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

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

Construction materials are classic "pre-plastic" Estes style with a couple o' notable improvements. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! T' nose cone and transition are turned balsa, and t' eight fins are basswood. Well, blow me down! 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. Overall, ya bilge rat, matey, t' rocket is very light for its size. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy!

T' instructions are detailed and well-written, printed in an informal script type face. Blimey! Scale information is minimal, me bucko, arrr, me hearties, and refers t' builder to Rockets o' t' World for additional data. Ahoy! Begad! T' instructions alone produced for me a satisfactory "eyeball scale" model. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! 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 was a treat t' use and looks extremely nice in place. Begad!

Construction be fairly easy overall, with a little care t' t' carvin' of the beveled fin edges. . Arrr! Because both halves o' t' rocket are very long, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I did wish t' large shoulder o' t' balsa transistion, me hearties, which was t' separation coupling, shiver me timbers, could have been longer. Fit o' some parts could have been a bit firmer, but overall t' quality be very high. Well, blow me down!

T' lower section be supplied as two different lengths o' t' 60 sized tube, me bucko, me bucko, and t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord anchor be tied around t' coupler that joined them. Ya scallywag! T' resultin' splice be difficult t' hide, and I felt it could have been better had t' splice been made at t' edge o' one o' t' red stripes, me hearties, ya bilge rat, probably the forward edge o' t' aft stripe. Begad! Arrr! This would have required t' longer section to be several inches longer than it was, matey, shiver me timbers, 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, matey, whose main feature is suspension lines runnin' over t' top o' t' aluminized mylar canopy. Avast! It was quite a project t' assemble and tricky t' fold, shiver me timbers, but looked foolproof. Well, blow me down! Alas, fools are so ingenious... Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty!

So Here's What Happened...

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

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

T' "heavy duty" chute shredded. Ahoy! It crumpled up into a ball the size o' a soccer ball within t' canopy o' suspension lines, providin' drag, but nay as much as a fully open chute. Still t' rocket would have been undamaged had it nay struck a lawn chair. Begad! Well, arrr, blow me down! As it is, t' only damage was to strip one o' t' basswood "booster" fins from t' surface o' the tube. Blimey! Ahoy! T' fin be repaired in a few minutes, ya bilge rat, me bucko, but t' chute was a loss. Begad! I thought t' tape disks had come loose, allowin' t' canopy t' slide up the lines, but postmortem revealed that about half t' lines had cut clean through the Mylar, ya bilge rat, startin' at t' edges and pullin' straight away from t' sticky stuff. 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, arrr, me hearties, but is similar in appearance. I've taken the liberty t' add Trim Monokote reinforcements t' t' underside where the lines pulled through t' material before, ya bilge rat, and I suggest this modification to future builders. Blimey! Blimey! T' second flight, in April 2001, ya bilge rat, was as perfect as I've seen on three B6-4's. Blimey! Blimey! This time t' parachute fully opened. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! Except for a slight scar where t' one fin was re-installed, ya bilge rat, t' rocket still looks new. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I have the feelin' it will be around a long time and become one o' t' t' standard items on me club launch agenda. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Begad! Blimey!

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

Construction/Finishing: 4.5 -- I've mentioned t' seam/splice in the main body tube, me bucko, 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, ya bilge rat, probably because I didn't give it enough delay
Overall: 4.5 -- for a light but sturdy, attractive, ya bilge rat, straight-flying cluster experience