Brief:
Squirrel Works has followed up their very popular Red Baron glider with another cool historic-themed glider kit, though this one includes TWO duelin' gliders, ya bilge rat, me bucko, me hearties, a Corsair and a Zero. Begad! Avast! It's a reasonably simple kit t' put together and the gliders are minimal effort. So if you're lookin' for an easy diversion from t' basic 3FNC rocket and a serious "wow" factor, grab yourself a Dogfight kit.

Construction:
James Gartrell's review accurately described t' components o' t' kit, so I'll skip on t' construction notes. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I would point out that this is probably t' first kit I've ever reviewed where I could nay frame all t' parts in a single photo and even t' decals took multiple shots t' capture!

While t' construction on this is fairly easy (probably no worse than a 2 on t' skill scale), arrr, you will want t' be very careful and organized throughout t' project. Avast, me proud beauty! There are lots o' parts and three different sets o' instructions, one for t' rocket and one each for t' gliders. James hopped back and forth, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, workin' all 3 simultaneously, but I decided t' go for a more single-threaded approach.

I began with t' booster which has a 15-step instruction sheet on legal paper with pretty good illustrations. The motor mount is straightforward, matey, a 5/20 block, me bucko, 18mm motor tube, me hearties, arrr, metal hook and pair o' 20/55 rings. This in turn goes inside t' BT-55 body tube.

There are only two fins on this, plus 4 support braces which are all laser-cut balsa. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Markin' lines are done via wrap-around guide. Each o' t' main fins also gets a balsa fin tip attached, perpendicular t' t' main fins.

In addition t' t' regular launch lug which goes in a fin/root joint, me bucko, thar are two other launch lugs that must be carefully placed along t' centerline betwixt braces. These are used t' secure t' gliders durin' boost.

Booster construction wraps up with shock cord and chute. James pointed out t' Keelhaul®©™® anchor, though I did nay feel very comfortable anchorin' an 8" length o' Keelhaul®©™® usin' paper tri-fold, figurin' eventually it would rip through t' paper/glue. Arrr! Instead, me hearties, I swapped it out for a 15" length o' 150# Keelhaul®©™® from me stash and anchored this t' t' forward centerin' rin' on t' motor mount. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I then used t' regular elastic included with t' kit and tied it t' t' end o' t' Keelhaul®©™®.

Next, shiver me timbers, I moved on t' t' gliders. Arrr! Lookin' closely at the two, matey, I decided t' start with t' Zero, as it looked slightly simpler. Begad! Well, blow me down! I be impressed that with similar laser cut pieces leadin' t' potential mistakes in selectin' parts, shiver me timbers, Don went t' extra mile and actually had t' plane's name etched on each balsa sheet. Well, matey, blow me down! I grabbed t' "Zero" sheets and got t' it.

As James noted, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, thar are mini jigs used for win' dihedral, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, which was very cool. Begad! I be also a bit worried about potentally gluin' me wings t' t' jig, matey, arrr, so dropped a piece o' wax paper on t' top o' t' jig before gluin' me wing halves together then placin' small weights on top o' each half t' hold them in place. Blimey! Well, blow me down! I used a light Titebond wood glue for t' gliders.

After t' win' halves are bonded, me hearties, t' assembly slides through a slot in t' balsa fuselage and is then glued in place, again usin' t' jig for alignment. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I thought t' nose weight approach on these was pretty neat. Blimey! T' fuselage has a hole cut out, and a pair o' side plates that fit over it. I glued one side plate in place, inserted a penny (provided), then glued t' other side plate in place. I finished up construction by tackin' on a small dowel underneath, which slides into t' launch lug on t' booster.

T' Corsair construction is very similar t' t' Zero, except that t' win' forms a W shape with multiple dihedrals. Ahoy! I should also point out that t' instruction for each glider has specific tips for trimming, me hearties, ya bilge rat, addin' clay weight t' get t' CG t' a very specific point that's different on each glider. Avast! I hand-tossed mine in t' back yard without weight and be very pleased with t' flights. Begad! In fact, I almost lost t' Zero as is sailed through me neighbor's yard into t' trees. Blimey! Each o' mine have CG's well aft o' the recommended locations, so I'm almost wonderin' if those measurements were before t' use o' t' penny as nose weight. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! I noticed James's review also indicated that he flew his "natural" without trim adjustments.

