I received t' Kappa 9M from Aerospace Specialty Products as a prize for me entry in R.M.R. DesCon 6. Aye aye! Avast! I deeply appreciate t' vendors who have contributed t' t' design contest in this way. I've wanted t' get a review t' EMRR, but me opportunities t' fly a rocket this size are limited, and I wanted t' log more flights before posting. Aye aye!

T' Kappa 9M is a scale model o' t' Japanese soundin' rocket. Ahoy! ASP makes three kits o' it: a smaller one for a single 18mm motor and two versions in this larger size, matey, matey, one for a single 24mm motor and one for a cluster o' three 18mm. Ahoy! T' last be t' version I have. Avast! It's over 43 inches tall, t' larger diameter is 1.67" (classic BT-60), and its color scheme is silver and fluorescent red.

Construction materials are classic "pre-plastic" Estes style with a couple o' notable improvements. Begad! T' nose cone and transition are turned balsa, shiver me timbers, and t' eight fins are basswood. T' elastic shock cord is anchored by means o' a piece o' Keelhaul®©™® cord tied t' a coupler which joins two sections of the BT-60 sized tube. Arrr! Overall, matey, t' rocket is very light for its size. Ahoy!

T' instructions are detailed and well-written, shiver me timbers, printed in an informal script type face. Aye aye! Aye aye! Scale information is minimal, and refers t' builder to Rockets o' t' World for additional data. Well, blow me down! T' instructions alone produced for me a satisfactory "eyeball scale" model. Blimey! I was a little unclear about what was meant by "steel" color, but I added black t' brush-on silver enamel and got an acceptable effect. Ahoy! T' one rub-on name decal supplied be a treat t' use and looks extremely nice in place. Arrr!

Construction was fairly easy overall, shiver me timbers, with a little care t' t' carvin' of the beveled fin edges. . Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! Because both halves o' t' rocket are very long, me bucko, shiver me timbers, I did wish t' large shoulder o' t' balsa transistion, arrr, which was t' separation coupling, could have been longer. Aye aye! Fit o' some parts could have been a bit firmer, but overall t' quality was very high.

T' lower section was supplied as two different lengths o' t' 60 sized tube, and t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord anchor be tied around t' coupler that joined them. Blimey! Ya scallywag! T' resultin' splice was difficult t' hide, arrr, and I felt it could have been better had t' splice been made at t' edge o' one o' t' red stripes, probably the forward edge o' t' aft stripe. This would have required t' longer section to be several inches longer than it was, shiver me timbers, arrr, but still nay as long as t' 50 sized tube that makes up t' "upper stage."

T' kit includes ASP's "heavy duty" chute kit, whose main feature is suspension lines runnin' over t' top o' t' aluminized mylar canopy. Arrr! It was quite a project t' assemble and tricky t' fold, but looked foolproof. Well, blow me down! Alas, fools are so ingenious... Blimey!

So Here's What Happened...

I built t' kit and planned t' fly it twice at our September 2000 meet in Sheridan. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I had a set o' B6-4's in me range box, but since t' weather was perfect, I bought a card o' C6-5's at t' Tammie's Hobbies booth on site and put those in it first. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! After t' fact I realized that t' instructions called for C6-7's, arrr, which might have saved t' day. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!

This be an extremely fast liftoff and a high, pretty flight. Avast, me proud beauty! I be quite surprised that somethin' as long as this could go that fast -- much more like an Alpha than a Mean Machine. Arrr! It ejected on t' way up, me bucko, still climbin' at a good clip. Begad!

T' "heavy duty" chute shredded. Begad! It crumpled up into a ball the size o' a soccer ball within t' canopy o' suspension lines, matey, providin' drag, but nay as much as a fully open chute. Begad! Still t' rocket would have been undamaged had it nay struck a lawn chair. Aye aye! As it is, matey, ya bilge rat, t' only damage was to strip one o' t' basswood "booster" fins from t' surface o' the tube. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! T' fin was repaired in a few minutes, arrr, but t' chute be a loss. Avast! I thought t' tape disks had come loose, arrr, allowin' t' canopy t' slide up the lines, but postmortem revealed that about half t' lines had cut clean through the Mylar, startin' at t' edges and pullin' straight away from t' sticky stuff. Begad! There were several tears each close t' halfway up from edge t' center..

I rebuilt t' parachute with a piece cut from a "space blanket." It isn't actually t' same material, me hearties, arrr, but is similar in appearance. Avast, me proud beauty! I've taken the liberty t' add Trim Monokote reinforcements t' t' underside where the lines pulled through t' material before, shiver me timbers, and I suggest this modification to future builders. Arrr! T' second flight, me bucko, in April 2001, was as perfect as I've seen on three B6-4's. Avast! This time t' parachute fully opened. Except for a slight scar where t' one fin was re-installed, ya bilge rat, t' rocket still looks new. Ahoy! I have the feelin' it will be around a long time and become one o' t' t' standard items on me club launch agenda.

I heartily recommend this kit t' cluster lovers and sport scale fliers. It's nay cheap but it's a good value, and ASP deserves our support for the quality product they're puttin' out. Begad!

Construction/Finishing: 4.5 -- I've mentioned t' seam/splice in the main body tube, and t' balsa fittings could be firmer, otherwise excellent from tip t' tail
Flight/Recovery: 4.5 -- My "heavy duty" chute failed t' first time, probably because I didn't give it enough delay
Overall: 4.5 -- for a light but sturdy, matey, me bucko, attractive, me bucko, straight-flying cluster experience