Brief:
T' 38 Special is labeled as a High performance 3 inch diameter rocket designed for G through J motors. Avast! Blimey! It includes double tubin' (for added strength and durability), me bucko, 11 inch payload bay, shiver me timbers, a 38mm motor mount, vinyl decals, arrr, me bucko, motor retention, matey, and rail buttons.

Construction:
I bought t' kit directly from BSD, which came in t' mail in a timely manner and well packed in a sturdy box. Avast! All t' parts were included and nothing damaged. T' kit has a large number o' parts.

• 1 nose cone
• 1 34in booster airframe
• 1 11.25in payload section
• 4 coupler tubes
• 1 38mm motor mount tube
• 1 3/16in aircraft plywood fins
• 1 bulkhead plate
• 2 centerin' rings
• 1 nylon shock cord
• 1 30in parachute
• 1 eyebolt assembly
• 1 motor retention kit
• 10ft o' elastic shock cord
• 2 fin alignment guide
• 1 set o' vinyl decals
• 4 removable plastic rivets
• launch lug
• rail buttons

T' instructions with this kit are t' standard o' what instructions should be. Avast, me proud beauty! Even a beginner who has never made a HPR kit before could follow these instructions with minimal problems. Ahoy! T' instructions are 10 pages in length and go very far into detail, me hearties, I read through them and then added a few changes to fit me design needs. Arrr! Ya scallywag!

T' paper tubes and aircraft plywood make take glue and epoxy well offering many options for buildin' other than t' suggested epoxy.

Nothin' out o' the ordinary is needed t' build this kit just a hobby knife, glues and epoxies, sandpaper, arrr, arrr, and finishin' materials.

What was different in this kit from others that I built be t' double wall tubing. Aye aye! Blimey! T' extra coupler tubes are used t' create this double wall. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I made the mistake while installin' these BSD has you installin' them with epoxy. Avast! Blimey! I did not see t' reason for epoxy and try t' use it only where really needed for two reasons, one is cost and t' second is exposure. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! So I decided t' use Yellow Glue, bad choice as one o' t' couplers got stuck while I be insertin' it. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I had t' cut one o' t' couplers and put it on either side t' make it work. I still think that epoxy is overkill and if I were t' build it again I would use White Glue, as it would nay seize up like t' yellow glue did.

T' body tubes are marked well but nay cut but this is nay a big deal with paper tubes. T' fins were all shaped well and pre-sanded. Begad! All t' pieces for the motor mount and fins fit together nicely. Arrr! This kit also comes with motor retention (Kaplow clips) as part o' t' kit and be installed. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! T' kit also comes with a fin alignment guide for settin' t' fins, ya bilge rat, matey, which comes in very handy.

As this rocket would be for me level two attempt and because I planned to use dual recovery for this rocket, I made a few changes t' t' design. Arrr! Blimey! I cut two and a half inches off o' t' payload bay and glued it onto a Giant Leap Avionics bay. Arrr! Avast! T' bay was set t' go betwixt t' payload bay and t' main bay for dual deployment.

This kit also offers both launch lugs and rail guides; I opted for t' rail guides. It sure is nice t' have t' option.

Finishing:
Finishin' on this rocket is as simple or as hard as you want t' make it. I went for fairly simple, matey, I filled in t' small grooves with Fill 'n' Finish, sanded, primed and painted. Blimey! I painted it all one color as t' decals give it a very nice detailing.

Vinyl decals are easy t' put on and give t' rocket nice crisp lines and design that would be time consumin' t' recreate with paint and t' decals are applied in just a few minutes.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
All o' t' recommended motors were Aerotech motors, but with t' current issues of availability with AT motors I was plannin' a Cesaroni Pro38. Ya scallywag! I used the 5-grain case and a J-285 motor. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! I left t' delay at its full length as I was plannin' on usin' me altimeter for deployment.

I left out t' elastic shock cord and added Keelhaul®©™® heat shields and tubular nylon for t' recovery and a second chute. Begad! Avast!

Good fast lift off, matey, shiver me timbers, straight flights.

Recovery:
My first flight did nay go as planned. Arrr! T' avionics deployed early, around 6 seconds into what should have been 14 second flight. Ahoy! It zippered t' airframe but only about 4 inches, nay bad considerin' t' deployment speed. Begad! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! [NOTE: Pictures shown are post-zipper damage, thus t' "38 Spec" decal instead o' "38 Special".]

T' airframe was easily repaired and next mouth I was back t' try again. Same motor and same rocket, arrr, double checkin' t' electronics this time.

This time everythin' worked perfect. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Great flight straight and true with a picture perfect recovery and t' rocket came down without any damage. Ahoy!

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
PROs: Well designed kit, instructions that are very detailed and easy to follow. Well, blow me down! Parts are all top quality with some nice extras like motor retention and choice o' launch lugs and or rail guides.

CONs: Well, hmmm...let's see...I do nay really like elastic so I left it out but some people still like it so I guess its a matter o' opinion on that.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5