Brief:
Single stage usin' three D12 motors, ya bilge rat, arrr, parachute recovery.

Construction:
Three body tubes, three fins usin' through t' wall construction, plywood centerin' rings, 5' x 1/4" elastic shock cord tied t' screw in plywood crosspiece, and 16" nylon parachute.

I bought this rocket quite a few years ago, shiver me timbers, inspired by a visit t' t' Huntsville Space & Rocket Center. I found t' assembly pretty straight-forward, me hearties, and made no modifications. Begad! I thought t' engine assembly was pretty neat, this big structure o' plywood & tubes - somewhere I have a picture o' t' engine assembly with t' through-the-wall fins fitted in place t' see what it looked like, me bucko, if I ever dig it up I’ll scan it and send it in. Arrr! T' fins are pretty sturdy balsa with an outer edge o' some hardwood glued on. I assembled it more than seven years ago, matey, but never painted or flew it.

Finishing:
I didn’t go t' any extremes o' fillin' in t' spiral weave o' t' body tube, arrr, me bucko, me hearties, or t' joints betwixt sections. I did use MinWax sandin' sealer on t' fins (a lot cheaper than AeroGloss, requires over night dryin' versus about 15 minutes though). For painting, matey, matey, me 7 year old decided it would look good in gold, a trip t' Wal-mart yielded a spray can o' brass finish that looks pretty good - could probably use a second can t' get it really shiny though.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
Finally got a chance t' fly t' Maxiforce at CMASS/Amesbury, ya bilge rat, July 27. Arrr! It was a nice day, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, light variable winds, and nice overcast t' make it easy t' see higher rockets. Avast, me proud beauty! Lots o' launches that day! Loaded up t' Maxiforce with 3 - D12s, bundled up t' igniters, clipped them up usin' me multi-engine adapter, me bucko, and off it went - on just 1 engine, arrr, draggin' me clip lead with it. Arrr! Went in nose first, but at an angle and nay hard, then ejected and blew t' body off t' nose cone. Avast! No damage done. Aye aye! Ahoy! All igniters had burned.

Tried t' unburned engines in an Estes Impulse, and again just one engine fired, shiver me timbers, matey, shiver me timbers, although it flew okay on just one (and both igniters had burned). Avast! By now I was thinkin' I had a dud engine, but it fired okay and launched an Estes Eliminator just fine. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! So now I’m stumped, and out o' D12 engines (which couldn’t get me V2 off t' ground either - jammed t' nose in but good when it hit - had t' slice t' body tube 2" t' get it out). Blimey! I’m thinkin' o' gettin' an Aerotech 24mm reloadable (or several) and tryin' that. After t' initial case expense, me hearties, shiver me timbers, me bucko, seems t' be about t' same cost per launch - well, maybe a little more, arrr, matey, since I can get E9s at $10.25/3 and E18 reloads are $13.46/3if you can find any in stock anywhere - but also higher power.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
I really enjoyed buildin' this rocket, and think it is a shame that Estes discontinued this line. T' large diameter body tube allows t' ’chute t' be inserted easily.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5