Brief:
This is a new 2002 kit by Estes. It's a four finned, ya bilge rat, two stage rocket designed and named for t' new 24mm Estes C motors. Aye aye! 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, one for t' sustainer section, and a shorter tube for t' booster section. Avast! Both o' these seem t' be o' better quality, ya bilge rat, and are stiffer than t' other 40 or so Estes kits I've built. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down! 8 balsa wood fins, shiver me timbers, 4 for t' booster and again 4 for t' sustainer. Avast! Arrr! Nose cone be typical plastic, plastic parachute, paper centerin' rings, arrr, motor blocks, me hearties, me bucko, and shock chord mount.

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

Finishing:
I liked t' rockets stock paint scheme and decided t' duplicate it when finishin' mine. I applied 2 coats o' Krylon gray primer t' t' entire rocket, ya bilge rat, sandin' betwixt coats. This was enough t' fill in t' spirals on t' body tube. T' upper body tube be painted dark red, matey, matey, t' lower body tube black. Avast, me proud beauty! Upper body tube fins were then painted black, and t' lower body tube fins painted red. Begad! Well, blow me down! T' nose cone is finished in black. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! All paintin' be done with Krylon paints. Begad! With this stock paint scheme, maskin' off fins and other sections is fairly simple, yet gives a very nice lookin' finish. Decals are o' t' peel and stick variety so a little care needs t' be taken when applyin' them. Begad! I liked t' decals, shiver me timbers, me bucko, as thar weren't too many t' make it busy, but enough t' give it a little contrast. Blimey! Begad! 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. Two stage flights take a C11-0 or D12-0 for t' booster, followed by a C11-5, C11-7, arrr, or D12-7 for t' sustainer. Begad! On our first flight we deviated from t' recommended, shiver me timbers, as I thought this bird just looked fast, shiver me timbers, we went with a little longer delay and loaded it up with a D12-7. Begad! Motor's are a friction fit, and require a wrap o' maskin' tape t' fit them into t' motor tube. Ahoy! This was easily accomplished on this rocket. Arrr! We launched t' rocket and got a very quick, me bucko, and straight liftoff, ya bilge rat, and t' rocket screamed up, me hearties, we lost sight o' it for a moment but regained sight when we heard t' parachute pop open. 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. Aye aye! Overall a great flight, me hearties, fortunately we had light winds or it could have been a long recovery. Aye aye! Begad! Some other option may need t' be explored for t' parachute. Aye aye! Our second flight, again single stage, D12-7 went t' same as t' first, me bucko, matey, only this time t' Estes 7 second delay occurred in about 1 second, after a violent deployment, matey, me hearties, t' rocket drifted down and we inspected it. A very, shiver me timbers, arrr, very slight 1/8" zipper in t' top o' t' body tube be t' only damage, I believe this be in part a result o' t' stiffer body tubes that came with this kit. Well, blow me down! We hope t' soon get it up under full power with two stages, 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. 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, and what seemed t' be better quality body tubes. Aye aye! Great flight, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and strong enough t' take a violent recovery system deployment. Con's: None.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5