Brief:
Very cool looking, two stage design. Ya scallywag! Avast! T' upper stage can also be flown as a single stage rocket.

Construction:
There are a fair number o' parts in this kit. Begad! Tubes included are two BT-60 for the airframe, me hearties, me bucko, two BT-50 side pods for t' booster, two BT-20 for engine mount tubes, and two short lengths o' BT-5, matey, again for t' booster. Arrr! Also included are various couplers, adapter rings, centerin' rings, me bucko, two die cut balsa sheets, ya bilge rat, arrr, a decal sheet, clay weight for t' upper stage nose cone, and seven nose cones. All parts were o' standard Estes usage and quality with one exception. Well, blow me down! The PNC-50KA nose cones (part number 71028) had a noticeable lengthwise offset between t' two halves. Arrr! This does detract somewhat from t' look o' t' model.

T' instructions follow a fairly logical order; buildin' up various sub-assemblies and then assemblin' these into a finished unit. Ahoy! Begad! I used epoxy for most o' t' construction as I expected t' booster would take quite a bit of abuse. Avast! Blimey!

I did have one problem with t' fin pod tubes. Begad! You are t' glue a PNC-5A nose cone into each end o' a short length o' BT-5 body tubes, however, shiver me timbers, t' BT-5 tubes were shorter than t' length o' t' shoulders o' t' 2 nose cones butted together. I had t' grind down t' shoulder on one cone for each assembly to achieve t' proper fit.

One thin' I would change about assembly in retrospect, is t' wait and install t' booster tubes until t' booster and booster tubes have been painted. This would make it easier t' paint them a contrastin' pattern.

Two things that I changed were substitutin' a 3/16" launch lug for the provided 1/8" lug and usin' a longer shock cord that what was provided.

Finishing:
I used me standard finishin' method for this kit. Begad! I followed t' box art fairly closely with respect t' colors, arrr, etc. Arrr! T' decals were t' standard stick on decals that Estes uses. Arrr! Avast! T' two large yellow "Renegade" decals that go on t' booster were so thin that t' yellow doesn't fully cover up the underlyin' black paint.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
While buildin' this kit, I became quite concerned about t' weight o' the booster and t' prospect o' flight damage. Begad! T' booster has five fins, arrr, arrr, two booster tubes with nose cones, arrr, and two fin pods with two nose cones each in addition t' t' main BT-60 body tube. That is quite a bit o' mass t' fall from the sky. Aye aye! As it turns out, arrr, me fears were well founded.

T' instructions call for you t' tape t' two motors end-to-end and then friction fit t' motors into t' model. I found this t' be somewhat cumbersome. What I've done is t' install each motor separately, me bucko, arrr, and then add tape t' the stage coupler t' hold t' stages together durin' staging. Ya scallywag! So far, this has worked quite well.

My first flight was a B6-0 staged t' a B6-6. Arrr! Liftoff be slow and graceful, with stagin' occurrin' at a relatively low altitude. Well, blow me down! Avast! T' combined rocket was very stable, but I am glad that I used a bigger launch lug and therefore, a bigger launch rod. Blimey! T' sustainer ejected about 2 seconds past apogee, ya bilge rat, which suggests that a shorter delay would be more appropriate with a B booster. Avast! Ahoy! Both booster and sustainer were recovered without incident.

Second flight was a C6-0 staged t' a B6-6. Begad! Liftoff was again slow, me bucko, me bucko, but the model reached a significantly higher altitude and velocity before staging. Aye aye! Blimey! This time, t' sustainer ejected near apogee and be recovered without damage. Unfortunately, me hearties, me fears about t' heavy booster were realized when one o' the booster fins broke off upon impact.

Recovery:
T' booster is too heavy t' "tumble recover". Begad! Aye aye! T' ROCC flyin' field is a farm bisected by a grass airstrip. Aye aye! T' booster landed on t' airstrip and still broke a fin. I would hate t' fly off o' a hard packed surface or asphalt. I may try addin' parachute recovery t' t' booster soon.

There is plenty o' room in t' sustainer for waddin' and t' place the parachute, allowin' t' sustainer does recover quite nicely on its supplied 12" parachute.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a great lookin' rocket that suffers some from poor quality in a couple of t' parts and from havin' too heavy a booster that is overly prone to breakage. Well, me hearties, blow me down! Both o' these are correctable problems. T' booster should recover via parachute, and quality engineerin' at Estes should take a look at the problem parts. Avast, me proud beauty! Anyone buildin' this model would be well advised t' consider these upgrades as well.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5