Brief:
This is a good, clean, single staged rocket which uses an 18" plastic parachute for recovery.

Construction:
There is a single body tube, with three fins. Begad! T' construction is very simple, and t' design is very basic.

T' construction be fairly simple with an overall basic design. Ahoy! T' Estes instructions were very thorough, and I be nay confused at any point. Begad! T' only problem I had was with t' fit o' t' couplin' betwixt t' body tube and the payload area. Avast! Arrr! I had t' cut off one layer o' t' red paper in order t' fit the two pieces together, but otherwise thar were no problems. Avast, me proud beauty! I didn't use the 'antenna' that were provided, arrr, shiver me timbers, as it would just add extra drag.

Finishing:
I just finished this rocket with conventional spray paint. Begad! A couple coats of primer, ya bilge rat, then a few each o' gloss black and white t' their corresponding regions. Begad! Begad! Blimey! T' finishin' near t' tail fins was difficult as t' gloss white had to extend partly betwixt t' fins. Arrr! Blimey! I think it might be easier t' paint t' fins first and t' body tube separately and then epoxy them together, ya bilge rat, t' get the best finish.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
T' recommended motor was a D12-5, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, but Estes has unfortunately discontinued this size. Avast, me proud beauty! I have t' go t' t' C11-5 and D12-3. Begad! T' C11-5's were great. Ya scallywag! I got many great flights with this size, ya bilge rat, which were all visible with a clear sky. When I launched t' D12-3 t' rocket went almost out o' sight, me hearties, but I forgot to put waddin' in and t' parachute partially got scorched. Begad! Avast! Even though thar was almost nothin' slowin' t' rockets decent it was perfectly intact when it landed about 50ft. away from t' launch site in a pile o' snow. I decided that the rocket could handle an E9-6, so I launched one o' with that as well. Avast! I lost site o' it as it passed through some clouds at about 1200 ft, but then saw it about 20 seconds later passin' through them, safely floatin' down. Ahoy! It landed about 100 ft. away from t' launch site (0-5mph o' wind). Aye aye! All t' flights were perfectly straight and extremely predictable, this is a great rocket.

Recovery:
T' only problem is this rocket doesn't need a parachute so large. Avast! Begad! I cut a 2 inch hole in t' top o' t' parachute t' help it descend faster, arrr, matey, but it still took well over 2 minutes on t' D12-3. Avast, me proud beauty! T' shock cord bent t' body tube at the top on t' D12-3, so I didn't use any more D's on it. I think you could almost recover this thin' without any recovery system at all.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:
This rocket was easy t' build, flew great, almost too great, as I lost it on my last launch o' t' day. Well, blow me down! Only con is that thar aren't too many engines you can use standard on this thing, and t' D12-3 is nay recommended. Arrr! I'm goin' t' try an Aerotech E30 on this, matey, I don't know what it will do with almost triple the force o' t' Estes D's. Just don't launch this with a delay time o' less than 3 seconds. Avast! Avast, matey, me proud beauty!

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5