Brief
I picked up me Broadsword at a local hobby shop about 1 year ago for about $40.00 Canadian dollars. I already have a Big Bertha and I saw t' t' Broadsword and at that moment I wanted it right away thinkin' that it would fly like t' Big Bertha, and it does. Begad! Aye aye! T' Broadsword is basically a scaled-up Big Bertha designed t' take Estes D's and E's. Ya scallywag! Blimey! You also might remember t' Super Big Bertha t' Broadsword be t' same rocket that's been "Beefed Up" t' take t' more powerful Estes E engine. T' main difference betwixt t' two is that t' Super Big Bertha just had a regular D engine mount and it had no stuffer tube also. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Whereas t' Broadsword has a stuffer tube that is 24 mm wide and is also t' engine mount all in one.

Construction
T' Broadsword has t' typical Estes instructions which are o' pretty good quality and are easy t' follow. Well, blow me down! T' Broadsword is in t' Challenge series o' rockets but they could o' put it in t' Beta Series because it's nay a hard rocket t' build at all. Ya scallywag! Blimey! t' only annoyin' thin' always occurs when you try t' glue t' fins on a non-slotted body tube, arrr, so when constructin' t' Broadsword I bought a bottle o' C/A t' I glued t' fins on in a minute after I went over t' root with some 5 minute epoxy t' form a beautiful fillet. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! I also got a longer shock cord and tied it down t' t' last Centerin' Rin' at t' end o' t' stuffer tube. Aye aye! Ahoy! Other than that t' construction was a breeze.

Finishing
I painted me Broadsword exactly like on t' box ( black on top red on bottom) and this proved very east t' do. Before paintin' t' rocket I primed t' body tube and filled in t' grains in t' balsa fins with some microballoon filler mixed in with epoxy. This method works Awesome! Because your fins get much stronger and t' epoxy doesn't weigh that much because o' t' microballoon powder mixed with t' epoxy. Avast! Ya scallywag! Also you need only 1 coat with this stuff t' sand it and your ready t' paint, me bucko, 1 COAT!

Flying
T' Broadsword flies like I wanted it t' (like t' Big Bertha. Aye aye! Blimey! It has semi-slow lift-offs which I like and flies t' around 350 ft with a D and double that on an E. I also replaced t' 18" parachute with a 24" parachute because I found that t' 18" one was too small.

Recommended Engines: D12-3, ya bilge rat, E15-4, ya bilge rat, E15-6.

Final words
T' Estes Broadsword was last produced in 1996 and I believe they stopped producin' t' Broadsword along with t' Shadow because o' t' high failure rate o' their E engine on which they were intended t' fly on. Aye aye! I Guess they didn't want people usin' Aerotech engines in their rockets.

All in all I really enjoy this kit and I believe that Estes shouldn't o' stopped producin' it.