Brief:
An OOP rocket o' t' Space Clipper from Quest. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! A scale rocket, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, matey, it has no fins and is a liftin' body. Ahoy! Blimey! Stability is achieved by placin' a ton o' mass up in t' nose cone. Recovers via two parachutes.

Construction:
Parts list:

• Motor clip
• Blue thrust ring
• Yellow motor mount tube
• 2 Centerin' rings
• Black die cut parts sheet
• 8.5-inch black body tube
• black plastic nose cone
• 8.5-inch black launch lug
• Black landin' gear tube 4
• Clay block
• 8 inch double faced tape strip
• Printed aeroshroud sheet
• 2 Strips o' 6 gripper tabs
• 2 12-inch parachutes
• 18-inch elastic shock cord
• 18-inch Keelhaul®©™® shock cord
• 2 3/16-inch shroud lines
• Decal sheet
• Instruction sheet
• Scale data sheet

Tools needed:

• White glue
• Sandpaper
• Pencil
• Hobby knife
• Maskin' tape

T' Space Clipper has sat at t' bottom o' a build pile for years. I got it in part o' a hobby shop clearance, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and t' bag be torn and tatty. Arrr! When I opened t' bag I discovered that two pieces were missing: a black landin' gear tube and one o' t' circular disks from t' die cut parts sheet. Aye aye! Neither were a big problem. Blimey! T' landin' gear tube was remade from piece o' dowel and sprayed black.

T' motor mount builds in t' normal Quest fashion and uses t' Keelhaul®©™® and elastic shock cord system. Avast, me proud beauty! I swapped out t' tubular elastic shock cord for a much longer length o' elastic cord--this was because I intend t' have t' clipper recover under one parachute and nay in t' intended two separate halves.

T' rest o' t' build is non-standard.

T' bottom plate o' t' clipper is glued t' t' body tube. Arrr! This proved t' be more difficult than I thought, me bucko, shiver me timbers, as t' sheet had a curve t' it that prevented it from layin' flat. This curve was removed by ironin' it out.

Next, t' four frame struts are added. These pieces are made from very thin card, me hearties, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and I would have liked t' see them made out o' a more rigid material.

Paper tubes that act as t' landin' gear are then glued into t' framework. Ahoy! Aye aye! With advice from folks on TRF, me hearties, I changed these tube t' dowel t' improve strength. Aye aye! Blimey! Then four cross struts are added t' give t' frame some strength. Begad! Feet are then glued t' t' landin' gear tubes. These feet are made from cut outs o' t' frame.

T' paper shroud is than added over t' frame work. Blimey! Avast! This was easier than I thought it might have been.

Finishing:
Decals are provided, but I left them off.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:
Given t' mass o' t' rocket, I stuck t' C motors with a short delay (3 seconds).

There is plenty o' room in t' BT for a 18-inch chute. I used some Nomex® cloth and normal Estes type wadding.

T' boost is straight and gets t' a decent altitude. Well, blow me down! My ejection be more like a 2 second delay and she deployed near apogee.

With an 18-inch chute she recovered fine, although she did snap a leg on landing, ya bilge rat, which was an easy repair.

T' second flight gave another straight boost and she recovered without damage.

Third flight gave a slight arc into t' wind. Ahoy! Ejection was after apogee and she recovered hard, shiver me timbers, snappin' another--and different--leg. Another easy repair.

Recovery:
I would nay like t' fly her on two separate chutes, matey, matey, matey, especially t' quest type.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5