Brief:
Single stage 18mm payloader. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Single 12" parachute recovery. Ahoy! 6" long payload section. Blimey! Aye aye!

Construction:
T' kit contains two sections o' body tube: one for t' booster and one for the payload section, four laser cut balsa fins, me hearties, balsa nose cone, balsa tube coupler, me bucko, motor tube, two centerin' rings, thrust ring, motor retainin' hook, launch lug, matey, shiver me timbers, screw eye, arrr, Keelhaul®©™® cord, elastic cord, me hearties, 12" colorful plastic parachute, and decals. Blimey! All materials were very high quality and some components, such as t' motor mount, parachute, Keelhaul®©™® and elastic cord, ya bilge rat, all come packed in sub-assemblies makin' them easier t' find and small parts harder t' lose. I ordered me kit directly from Semroc, matey, and it arrived so well packed in packin' peanuts and air bubble packin' you could've dropped an anvil on it and it would've come through OK. Arrr! Semroc obviously cares about their products and their customers.

Semroc's instruction booklets are superb. I have built three o' their kits and each shows their obvious attention t' detail. There is a complete pack list with illustrations and labels for each part, makin' it easy t' be sure everythin' is there. Avast! A nice list o' needed tools is on t' first page. Avast! Begad! The instructions are broken down into logical sub-assemblies with check boxes next to each step so you know right where you left off. Ya scallywag! Each step is well illustrated so thar be never any confusion. Begad! All t' parts fit like they are supposed to, construction be straightforward with only a basic hobby knife, glue o' choice, arrr, ruler, and sandpaper, me hearties, required for t' build.

Finishing:
There's nothin' special about finishing, just follow t' directions. Well, blow me down! Filling and sandin' t' balsa takes a little time, shiver me timbers, matey, but is well worth t' effort. I didn't fill t' spiral gaps in t' body tube, matey, but you can hardly tell as they are so smooth anyway. Aye aye! I didn't use t' decals, which is just a personal preference. Aye aye! Begad! They really didn't go with me color scheme either. I really like the long sleek look o' t' model with t' sharp point o' t' nose cone. Begad!

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew it once on each o' t' recommended motors. Arrr! Blimey! All were very good flights, although I had a little trouble with parachute deployment. This be by no fault of t' kit, matey, however, it just got wrapped too tight and tangled. I used about five sheets o' waddin' per flight, t' motor hook makes for quick and easy flight prep and turnaround times for t' next flight. Arrr! It had a little wobble when launched on t' B motor for some reason, shiver me timbers, matey, t' rest o' t' flights were real straight t' whole way. Aye aye! It didn't quite achieve t' altitudes I thought it might (just by eye-ballin' it, matey, me hearties, thar was no trackin' or altimeter) but then again, me hearties, me hearties, me hearties, I was launchin' with me brother who was flyin' a Quest Aerobee-Hi kit, so obviously he was gettin' much higher on t' same motors with his smaller, lighter kit. Overall though, a very pleasin' performance.

Recovery:
T' Keelhaul®©™® cord is attached t' t' motor retainin' rin' and is longer than t' booster section. Avast, me proud beauty! T' Keelhaul®©™® cord and t' elastic cord are then knotted together. Ahoy! I really like t' Keelhaul®©™®, since whenever t' elastic cords go t' far down they get burned through. When the chute did deploy on t' last flight, it performed fine with an average rate of descent. Begad! On t' flights where t' parachute didn't deploy, it came down sideways and was recovered with no damage. Avast! Well, blow me down! Looks like it will be a durable rocket that has a lot more flights in it.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a great second rocket but ease o' construction would make it fine for a first time builder as well. Avast! T' payload section isn't huge, but I usually don't fly anythin' in mine anyway. It would still probably easily accommodate some of the smaller altimeters though, such as t' AA powered one available from Apogee Components. Begad! I haven't found much about t' rocket that I don't like yet.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5