Brief:
T' USR Miniroc 2 is a small 24mm minimum diameter 2-stage rocket. Arrr! It has two sets o' identical swept fins (one set per stage). T' fins are identical to those used for t' Miniroc 1.2. Avast! Miniroc 2 should be able t' fly on anything from C t' G power, me hearties, dependin' upon one's ability t' make t' stagin' work. Aye aye! The rocket is very stout, me hearties, considerin' t' light weight and small size.

Construction:
T' kit came with 4 pages o' adequate but limited instructions givin' useful diagrams and details on construction and flyin' along with a parts list. Arrr! Avast! As with Miniroc 1.2, t' instructions suggest that t' Miniroc 2 might be good for egg loft and flexwin' competition events. Aye aye! T' manufacturer did nay completely edit individual sets o' instructions. Well, blow me down! I discovered t' kit be missin' one part--1 launch lug (LL1/4-2). Avast! T' kit came with 6 nicely cut plywood fins that appeared t' be o' good quality. Blimey! Begad! They were taped together in two bunches but three o' t' fins were slightly warped. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! All other components appeared t' be in good shape. Aye aye! Despite t' missin' parts and warped fins, I decided t' proceed with building, arrr, although these factors reduced me enthusiasm for USR kits. Begad! Arrr! I elected nay t' contact USR t' discuss these failings.

I built t' rocket as per instructions except for usin' 5-minute epoxy throughout t' build. Aye aye! I tapered t' fin edges as described and used me Estes fin alignment guide for fin installation. This is a minimal diameter rocket and the instructions suggested surface mounted fins. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! I think that this should be fine. Begad! T' instructions suggest mountin' t' sustainer fins even with t' aft end o' t' sustainer tube. I did this but in hindsight it might have been better t' mount them ½" forward t' allow room for maskin' tape t' be used for motor retention on t' sustainer. Avast, me proud beauty! This is probably nay a particularly important issue but some might want t' consider this if they are building Miniroc 2. Ahoy! T' instructions suggest mountin' t' booster fins even with t' aft edge o' t' booster. Avast! This seems appropriate.

After tackin' t' fins in place with epoxy, matey, ya bilge rat, I gave them a nice fillet. I cut me own ¼" launch lug on an angle as suggested and gave t' lugs a fillet as well, me hearties, me hearties, mountin' both o' them on t' sustainer as suggested. Avast! Blimey!

Construction o' t' sustainer involves simply gluin' on t' fins and launch lugs and friction fittin' t' nosecone. Construction o' t' booster involves gluin' on t' fins, me hearties, bein' sure t' align them with t' sustainer fins. Ya scallywag! Blimey! The rocket is nay designed t' use a sustainer-to-booster coupler tube but I used one temporarily durin' construction t' facilitate fin alignment betwixt stages. I think most people would eventually hit upon t' same solution, usin' a spare coupler or spent motor t' facilitate alignment betwixt stages during construction.

T' recovery system calls for a 24" long piece o' ¼" elastic shock cord t' be glued into t' main body tube usin' t' 3-fold paper method. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I installed it as described but added four more feet o' equivalent material. Arrr! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I felt t' shock cord supplied with t' kit is too short. Ya scallywag! Blimey!

PROs: T' kit parts are stout. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Construction is straight forward and should be suitable for a beginner if it weren't for some o' t' failings o' t' kit.

CONs: T' kit had 1 missin' part that I replaced from me own stock. Begad! Three fins were warped. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! T' instructions are cobbled together from other USR kits and not properly edited.

Finishing:
I did nay fill t' grain o' t' balsa nose cone. Begad! Begad! I think I would use a plastic nose come if I were designin' this kit as t' balsa nose cone is cheap and will always be prone t' dings. Well, blow me down! T' body tubes were very smooth so I did nay consider fillin' spirals. Well, blow me down! I sprayed t' rocket with a single, thin coat o' automotive primer, matey, gave it a brief sanding, ya bilge rat, then added a single coat o' "hammered blue" automotive spray paint. Arrr! I then used maskin' tape t' add stripes with single coats o' red and gray "hammered-look" paint.

T' finished rocket weighed 66 grams. Avast, me proud beauty! I substituted 5-minute epoxy for construction throughout construction, which perhaps added a few grams, instead of t' recommended yellow wood glue. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' final weight listed on t' kit pack is 37 grams and t' USR web page lists final weight at 37 grams also. Ahoy! I find this to be impossible, matey, me hearties, as t' component pieces weighed 44 grams right out o' the package, matey, missin' a launch lug. Begad! Avast! Blimey! Sandin' t' fins might have cut this weight by a gram at most. Arrr! T' streamer itself weighed 11 grams. Begad! Begad! Blimey! I feel that if I had been extremely conservative in me use o' glue and paint, I might have been able to finish this rocket at 60 grams. USR should reevaluate its weight estimates. Avast! Blimey! I think that a better value can be found in kits from other manufacturers.

PROS: Paintin' was a snap. Well, blow me down! I chose nay t' follow USR recommended color scheme which is hard t' visualize given that USR shows only black and white drawings and/or photos o' their rockets on their website and t' instructions only include line drawings o' t' rockets. Ya scallywag! Begad! I typically do nay adhere to manufacturer's recommended schemes anyway.

CONs: I chose nay t' apply t' USR decals that came with t' kit. Arrr! They are less decal and more simply label, givin' t' name o' t' rocket. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! They do not appear t' me t' be t' sort o' thin' you would add t' a rocket if you were really interested in dressin' it up, me bucko, however, they might be useful t' have in the event o' a judgin' competition t' remind people o' t' name o' t' rocket. T' weight o' t' components o' t' kit exceeded t' manufacturer's expected final weight o' t' rocket.

