Brief:
T' Edmonds CiCi is a small, very easy t' build boost glider that ejects t' spent motor casin' when t' ejection charge goes off. Ahoy! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' parts are laser cut and fit together perfectly.

Construction:
Here's t' parts list:

• 8 laser-cut balsa pieces
• 1 balsa nose cone
• 1 motor tube
• 1 l/8" launch lug

That's it!

T' instructions were illustrated and very easy t' follow. Well, arrr, blow me down! T' instructions consist o' a single one-sided 8.5" x 11" sheet.

All o' t' glider parts are laser-cut balsa and they fit together perfectly. T' parts are entirely cut out, me hearties, with no trimmin' or separatin' from a balsa sheet needed. Begad! It would be possible t' end up with some parts misaligned but takin' care t' make sure t' pieces don't "droop" out o' alignment until t' glue is dry is simple enough. In fact, I pretty much just held them in place by hand for a few minutes and that be good enough t' keep everythin' aligned until t' glue was dry.

One possible "gotcha": When t' nose cone is installed, it looks like it's partially blockin' t' vent hole in t' side o' t' motor tube. Begad! T' supposedly "fix" this, I carved quite a bit o' balsa from around t' nose cone shoulder in order t' open up t' vent hole. After I did this and glued t' nose cone on, me hearties, I contacted Rob Edmonds by email, who told me that t' vent hole is supposed t' be about halfway obstructed by t' nose cone shoulder. Oh well. Ahoy! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! As it turns out, me hearties, this doesn't seem t' make any appreciable difference either way. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! My sons and I have built three CiCi's, have flown two o' them, and t' motor ejected just fine from both o' them.

T' motor tube is glued t' t' top o' t' front o' t' fuselage. Arrr! It is possible t' misalign so it's nay pointin' precisely straight ahead. Well, blow me down! T' launch lug is glued onto t' side o' t' fuselage and against t' motor tube, me bucko, me hearties, so t' lug is automatically aligned by those two parts.

I've managed t' build CiCi's with t' vent hole on t' same side as t' launch lug as well as on t' opposite side but that doesn't seem t' make any difference in flight. Ya scallywag! Avast! I'd probably recommend havin' t' vent hole on t' opposite side from t' launch lug, me hearties, but I don't recall what t' instructions say t' do.

I used Aleene's Original Tacky Glue (in t' gold bottle) for all construction. Avast! Avast! It's similar t' Elmer's white glue but is thicker and supposedly doesn't shrink when it dries.

Finishing:
I absolutely love t' finishin' o' t' CiCi. Avast! There is none! Flyin' them bare and without bein' airfoiled is recommended. That's right up me alley.

You can "finish" t' CiCi by colorin' it with a marker or highlighter if you like and for t' sake o' improved visibility.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
My first CiCi flight was on an Estes A8-3. Ya scallywag! My main problem was nay knowin' how loosely t' motor should fit in t' motor tube in order t' eject properly. Aye aye! I probably spent ten minutes, usin' very slightly larger and larger strips o' maskin' tape on t' motor, matey, t' get it just tight enough that it wouldn't fall out on t' launch pad with t' igniter clips hooked up.

Flight was perfectly straight up t' maybe 100 feet, although I'm a poor judge o' altitudes. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' motor ejected perfectly, didn't hit anyone, ya bilge rat, and t' glider performed a nice flat glide into t' grass.

Second flight be on an Estes C6-5. Ahoy! Blimey! Boost be good but t' CiCi arched over considerably before t' motor ejected. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' glide was again very nice and t' landin' was in t' grass.

Third flight was on an Estes C6-3, matey, arrr, as I thought t' long delay o' t' C6-5 had caused t' glider t' arc over before ejectin' t' motor. Blimey! On this flight too though, arrr, t' glider arched over quite a bit before ejectin' t' motor and transitioned into a nice glide down into t' grass once again.

Recovery:
There be no damage whatsoever other than some grass stains on t' leadin' edge o' t' wings. No burnin' or scorching, no cracked or broken fuselage, me bucko, nothing.

T' only possible CON would be t' fact that t' motor is ejected from t' model and free falls t' t' ground. Well, blow me down! Every CiCi flight should probably be a head's up flight for this reason.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
I really like t' CiCi. Arrr! These flights were trial runs for an upcomin' Cub Scout event, shiver me timbers, t' Pack 1283 Rocket Launch 2005 comin' up this June. Ya scallywag! I've purchased enough CiCi kits for all o' t' Cub Scouts in me den t' build one for himself. Rob Edmonds has a great pricin' program for schools and scouts. Ahoy! Just go t' his website t' take a look.

Main PROs: Very simple t' build, arrr, arrr, perfect alignment o' laser-cut parts, cool flight profile.

Main CONs: Ejectin' t' motor t' freely fall back t' t' ground at burnout. This doesn't particularly bother me, but I know some people object t' "spitting" a rocket's motor without a streamer.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5