Brief:
Single stage, chute recovery kit. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Skill level 3 mid-powered kit.

Construction:
This kit came with 2 pieces o' thin walled 2.56" body tubes. Avast, me proud beauty! It utilizes 4 tail fins and 4 large canards mounted at t' mid point o' t' body. Aye aye! Included was a 24" piece o' elastic (Estes) shock cord, a standard Estes size 24mm motor tube, a sleeve that formed part o' t' tailcone that reduced diameter from 2.56" t' 2", arrr, 4 laser cut carbon centerin' rings and a carbon bulkhead piece t' keep t' chute from goin' too far aft durin' liftoff.

It also came with a very rounded Harpoon style nosecone. T' instructions called for cuttin' a pattern out o' card paper and paintin' it with CyA glue for stiffness. Begad! Ahoy! Blimey! I opted t' replace this nosecone with an LOC/Precision nosecone. Aye aye! Ahoy! Blimey! I'll use t' one that came with t' kit for a scratch build sometime.

I also canned t' sleeve tube and centerin' rings t' upgrade t' motor mount t' 29mm and fabricated me own tailcone out o' 1/8" plywood and 2 part foam. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! I added balsa spars t' help shape t' tailcone and used a finishin' sander t' smartly and smoothly shape t' foam.

I also opted t' use a combination o' Keelhaul®©™line and nylon rope instead o' t' elastic for t' shock cord.

T' complexity o' this kit was a little bit o' a surprise t' me when I opened it. I be pretty new t' rocketry and didn't read any reviews o' these kits.

You do have t' trace patterns and cut t' balsa pieces by hand, shiver me timbers, thar are no die cut fins. Well, blow me down! Avast! Which isn't that big a deal.

T' instructions are fairly straightforward, but some more pics o' things like t' tailcone and nose cone assembly would be helpful.

I was rather surprised at t' size o' this rocket. Surface mount fins would be pretty weak on this thing, ya bilge rat, so I did do a wrap o' 2 oz. glass on t' body and also glassed t' fins and canards on for extra strength as I wanted t' fly this on larger than spec'd motors.

Finishing:
For finishing, I used Krylon spray primer and paint. Avast! I just did a white body with black fins. Well, blow me down! Begad! I will probably sand it down and repaint with a more realistic light gray body. Well, blow me down! There were no decals with t' kit, so I have nay done any yet. I do have pictures (thanks Carl!) o' a real Sparrow missile that I will use when I get around t' doin' a different paint job.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
I've only flown it once so far. Begad! I used an E28-4 and after t' modifications I made t' this bird, shiver me timbers, me hearties, it was barely enough. Avast! Arrr! It flew t' maybe 200' and did eject at apogee. Arrr! It took another second for t' chute t' pop out (whew) and landed a little hard with t' 30" AT chute I used. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! It cracked a fillet on on o' t' tail fins. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! I fixed it after t' launch and it's ready t' fly again. Blimey! Blimey! I'd like t' try it on an F-40 next time.

Recovery:
I substituted t' elastic shock cord for some Keelhaul®©™ thread from Pratt Hobbies and also added about 5' o' nylon rope. Blimey! Begad! I also used an AT 30" nylon chute. Blimey! T' shock cord appeared t' work great and t' chute deployed as planned, me bucko, but next time, arrr, I might need t' go a little large on t' chute as it came down a little hard. Well, blow me down! I would bypass all o' t' stock recovery pieces. I did use t' mylar chute on another rocket I have and it worked good on t' first launch, but t' shroud lines tore through t' mylar on t' second attempt. Begad! I personally wouldn't trust mylar for a chute again.

Flight Rating: 2 out o' 5

Summary:
Overall, I love t' way this kit looks. Arrr! Well, matey, blow me down! T' flight I did with it was awesome! It went straight up off t' pad and never wavered. Aye aye! Aye aye! It's a great kit for t' loot and a good challenge t' t' average builder. Begad! I plan on purchasin' more kits from T' Launch Pad!

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5