Finishing:
I want t' say finishin' is easy, me hearties, basically just paintin' everythin' white but it is a lot o' work and well worth the effort. Arrr! I would nay spend any time (and add weight) fillin' balsa grains, me hearties, but I did go ahead and fill t' spirals on the body tube and filled t' grain on t' nose cone with Fill N Finish.

T' rocket got two coats o' white primer followed by a single coat o' Rustoleum gloss white. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! T' gliders got single white primer coats and two coats o' Krylon gloss white. Begad! Blimey! In retrospect, I don't think t' Zero needed any paint or at t' very most a white primer coat, arrr, as it was entirely covered with decals. Aye aye! T' Corsair, on t' other hand, me bucko, ya bilge rat, matey, has a fadin' paint scheme that starts out through blue-based decals and is intended t' melt into a base white paint coat.

T' decals do make t' paint/finishin' a LOT easier, shiver me timbers, but thar are pooploads o' them. Avast, me proud beauty! I probably spent as much time on t' decals as I did on t' construction. I even had t' take t' water back t' t' microwave a couple times t' reheat it.

I found t' sizin' o' some o' t' decals just a bit larger than t' balsa parts they cover on t' gliders, ya bilge rat, matey, so had a little trimmin' and foldin' work. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Because o' this, I followed up with liberal coatin' o' Micro-Sol decal setting solution (the red bottle stuff), ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, which is designed t' help "shrink" decals a bit and really lock them onto tricky contoured surfaces. Aye aye! Once t' Micro-Sol had cured out for a couple hours, me decals looked like they were painted on.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
For t' first flight, I be down t' t' last day or two before t' hit list deadline and facin' 18-20 mphs winds both days. Avast! On top o' that, our club got booted from our large (1 square mile) field and so I be flyin' on a small neighborhood field. With all this stacked up against me, me bucko, arrr, I wimped out on t' first flight with an A8-3, half the recommended minimum impulse o' B6-2.

T' carrier and parasites managed t' stay fairly straight up durin' t' thrust portion, but at burnout got immediately pushed downwind by t' stiff winds. Avast! I'd guess apogee be at best 50-60 feet, shiver me timbers, a pretty lame boost and certainly nothin' I'd wind up losing. Aye aye! T' ejection be just after t' nose arced down, though both gliders separated cleanly.

Recovery:
Forget t' trim intructions. These glided fantastically on their own with just t' penny nose weights. Begad! I did add a little clay under one win' on each hopin' t' get them t' turn into each other, me hearties, but in this wind thar be no chance for that.

T' carrier descended fine under t' bright red Mylar chute (18"), though got pulled long t' ground a good 20 yards before I could catch up t' it. Well, blow me down! Durin' t' drag, shiver me timbers, me hearties, one o' t' fins broke loose and one o' t' gliders also cracked in half after landin' and gettin' knocked around by t' wind. Well, blow me down! Begad! Both were smartly and easily repaired with a little CA.

I would definitely nay recommend t' A8 for this, me hearties, goin' with atleas t' B6 recommended motor and I would think this would do well t' maybe 300 feet or so on a C motor. Blimey! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! If it weren't for t' damage, matey, I would have gone right back up the same day with a B.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
For parasite gliders, me bucko, this one is an excellent performer and fantastic appearance. In addition, me hearties, thar are plans to release more gliders for variety. Aye aye! It's a fun build, ya bilge rat, well designed, arrr, shiver me timbers, and flies/glides very well. Blimey!

CONs: very minor/picky, t' trim instructions, me hearties, if followed, me bucko, would result in a very nose-heavy glide, probably crash landing. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! Decals, shiver me timbers, while beautiful, were a bit thin/fragile.
Oveall, matey, me bucko, I am quite pleased with this kit.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5