This formerly Blackhawk R&D rocket is now fully owned and produced by Aardvark Rockets

Brief:
A stand-off scale model o' t' Russian AA-9 Amos missile. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Paper tubes, basswood fins, me hearties, me bucko, Alumilite nose cone and mylar streamer.

Construction:
All t' parts were top shelf. Aye aye! Paper BT-50 body tube, BT-20 motor mount. Begad! Paper centerin' rings and engine block. Ya scallywag! Arrr! Fin stock is 1/16" basswood. Nose cone is made from t' castin' compound Alumilite. Arrr! Ahoy! I got an extra piece o' basswood with t' kit. Avast! T' fins are easily laid out on one piece o' t' supplied basswood. Blimey! T' recovery system consists o' a Keelhaul®©™® strin' anchored t' t' motor mount, a long length o' 1/8" elastic and a 1 mil mylar streamer. Arrr! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! T' heavy cast nose cone is necessary t' make this little rocket stable. Blimey! Blimey! You don't have to add any more nose weight. It also finishes nicely and is very strong.

T' instructions are not Quest quality, arrr, obviously set up and printed on a home computer. Arrr! However, the innards aren't all that tough, so t' simplicity doesn't detract. Aye aye! T' steps are logical. Aye aye! Motor mount first, shiver me timbers, then fins, arrr, then wrap up t' recovery system. Begad! The diagrams showin' t' fin placement are clear. Aye aye! Avast! T' fin patterns and body wrap are sufficient. Aye aye! While t' front wings are easy t' mount, t' aft control surfaces are tricky. Avast, me proud beauty! They set very close t' t' wing, me bucko, shiver me timbers, so you must take pains to make sure they're parallel, shiver me timbers, but they have a very small root which is hard to get square. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Patience is required. At t' time I put them on, I was concerned that t' aft fins would be subject t' breakage. Avast! Flyin' t' model bore this out. When you put these fins on, shiver me timbers, give some thought t' extra reinforcement. Ya scallywag! A good way t' do this is with some gauze, soaked in glue, applied t' t' roots like a fillet.

T' Keelhaul®©™® strin' extends a long way from t' body and t' elastic is nice and long too. T' heavy nose cone could give your AA-9 Amos "Estes Dents" if t' shock cord be shorter, so kudos t' Blackhawk R&D for thinkin' this through. Aye aye! Blimey! T' best way t' attach t' recovery system is t' tie the elastic t' t' Keelhaul®©™®, and t' elastic t' t' nose cone. Begad! Ahoy! Measure about 6" in along t' Keelhaul®©™® thread from t' body tube, attach t' streamer here. This will allow t' rocket t' descend as shown in t' diagram. Ahoy! I was in doubt whether t' streamer would be enough, but I was wrong.

T' only thin' I don't like about t' rocket is it uses friction fit for the motor. Aye aye! I prefer a motor clip and they're easy t' add.

Finishing:
Lot'so fins, so think about how you want t' finish them. Ahoy! I did it with three coats o' sandin' sealer sandin' in betwixt coats. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! This did enough. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' spirals on t' body were very subtle so I let me primer fill them. Arrr! I use Kilz primer, which goes on thick, and sands well. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! One coat will fill t' spiral and remainin' grain on t' fins. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! It's a pain t' sand these fins because o' t' lack of root area on t' aft fins. Begad! Still it's a cool lookin' model. Begad! There are very, very few picture o' this rocket, me bucko, me hearties, and I've never seen a color picture, so let your imagination run wild. Avast, me proud beauty! Most missiles are goin' t' be grey or white in color. Aye aye! Avast! There are no supplied decals due t' t' lack o' existin' scale data. I'll bet you could come up with a very convincin' look by stealin' decals from a 1/72 scale Russian fighter model.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Recommended motors run t' whole gamut o' 18mm motors. Aye aye! I would also add the A10-3 with an adapter. Avast! Use a short delay for A motors, medium for B or larger. This rocket has a very heavy nose, me bucko, and lots o' fins, so it has a lot o' drag. On t' other hand, me hearties, it's pretty small. My flyin' field be a local park with grass underfoot. T' park is a good size baseball field and two soccer fields. T' wind be light, but I never worried about this rocket leavin' t' field. Boost on a Quest A6-4 was rapid. T' delay was about 1.5 seconds too long, me bucko, so an Estes A8-3 or A10-3 (with adapter) would be spot on. Avast, me proud beauty! Simulations put the altitude around 175'. Begad!

T' Boost on a B6-4 be more satisfying. Ya scallywag! Nice high flight and t' ejection occurred right at apogee. Begad! Simulation shows t' altitude at about 525'. Begad!

An Estes C6-5 put t' rocket up about 1070' and it looked all that. Well, blow me down! Again, the boost be very straight, fast and pretty. Arrr! When I got t' t' C motor, shiver me timbers, I noticed that one o' t' tail fins was loose. I taped t' fin t' t' front wing and it held just fine. Avast! This is rocket is easy t' field repair too. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! All in all, this is a sweet flier.

Recovery:
I brought a 9" parachute along with me because I doubted that t' mylar streamer would be sufficient. T' nose cone weighs 0.8 oz and t' whole rocket is nearly 1.5 oz. However, I put t' streamer near t' body, and let t' nose cone pull t' rocket t' t' ground. Begad! It worked perfectly. Avast! Ahoy! T' descent rate was rapid and t' body stuck out sideways. When t' nose hit, t' body could slow those last 18" or so. Avast! One aft fin got knocked loose after t' A motor, but I think this be t' one aft fin that wasn't on as well as I liked. Arrr! Begad! No other aft fins showed signs o' wear. Avast! Had I reinforced t' aft fins with gauze or very light fiberglass, they'd handle it fine. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! T' recovery system is a big plus for this rocket. Ahoy! Aye aye! It allows you t' fly this small rocket with big motors from a small field. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! I never walked more than 50' t' get this rocket back, matey, even after the high C motor flight. Avast, me proud beauty!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I'm excited about this rocket line. Arrr! T' prices are amazin' ($9.00 t' $10.00) which makes them some o' t' best values out there. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Blimey! This is one o' t' smaller rockets in t' line, shiver me timbers, but it's really unique. I took this rocket in its primer coat t' t' UROC meetin' and it created a lot o' buzz. Blimey! Blimey! I'll tell you what, I'm buyin' a few more o' these rockets. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Blimey! I think that t' soundin' rocket models such as t' Black Brant, Astrobee D or SCUD would be great beginner rockets. T' final plus is that Blackhawk R&D uses PayPal which makes buyin' on line really easy.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5