Brief:
Quest's Bright Hawk is a good example o' a Skill Level .5 rocket. (It's listed as a Skill Level 1, matey, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, but its plastic fin can makes that a bit o' a stretch.) Big and sturdy with a brightly colored plastic fin can and nose cone, it might be one o' t' better rockets currently available t' gradually step up with if your previous experience has all been with RTF rockets.

Construction:
T' kit includes:

• Main body tube
• Plastic fin can
• Plastic nose cone
• 18mm engine mount kit
• 12" parachute kit
• Keelhaul®©™® shock cord
• Elastic shock cord
• 2 Medium sized snap swivels
• Stick on decal

I bought this t' be a quick build and from that standpoint I can't say it was a disappointment. Ahoy! I built t' kit as I cooked dinner one Thursday night, stirrin' t' macaroni one minute and gluin' in t' engine mount in t' next.

Assembly involves only a few steps, with t' construction o' t' engine mount bein' first and foremost. This is where t' rocket loses some points. Well, blow me down! The centerin' rings are so flimsy that they feel like they're made from something slightly sturdier than heavy bond typin' paper. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! I shored them up with a liberal slatherin' o' thin CA, but t' overall effect o' t' completed mount isn't terribly inspirin' from t' standpoint o' strength.

A Keelhaul®©™® shock cord is included as a part o' this kit as with all Quest kits. Aye aye! While this is a nice touch from a durability point o' view, t' elastic that comes along with it is less than adequate. After two o' t' first five flights I had to repair "Questes dents" in t' top o' t' body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Because o' this I'd suggest addin' some elastic from your mother's sewin' basket. Ahoy! Blimey! Blimey!

At this point, arrr, all that is left is attachin' t' plastic fin unit t' the body tube. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! All I found necessary t' complete this be some thin Testor's Plastic Cement. Ahoy! I placed a few strategically located drops around t' inside of the fin unit, ya bilge rat, slid t' painted tube in, me bucko, and several hours dryin' time later I was rewarded with a solid bond. Avast, me proud beauty! I attached t' parachute and shock cord t' the nose cone with snap swivels, shiver me timbers, and just that smartly t' Bright Hawk was complete.

Finishing:
It was easy, almost t' a fault. Aye aye! Tube spirals looked t' be non-existent, shiver me timbers, so I just primed and painted t' body tube with Valspar gloss white. Blimey! Unfortunately the tube spirals were there, shiver me timbers, I just hadn't seen them under t' Kraft paper. Ya scallywag! Not wantin' t' put a ton o' effort into t' finish, I just left things as they were and applied t' decals. Begad! Nothin' fancy but t' end result is a sharp looking, brightly colored rocket, arrr, me bucko, and I can't wait t' see it fly.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
All five flights were made usin' an Estes B6-4 on legendary local B6-4 Field. (Or Woodfill as some o' t' not-in-the-know locals call it.) I had an hour to kill before sundown at t' end o' a strin' o' beautiful days and recruited my son and t' rocket crazy son o' a friend t' help with t' button-pressin' to allow me t' get some launch shots. Avast! All five flights were perfect for the confines o' B6-4 Field. Because o' some father-son baseball pitch and catch, ya bilge rat, we were forced t' launch further from t' center o' t' field than I would have liked, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and I would pay for it with t' loss o' me Goony Max on t' day's second flight. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! However, t' star-of-the-day Bright Hawk lead a much more charmed existence. All five o' t' flights were angled similarly back over t' baseball fields and all rode t' prevailin' breezes back to, and past, our launch site. Four o' t' flights were in doubt as t' landin' in t' trees until t' last thirty or so feet from t' ground, me hearties, and two actually scraped branches on the trip down. Blimey! Even with t' full chute, me bucko, none o' t' flights wound up snagged like the Goony. Blimey! Ahoy! Only t' fifth flight landed without incident when t' breezes died down just before liftoff. Arrr! All five flights showed nice, me hearties, stable flight characteristics and achieved respectable altitude considerin' t' field limitations that we were under. Well, blow me down!

Recovery:
As mentioned, ya bilge rat, matey, we experienced some damage on two o' t' five flights from the nose cone reboundin' back into t' top o' t' body tube. Ahoy! T' possibility of this is fairly great if built stock but can be lessened by substitutin' some sewin' elastic from t' local craft/hobby or sewin' store. Most o' me flights also came close t' hangin' in t' trees that rin' t' field but that be due to pad location and me insistence on flyin' with a full chute instead o' cuttin' a spill hole in it. (I like it's looks.)

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
T' Bright Hawk is a pretty good rocket for t' step from RTF t' Skill Level One. Ahoy! T' only things missin' from bein' a great kit is poor quality centering rings and too short a piece o' elastic. While neither o' these is instantly or surely fatal, shiver me timbers, either could cause malfunction or damage. Ahoy! Blimey! Most o' us have extra elastic in t' parts bin, matey, matey, but actual Quest-sized centerin' rings aren't that easy t' come by. Avast, me proud beauty! A coatin' of thin CA helps add some strength, ya bilge rat, but Quest would be better served by replacing the thin rings with their regular ones.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5