Brief:
T' Backdraft is a BT-60-based, 24mm-powered rocket that on face value looks like a standard 2-stager. Arrr! Begad! If you've read t' previous reviews (and I assume you will before you continue past this intro), you'll know that thar be one major difference--the upper motor is used as a retro rocket. Blimey! Heavenly Hobbies calls this t' TailWind delayed deployment system. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! T' upper stage is ignited with a slow-burnin' fuse ('green cannon fuse'), matey, so t' flight prep will be out o' t' experience base o' most rocketeers. Ahoy! Heavenly Hobbies includes an electronic spreadsheet, arrr, H.H. Arrr! Ahoy! Simit, t' help with t' motor/delay selection.

T' glossy sheet provided with t' kit says it is s/n number 17. Begad! Arrr! This kit will be fun!

Construction:
T' kit includes 40 parts, includin' lots o' tubes, laser cut rings and fins, and a pre-hollowed balsa cone. Arrr! T' laser cut parts all fit well, however, me hearties, t' BT-60 couplers and nosecone shoulder required sanding.

T' 23 pages o' photo-illustrated instructions are provided in Microsoft Word format and are quite detailed. Ahoy! I decided nay t' print them given t' number o' photos. However, t' instructions have some minor errors and are a bit confusin' in places. Aye aye! (Once again, arrr, make sure you read t' other reviews, I will nay repeat every "gotcha" they point out.)

Aft airframe (booster) section - This section consists o' a pre-slotted body tube, three fins, a 24mm motor tube, matey, 2 rings, a motor hook and a coupler. Arrr! Blimey! T' confusion factor started early. Begad! T' instructions refer t' a long 3.75" motor hook but t' photos show what is clearly a shorter hook. Begad! In addition, some o' t' followin' dimensions (e.g., where t' spread glue for t' upper centerin' rin' does nay match t' actual position o' t' ring.) Nevertheless, shiver me timbers, t' booster fin can was straightforward and assembles like a typical rocket with TTW fins. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! If you build one, arrr, read t' entire set o' instructions before startin' and dry fit things t' make sure you see how they should go together. I found out about t' coupler fit t' hard way but, shiver me timbers, matey, since you won't make this mistake, I won't go into t' ugly details.

Middle airframe section - T' middle section consists o' a body tube, me hearties, three fins, ya bilge rat, 2 rings, me hearties, a coupler, me bucko, and a parachute tube subassembly. Begad! T' body tube is pre-marked for locatin' t' surface mount fins.

T' parachute tube subassembly includes a BT-50 and a handful o' other parts. Blimey! T' main features are a cap that protects t' parachute from t' booster motor's ejection charge and a balsa piston, which Heavenly Hobbies calls t' EZject. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! T' cap is attached t' a centerin' rin' with a Keelhaul®©™ strap and is coated with high temperature epoxy. Well, blow me down! Avast! In me case I used JB Weld. Avast, me proud beauty! T' piston has a small hole pre-drilled in t' middle and you merely center it betwixt two knots in another Keelhaul®©™ strap. Ahoy! This makes me wonder why more kits don't use this type o' piston.

On this section, I dry fit and sanded t' coupler so it fit properly, me hearties, me bucko, I also used epoxy vs wood glue so it wouldn't seize up. (Now you know where I had problems with t' aft section.) Finally, ya bilge rat, I installed t' top fins at t' very end o' t' build rather than in sequence as directed in t' instructions.

Upper body section - T' upper body includes another BT-50, two more rings, matey, a motor hook, ya bilge rat, me bucko, Keelhaul®©™ twine, me bucko, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and a short piece o' a larger tube. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Other than installin' a motor at t' wrong end, arrr, arrr, thar be only one tricky part. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! That is lassoin' t' Keelhaul®©™ twine around a centerin' ring. Arrr! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! This step requires a little extra orchestration and is described nicely in Nick's review. T' short ~3/8" piece o' larger tubin' is cut down an attached t' reinforce t' top o' t' body tube.

T' instructions didn't say where t' place t' ¼" launch lug. Blimey! Arrr! I placed it on t' upper tube near t' loaded CG.

Nose cone - T' nose cone is hollowed and has two fuse ports pre-drilled. Begad! T' surface is nay as nicely finished as, say, a Semroc or FlisKits cone. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Aside from t' extra prep, thar are several things you need t' do. Aye aye! This includes coatin' t' inside with high temp epoxy (J- Weld), cuttin' a channel for t' shock tether, attachin' a wire near t' tip as an attachment point for t' tether, matey, me hearties, shiver me timbers, and coverin' t' shoulder with aluminum foil. Begad! Avast! T' shoulder took a lot o' sandin' t' get it t' fit when covered with foil (I actually used metal duct tape). Arrr! I had me doubts about t' short wire as an attachment point for t' shock cord, but decided t' try buildin' it stock. Ahoy! As it turned out, it wasn't in fact sufficient.

Due t' t' confusion factors in t' instructions and t' fit o' t' couplers, I rate this build a '3' since it's a non-standard configuration and even minor errors in t' instructions threaten t' affect t' build. Begad! Avast! I also didn't din' t' ratin' due t' t' problem I had due t' t' aft coupler fit. Ya scallywag! That's me problem--I should have dry fit this like all t' other parts. However, t' poor fit is worth a half point deduction.

