Brief:
This is a new 2002 kit by Estes. Well, blow me down! It's a four finned, me bucko, two stage rocket designed and named for t' new 24mm Estes C motors. Avast! Flies on either t' C or D motors with a maximum altitude o' 1,700 feet.

Construction:
T' kit consists o' two body tubes, me hearties, matey, one for t' sustainer section, ya bilge rat, and a shorter tube for t' booster section. Begad! Both o' these seem t' be o' better quality, and are stiffer than t' other 40 or so Estes kits I've built. 8 balsa wood fins, ya bilge rat, 4 for t' booster and again 4 for t' sustainer. Avast! Nose cone was typical plastic, me bucko, plastic parachute, me bucko, paper centerin' rings, motor blocks, me hearties, arrr, ya bilge rat, and shock chord mount.

T' motor mount be t' typical Estes friction design. Consistin' o' an engine block, arrr, and two centerin' rings for t' upper motor, and again an engine block and two centerin' rings for t' booster section. Well, blow me down! Motors are then installed usin' maskin' tape for a friction fit. Begad! Each tube gets 4 balsa fins, a little care needs t' be taken when mountin' t' fins t' insure alignment throughout. T' nose cone be in good condition and required little work t' prepare it for finishing. Aye aye! I did deviate from t' directions on t' shock chord attachment. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I installed a length o' Pratt Hobbies Keelhaul®©™ safety chord, wrapped around t' motor mount and underneath t' upper centerin' ring, long enough t' extend out t' top o' t' body tube, here I attached t' Estes shock chord. Avast, me proud beauty! T' other end was attached t' t' nose cone, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, with a snap swivel installed a couple inches below t' nose cone for attachin' parachutes. Begad! (kit comes with an 18" chute, shiver me timbers, although I typically switch these out in favor o' nylon chutes) Assembly be fairly simple and I felt t' Skill level two designation was appropriate. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Overall t' directions and illustrations were excellent, on par with t' typical Estes directions.

Finishing:
I liked t' rockets stock paint scheme and decided t' duplicate it when finishin' mine. Ahoy! I applied 2 coats o' Krylon gray primer t' t' entire rocket, me bucko, sandin' betwixt coats. This was enough t' fill in t' spirals on t' body tube. Begad! T' upper body tube be painted dark red, t' lower body tube black. Blimey! Upper body tube fins were then painted black, and t' lower body tube fins painted red. Ya scallywag! Avast! T' nose cone is finished in black. Blimey! All paintin' be done with Krylon paints. With this stock paint scheme, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, matey, maskin' off fins and other sections is fairly simple, arrr, yet gives a very nice lookin' finish. Avast! Ya scallywag! Decals are o' t' peel and stick variety so a little care needs t' be taken when applyin' them. I liked t' decals, shiver me timbers, as thar weren't too many t' make it busy, but enough t' give it a little contrast. After decals are applied you have a Red and Black rocket with Yellow highlights.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommended motors on this kit are t' C11-5 and D12-5 for single staged flights. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Two stage flights take a C11-0 or D12-0 for t' booster, me hearties, ya bilge rat, followed by a C11-5, C11-7, or D12-7 for t' sustainer. On our first flight we deviated from t' recommended, as I thought this bird just looked fast, me bucko, arrr, we went with a little longer delay and loaded it up with a D12-7. Aye aye! Motor's are a friction fit, matey, and require a wrap o' maskin' tape t' fit them into t' motor tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This was easily accomplished on this rocket. Ya scallywag! We launched t' rocket and got a very quick, shiver me timbers, and straight liftoff, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and t' rocket screamed up, me hearties, me bucko, we lost sight o' it for a moment but regained sight when we heard t' parachute pop open. Blimey! For t' maiden flight I did use t' stock plastic 18" chute. Begad! After waitin' what seemed like 5 minutes she finally touched down with no damage. Begad! Well, blow me down! Overall a great flight, me bucko, fortunately we had light winds or it could have been a long recovery. Some other option may need t' be explored for t' parachute. Our second flight, arrr, again single stage, me bucko, me bucko, D12-7 went t' same as t' first, only this time t' Estes 7 second delay occurred in about 1 second, me bucko, after a violent deployment, me hearties, arrr, t' rocket drifted down and we inspected it. Avast, me proud beauty! A very, very slight 1/8" zipper in t' top o' t' body tube was t' only damage, I believe this was in part a result o' t' stiffer body tubes that came with this kit. Avast, me proud beauty! We hope t' soon get it up under full power with two stages, shiver me timbers, me bucko, me bucko, but don't foresee any problems.

Recovery:
T' second flight, with a bad (short) delay did cause an 1/8" zipper in t' upper body tube, I did deviate from stock by usin' t' Keelhaul®©™ safety line and this did extend out t' top o' t' tube. Blimey! Ya scallywag! With t' stock elastic shock chord I don't believe thar would have been any zipperin' at all.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Pro's: Relatively easy construction, great lookin' finish, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and what seemed t' be better quality body tubes. Blimey! Great flight, ya bilge rat, arrr, and strong enough t' take a violent recovery system deployment. Con's: None.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5