Brief:
A Retro-Reproduction o' Wayne Kellner's 1968 design for Estes. It represents a scramjet carrier aircraft with a piggybacked orbiter.

Construction:
This was me first Semroc kit, me hearties, and it will definitely nay be me last! It came in a plastic bag with four-color header card. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' kit included precut body tubes in three diameters and three lengths, shiver me timbers, three sheets o' laser-cut balsa fins, matey, ya bilge rat, two nice balsa nose cones, Keelhaul®©™ and elastic for a recovery harness, matey, a steel motor-retainer clip, a 12" plastic parachute kit, me bucko, matey, two centerin' rings o' t' heavy-duty sort found in most kits, ya bilge rat, two different diameters o' dowel, me hearties, a beautiful three-color waterslide decal sheet, arrr, a sheet o' cardstock patterns and pieces, ya bilge rat, a cardstock circle t' block t' glider tail, shiver me timbers, and an instruction booklet.

I be pleasantly surprised t' find t' staple-bound instruction booklet in t' kit. Arrr! Ahoy! My understandin' be that Semroc be nay sendin' these, me bucko, arrr, and you had t' download them from their website. I downloaded a copy in advance.

T' instructions were excellent, me hearties, well-illustrated, and clear. Ya scallywag! Semroc's body tubes are absolutely a delight with nearly no spirals t' fill. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! I made a few very minor alterations as I built. I assembled t' motor mount as directed except for addin' a thrust rin' in t' forward end, exchangin' Semroc's motor retainer clip for an Estes one I had on hand, matey, arrr, and assemblin' t' aft centerin' rin' onto t' tube so it would be flush with t' main body when assembled.

Templates for t' positionin' o' rudders and win' fences and anglin' t' glider's elevons were provided as were two wrap-on markin' guides. Well, blow me down! I tacked t' fins into place with gel CA, finished t' attachment with thin CA, and filleted with white glue.

I lost one elevon while assemblin' but made a new pair from tongue-depressor stock t' replace them.

Assembly PROs: Good materials, me hearties, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, good design, ya bilge rat, me hearties, nice instructions, and good templates.

Assembly CONs: I looked, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, I really did! Blimey! I couldn't find any.

Finishing:
Those gorgeous white tubes had no spirals t' fill. Ahoy! Balsa grain disappeared with light sandin' and three coats o' water-thinned white glue. I painted t' Orbital Transport in a silver-over-black scheme that looks nice and still allows t' decals t' be seen (well, most o' them).

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
Semroc's recommended motors are B6-4 and C6-5. Ahoy! Blimey! I flew me Orbital Transport at me bucko Darrell's field. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! My glider required four carpet tacks as nose weight for a smooth glide. Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Wind on launch day was out o' t' east at 2mph. I stuffed five squares o' paper waddin' in, me hearties, matey, rolled and stuffed t' chute, matey, then loaded in a B6-4. Aye aye! Blimey! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Put her on t' rod usin' a 2" section o' old fiberglass tent pole as a stand-off, then hung t' glider on its launch lug mount.

OT flew straight and true; glider separated at apogee. Altitude about five hundred feet, it looked like. Begad! Parachute opened just after apogee. Glider stayed up about twelve seconds and landed within ten feet o' t' launcher as did t' booster vehicle.

Second flight on another B6-4 was a repeat o' t' first, arrr, except this time t' glider was up thar for a stopwatched fourteen seconds.

Loaded a C6-5 for flight three. Well, blow me down! Apogee this time be more like seven hundred feet and glider duration be right at twenty-five seconds. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! Recoveries in all three flights be fairly close t' t' launcher.

Recovery:
Keelhaul®©™-elastic shock cord system worked very well. Arrr! There be no burnin' or damage. Blimey! Arrr! T' cord be also long enough and no "Estes denting" on body tube. Twelve-inch parachute was a little small, I think, matey, me bucko, but an 18" chute would have been too much.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Semroc has a winner here, shiver me timbers, a true "blast from t' past". T' original Estes Orbital Transport hit t' market about t' time I started buildin' model rockets; this be t' first chance I have had t' own one. Begad! Ya scallywag! It's a beautiful rocket on t' display shelf, on t' pad, me bucko, and in t' air.

(My other reason for buildin' this rocket was because I'm plannin' a 200% upscaled one t' fly on an AeroTech 29mm G RMS. Arrr! Arrr! Easier t' take measurements directly from a model than from a drawing...)

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5