK.

Bein' designed for extremely high performance, arrr, matey, t' expectation is that this would fly out o' a tower. Well, blow me down! I have a crude coffee can tower but nay for 1.25" diameter models and didn't want t' build one for just this rocket. Ahoy! Also, I was worried about scuffin' t' finish slidin' up tower rods. Ahoy! I again wimped out, this time choosin' t' apply a couple rail buttons.

Finishing:
T' airframe comes in a gorgeous black composite finish, mirror smooth, so no finishin' is necessary other than applyin' decals. Ahoy! Since I'd roughed up t' surface around t' fin fillets a bit though, I decided t' hit everythin' with a very light coat o' Rustoleum Black Metallic and painted t' nose cone a silver metallic. Arrr! T' finished rocket weighs in at 10.4 ounces so t' paint only added about 1/10th ounce.

T' kit also comes with some very nice vinyl decals. Begad! There are various options o' size, color, me bucko, and company (ShadowAero) and/or model (Blackbird) included. Begad! Begad! Blimey! I have used vinyl decals on maybe 3 or 4 rockets now and really love t' quality even though it does wind up with raised letterin' a bit.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
I simulated this rocket through me combination o' RockSim, Aerolab, and WRASP32, which have always proved t' be a highly accurate and reliable group o' programs. Arrr! Begad! For t' first flight, me hearties, I wanted t' prove out t' basic stability so went with a simple Estes E9-6. Ya scallywag! Begad! It was stable although I liken t' flight t' takin' a Ferrari out t' buy groceries--a serious abuse o' such potential performance. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! T' delay was actually a bit late as it had arced over before ejection. Begad! Arrr! I also got burned by t' feeble ejection charge. Begad! (Where's that shotgun D12 ejection when you need one?) T' streamer poked its head out a bit but decided t' stay inside t' airframe where it was cozy and warm. T' rocket came down horizontally, me bucko, landed in soft grass, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and be completely undamaged.

For a follow-up flight, I went with t' motto "if at first you don't succeed, arrr, me bucko, more power" and loaded up an F40-7. Ahoy! That made all t' difference in t' world as it raced gleefully into t' heavens. Ahoy! Avast! It was still well on its way up on coast when t' delay ran out so a -10 would probably be a better choice. Still, I think this be t' highest I've ever lofted an F40 as t' apogee topped out at over 2900 feet. Avast, me proud beauty! T' ejection was more robust as well, arrr, fully deployin' t' streamer. Well, blow me down! Well, matey, blow me down! However, with streamer out, it came down tail first and plugged itself firmly into t' ground, me hearties, matey, pushin' t' nozzle all t' way into t' aft end o' t' reload case. Aye aye! Lots o' cleaning, arrr, ya bilge rat, matey, but zero damage again. Ya scallywag! Had it landed on t' road runnin' alongside our field, ya bilge rat, matey, shiver me timbers, I'm nay sure which would have won, t' road or t' airframe.

Recovery:
Given t' altitudes this hits, shiver me timbers, I can't imagine switchin' t' a chute. Blimey! Blimey! However, me hearties, matey, me hearties, as fast as it comes down and as heavy and hard as this is, matey, I think somethin' a bit slower is in order. Blimey! I think this begs for altimeter-based deployment although it does nay lend itself t' dual deploy very well.

While t' F40 flight was awesome, I will din' it a point for t' recovery speed.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a very impressive rocket, and I am absolutely delighted with it. Aye aye! Avast! Pros would be t' incredible materials and production techniques that went into it, along with t' engineering. Avast! It's a well designed rocket with outstandin' performance.

Cons? Price? O' course, when you're dealin' with composites and autoclave cycles, t' price o' this stands up as a bargain. Blimey! Compared t' t' other 29mm models in most fleets, matey, it's a bit out on t' financial fringe.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5