Brief:
An unusual upside-down lookin' rocket that's a great flyer, me hearties, me bucko, and fairly easy t' build. Begad! Well, me hearties, blow me down! Rockethead's offerings are definitely nay your run o' t' mill 3FNC designs.

Construction:
My kit took a couple o' weeks t' arrive, as t' kits are essentially made in small batches as orders come in. When it did arrive, matey, shiver me timbers, everythin' be in good shape. Aye aye! Parts were good quality and included 3 body tubes (BT-55-5, matey, BT50-6, ya bilge rat, arrr, and BT20-6), me bucko, a hard balsa nose cone, shiver me timbers, balsa fin stock, pre-assembled mylar chute, and assorted templates and hardware.

T' instructions were fairly easy t' follow and color pictures were helpful. There were several typos and misspellings but these did nay detract from t' basic construction.

I was pleased t' see that step one o' t' instructions is t' sand all tubes. This is a fairly basic step that helps improve bonds and also preps t' surface for fillin' spirals. Well, blow me down! Most kit manufacturers overlook this basic technique but these instructions were clearly written by someone who's built rockets.

After sanding, me hearties, all tubes are marked for fins lines and launch lugs. Avast, me proud beauty! Next, ya bilge rat, a 13-18 centerin' rin' is inserted into t' BT20 t' serve as a motor block. Aye aye! Aye aye! T' BT20 construction is wrapped up by gluin' a couple o' centerin' rings near t' top.

Next comes t' BT50, which gets a couple o' centerin' rings towards its top.

After t' rings have been filleted and all bonds dried, t' tubes are then glued together, with t' BT20 feedin' into t' BT50, arrr, me hearties, feedin' into t' BT55. Aye aye! Begad! T' result is a tapered look with t' fat part o' t' rocket at t' top. This is dead opposite most conventional transition designs. Ahoy! This be also where I noticed a significant "gotcha" in t' instructions. After goin' t' all t' trouble t' mark fin lines on t' tubes, arrr, shiver me timbers, it would be a good idea t' make sure t' lines are in alignment when connectin' body tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! There be no mention o' this in t' instructions and, matey, while obvious, me bucko, me guess is that a few folks might nay think about this.

I found t' somewhat loose fit and spacin' on t' centerin' rings made t' assembly o' t' tubes a bit tricky. Begad! I was especially worried about a slightly off-center thrust. Well, blow me down! T' make sure I didn't have a problem, I made a couple o' centerin' rings from cardstock with OD's matchin' t' OD o' t' body tubes (not t' ID like most centerin' rings), ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and temporarily attached them t' t' exposed ends o' t' tubes. Avast! Blimey! This allowed me t' roll t' tubes on a flat surface for proper alignment.

Fins are then cut from stock usin' templates, me hearties, t' good old-fashioned way. Avast, me proud beauty! T' attachment is fairly straightforward, me bucko, though t' larger fins go on t' forward end (attached t' t' BT50), and t' smaller trim fins go towards t' aft end (on t' BT20). Ahoy! Arrr! T' instructions pointed out t' proper technique for bondin' fins o' this type--bond an upper and lower at t' same time, then use a flat surface t' make sure they are aligned. Well, blow me down! After that set is bonded, repeat for t' other two sets. Avast! Follow everythin' up with fillets.

Launch lugs are mounted usin' standoffs o' different sizes, since one goes on t' BT20 and t' other goes on t' BT50, and both need t' clear t' BT55. I found it a little tricky keepin' them aligned, ya bilge rat, but that's probably because I be usin' yellow glue instead o' CA t' bond, me bucko, matey, and they wanted t' move around whenever I tried usin' a rod for alignment.

I be a little uncomfortable with t' shock cord attachment method--tie knots in t' ends o' a small length o' Keelhaul®©™, put a drop o' glue inside t' BT55, then put t' Keelhaul®©™on a piece o' maskin' tape with t' knots just below t' edge. Begad! Blimey! T' tape/Keelhaul®©™loop be t' placed inside t' BT55 on t' drop o' glue. Blimey! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! I'm sure this will work OK for a while, but I would much rather have seen another foot o' Keelhaul®©™, shiver me timbers, attached t' t' motor block.

T' Keelhaul®©™attaches t' a nylon/elastic shock cord, matey, which is anchored t' t' hard balsa nose cone. My cone center was too hard for t' screw eye t' go in without drillin' (there was a hardwood dowel in t' center o' me cone). Ya scallywag! I wound up screwin' it in t' t' nosecone slightly off center, matey, outside t' wood dowel.

Finishing:
Finishin' this rocket is pretty easy. Well, blow me down! I went with a single color finish (glossy white), me bucko, which I thought looked better than t' basic gray on t' header card.

I have t' say though, me bucko, matey, that t' water slide decals were a mess, which was disappointin' because they have some cute Rockethead logos (a helmeted knight, much like t' Martian from Bugs Bunny cartoons). Begad! T' decals were t' flimsiest I've ever worked with and also tended t' roll up on themselves. Aye aye! This kind o' spoiled what was otherwise a very nice construction job. Ya scallywag! I dinged t' ratin' a full point for this.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
I was surprised t' learn that thar are no recommendations regardin' motor selection in this kit. Avast! Based on me experience, arrr, shiver me timbers, I would figure t' basic combo o' A8-3, arrr, shiver me timbers, B6-4 and C6-5 would be t' choices. Blimey! Begad! For its first flight, arrr, I went all t' way up t' a C6-3, me hearties, usin' t' shorter delay in steady 8-10 MPH winds in anticipation o' a significant weathercock.

T' rocket went straight up off t' pad, me hearties, me hearties, with a minor spin on t' way up--I guess I didn't get those fins and tubes aligned perfectly after all. Avast, me proud beauty! T' 3 second delay was about right for t' conditions, and it actually held a reasonably straight path with only a minor weathercock.

T' 15" mylar chute deployed right on cue and I prepared for me long walk, as this bird very likely topped 900-1000 feet on that C. With nearly a square mile o' open field, me rocket managed t' drift t' a soccer field at t' opposite end o' t' park and landed on one o' t' flag posts markin' t' corners o' t' field. Arrr! Ya scallywag! T' kids playin' soccer thought this be a very cool rocket.

Recovery:
This is a very good flyer, shiver me timbers, and t' pre-assembled Mylar chute worked great. Begad! If anything, shiver me timbers, t' 15" chute is a bit larger than needed.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Overall, I'd have t' say t' design itself is a big pro, as be t' quality o' t' materials. Ahoy! Blimey! T' biggest con would be t' flimsy decals. Ahoy! I thought is be a neat design and it drew t' most attention o' t' assortment o' rockets I took t' t' pad today.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5