Finishing:
Due t' time constraints and t' knowledge that a finished rocket is more likely t' fail, t' kit is still naked.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight and Recovery:
Nick and I have flown this model twice at t' time o' writin' on t' last day o' NARAM-50. Begad! T' use o' a retro motor and a fuse raised some eyebrows, ya bilge rat, but in t' end t' flights were approved.

T' Simit spreadsheet allows t' user t' select motor and delay combinations and provides a graph o' altitude, velocity, ya bilge rat, matey, and acceleration. John Smolley's review describes t' software, how t' interpret t' graphs, and includes several screen snaps. Avast, me proud beauty! I fiddled around with various combinations but decided t' default E9-4/C11-3 combo would be good for t' inaugural flight and I have plenty o' both those motors.

T' fuse is cut t' provided t' desired delay and burns at ~0.57 sec per inch. Ahoy! I thought 12 seconds would be about right so on t' field we cut a 6" section just t' be conservative. Aye aye! Avast! T' fuse is placed in t' retro motor and is held in with pieces o' a tooth pick. Begad! It routes t' through t' hole in side o' t' cone. Avast! Ya scallywag! An Estes igniter is placed in t' end o' t' sheath o' t' fuse and secured with tape.

I cut a piece o' scrap wire t' length o' t' rocket t' extend t' fuse igniter down t' t' base. Avast! Ahoy! Blimey! This and t' booster's igniter were connected with a clip whip, me hearties, me bucko, although t' leads could have been twisted.

T' boost was nice and high. Arrr! Ahoy! T' booster separated and tumbled down safely. Aye aye! Blimey! T' rocket had barely arced over when t' retro fired. Ahoy! This resulted in a long walk. Aye aye! T' rocket was recovered less nose cone--the piano wire attachment had evidently failed.

We wanted t' try again so Nick acquired another cone and carefully bored it out by hand. We attached t' shock cord t' t' tip with a woodscrew, me hearties, washer, me bucko, and a dab o' 5-minute epoxy. Well, blow me down! Avast! He also coated t' inside with t' epoxy.

Flight 2 used t' same E9-4/C11-3 motor combination and an 8" section o' fuse. Avast! T' boost was t' same with t' booster section recoverin' close by. Begad! I lost sight o' t' booster--until it went off at about 50' AGL. Avast, me proud beauty! T' rocket lifted about 25' and ejected on cue. Ahoy! Arrr! A perfect flight!

As we were recoverin' it, matey, shiver me timbers, we heard t' PA announce that we were nay t' fly another rocket until we discussed t' flight with El Presidente (a.k.a. Trip Barber). Ya scallywag! Blimey! It was hard nay t' take note o' t' recovery and nobody warned t' contest range. Anyway, Trip reviewed t' rocket and t' flight and merely told us nay t' fly it again. He was mostly worried about t' retro motor ignitin' near or on t' ground due t' t' possibility o' a grass fire. This made sense.

It appears a 7" section o' fuse would be more prudent. Ahoy! Even though this flight worked perfectly, thar wasn't much safety margin.

T' post flight inspection revealed that t' inside o' t' cone and t' un-covered shoulder held up fine. There was some scorchin' in t' fuse hole and below it on t' outside. Blimey! I will clean this up and cover t' area with aluminum tape and/or JB Weld. Also, t' Keelhaul®©™ be t' worst quality I've seen. Avast! Blimey! It is comin' unraveled and t' individual strands are breaking. This may eventually need t' be replaced. Due t' t' model's construction, ya bilge rat, arrr, this may prove difficult.

Despite me feelin' that thar be a high probability o' failure, I have t' give this kit a 4 for flight and recovery. Begad! Blimey! After all, it performed well twice for me. T' deductions were t' nose cone loss and frayin' Keelhaul®©™.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

I have sinced painted t' Backdraft. Ya scallywag! It survived two flights naked. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! Now that it's painted, has t' probability o' failure increased? Luckily, t' paint job ain't that good ;)

Summary:
This be an interestin' kit t' build and, me hearties, with t' benefit o' two reviews, ya bilge rat, was nay bad at all. Well, blow me down! Needless t' say, t' retro motor set-up is quite unique and t' flights provide quite an adrenaline rush! You might check with your local RSO before buyin' one.

As I mentioned, shiver me timbers, I built off o' t' soft copy instructions. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I personally hated this and won't do it again. Ya scallywag! Arrr! I like havin' t' instructions on t' workbench and don't want me laptop anywhere near CA, epoxy, or sandin' particles.

On another subject, H.H. Arrr! Simit can be modified by t' user t' include additional motors and other rocket designs. You can even omit t' retro motor t' use it on 'ordinary' rockets. I don't need it for general designs but others might find this useful. Begad! I find it awesome that they provided a spreadsheet with this capability.

Thanks, arrr, matey, Nick, matey, for givin' me t' opportunity t' build, fly and review this interestin' kit!

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5