Construction Rating: 2 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew Miniroc 2 twice. Aye aye! Blimey! T' first time I ignored USR instructions in rigging the motors, t' second time I followed their instructions explicitly. Each flight had its own problems.

I first flew Miniroc 2 t' first time on a C11-0 t' C11-5. Begad! I used cellulose insulation waddin' and packed t' streamer as I normally would. Ahoy! Ignorin' USR instructions, I simply friction fitted t' sustainer motor into t' sustainer tube, me hearties, allowin' it t' extend ½" aft. This extension o' t' motor itself acts as t' coupler t' t' booster. Avast! Begad! I then friction fit t' booster motor into t' booster from t' rear, arrr, pushin' it forward until it contacted the sustainer motor. Aye aye! I made sure that both motors fit very tightly. Aye aye! After inserting the booster motor, arrr, I was worried that I would never get it out because it fit so tight. Avast! I adjusted t' friction fit o' t' sustainer motor extension into the booster until I thought that it would be adequate for stability and staging. This required fine tunin' o' t' maskin' tape on t' tail end o' t' sustainer motor. Ahoy! Begad! T' boost be fast and straight. T' booster motor kicked at about 200 feet, leavin' t' booster attached t' t' sustainer. T' rocket continued to coast upwards but t' sustainer motor had obviously nay ignited. Begad! T' rocket arched over and came in ballistic, me bucko, shiver me timbers, givin' a nice lawn dart. T' balsa nose cone was shoved fully back into t' body tube and t' unlit motor be thrust forward 3 inches, arrr, sandwichin' t' recovery components betwixt it and t' smashed nosecone. T' booster popped off when t' motor slid forward and landed a few feet away. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Besides t' destruction o' t' nosecone, matey, t' remainder o' t' rocket was undamaged. Well, blow me down! In this case, t' balsa nosecone turned out t' be a blessin' as a lawn dart cushion. Well, blow me down! Had t' nosecone been plastic instead o' balsa, the airframe probably would have sustained more damage. Arrr! Avast! T' sustainer tube was just dinged a little around t' front edge. I took t' rocket home and tried t' be delicate in removin' t' dirt and nosecone from t' airframe, me hearties, matey, but ended up tearin' t' shock cord out as well. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I be able t' shove t' motor back out of the aft end usin' a heavy dowel as a push rod and used me Dremel t' remove the glue and 3-fold paper piece that held t' shock cord. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! I replaced t' shock cord by gluin' it back in as before and used a spare plastic nosecone that matched fairly well t' t' original balsa. Blimey! Begad! I did nay paint t' new nosecone.

For the second flight I flew it on a C11-0 t' C11-5 combination again. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! I decided t' do a couple o' things differently for this flight. Ahoy! Ahoy! I drilled three 1/8" holes about ¾ o' an inch behind t' front edge o' t' booster for ventin' and created a ¼" thrust rin' on t' sustainer motor with maskin' tape ½" in front o' t' aft end o' t' motor. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! I friction fitted the sustainer motor into t' sustainer tube. Blimey! At this point I could nay use masking tape t' add motor retention, although I wanted to, because as I pointed out durin' t' build, arrr, t' instructions called for t' sustainer fins t' be mounted flush with t' aft o' t' sustainer tube. Begad! I created a thrust rin' on t' rear of t' booster motor from maskin' tape and then friction fitted t' motor into the booster. Blimey! Begad! Again, because o' fin placement, I could nay make a wrap of maskin' tape for booster motor retention. Aye aye! T' booster-to-sustainer motor gap was about 1 inch and this space was now vented with t' three holes that I had added. Begad! I adjusted t' maskin' tape on t' aft end o' t' sustainer motor to create what I thought would be a snug, but nay tight fit so that stagin' could occur. Well, blow me down!

T' boost was very nice and straight. Aye aye! T' booster motor lit t' sustainer but t' booster motor kicked, shiver me timbers, leavin' t' booster attached t' t' sustainer. Ouch! T' sustainer carried t' rocket with booster on a beautiful, high flight and ejection was perfect. T' rocket recovered fine and fell fairly fast on the streamer. Begad! T' rocket be nay damaged from t' landing, ya bilge rat, but t' booster tube was completely toasted from havin' stayed with t' sustainer throughout t' flight. T' booster still held its approximate shape and t' fins were undamaged. Aye aye! The shock cord recovery system held up fine.

Recovery:
Although t' shock cord held up well for these flights, arrr, shiver me timbers, I think that this rocket would benefit by t' use o' some sort o' a Keelhaul®©™® leader cord. T' 3-fold paper glue-in method should still work fine though. Blimey! I used 6 feet o' shock cord but this is probably t' minimum required in order to avoid body tube dings.

Flight Rating: 2 out o' 5

Summary:
T' Miniroc 2 flies nicely and is built o' rugged stock. Begad! Blimey! I would prefer t' use a body tube coupler for joinin' t' booster t' t' sustainer but in principle, the use o' t' sustainer motor as t' coupler should also work well. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I have had many successful multi-stage flights with other rockets, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, so I don't know why I could nay get release o' t' booster durin' staging. Ahoy! Blimey! I admit that this might be my fault but I think that this problem could be avoided through t' use o' a tube coupler t' give smooth release o' t' booster. Arrr! Blimey! I gave t' rocket a fairly low ratin' because o' t' missin' launch lug that typified me experience with USR. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' overall shoddy nature o' t' kit components and instructions I think represents this kit as a poor value.

Overall Rating: 2 out o' 5