Brief:
I often fly underpowered. Avast! I like low and slow for t' most part, shiver me timbers, and enjoy watchin' t' entire show rather than seein' a rocket disappear into t' sky and waitin' impatiently attemptin' t' re-acquire it.

Sometimes, me bucko, though, ya bilge rat, it's fun t' see a rocket just disappear in an instant. Arrr! Blimey! O' course, arrr, buildin' rockets that can survive high g-force abuse requires more strength. Begad! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! Without goin' t' full composites, matey, Blue Tube offers that strength in a very convenient package. Begad! Blimey! I'd been lookin' at Blue Tube for a while, me bucko, me bucko, and when they released t' 2.0 version, matey, I thought it be time t' give it a try.

I really didn't want t' do minimum diameter - too many motor retention issues. I've gotten t' friction fit wrong too often and have lost too many cases. Begad! With dual deploy, me bucko, matey, arrr, I may try it again since thar won't be t' motor eject event shootin' t' case out t' rear, but that's for t' future.

Enter t' Always Ready Rocketry Predator Jr.

At roughly t' same time, Aerotech released t' larger 38/1320 case. Begad! Ahoy! Blimey! A few e-mails back and forth betwixt Randall (owner o' ARR, and t' manufacturer for Blue Tube) and myself led t' an updated Predator Jr capable o' flyin' the longer case, and t' kit was on t' way in early January 2010.

T' Predator Jr. Avast! is a single stage, high performance, arrr, near minimum diameter rocket. How do you make a 3FNC rocket even simpler? How about usin' a one-piece fin can? This rocket uses t' ACME single piece molded reinforced resin fin can. Begad! Begad! There's a weight penalty t' usin' it, but t' advantages are easier alignment (none), me bucko, me bucko, me hearties, and no bevellin' (already air-foiled). Begad! Avast! Besides, arrr, shiver me timbers, at over 3 lbs, me bucko, this is high power, me hearties, and weight really isn't that much o' an issue with these motors. Ahoy! Ahoy! If you're lookin' for altitude, you actually have t' ADD weight t' this rocket t' get maximum height from the largest motors you can fit. Speed demons are a different story, though.

Construction:
Component list:

• 1 36" 54 mm airframe tube (booster)
• 1 24" 54 mm airframe tube (payload)
• 1 26" 38 mm motor tube
• 1 38 mm ACME fin can
• 1 54 mm Pinnacle nose cone
• 6 phenolic centerin' rings
• 1 wire anchor
• 1 38 mm electronics bay kit
• 2 long lengths o' 1/2" tubular nylon.
• 2 rail buttons
• assorted nuts/bolts/washers.

Aside from t' 6 centerin' rings, it's a pretty typical assortment o' parts and pieces.

Instructions? There aren't any. Begad! Begad! T' motor tube be pre-marked with pencil lines for t' various parts, and the booster tube was pre-slotted for t' fin can.

Really, shiver me timbers, for how simple this kit is, shiver me timbers, arrr, instructions aren't really necessary. Begad! Avast! Build it in t' typical order o' a standard 3FNC rocket, and it should be pretty straightforward. Ya scallywag!

I started with t' motor mount. As I noted above, matey, 6 centerin' rings be an unusual approach... Avast! In fact, arrr, me bucko, shiver me timbers, it's 3 pairs of concentric rings. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! T' inner rin' is snug against t' outside o' t' motor tube. T' outer rin' is essentially 54mm coupler, and slides nicely inside t' airframe tube. Aye aye! There's a really small gap betwixt t' two, but when slathered with epoxy, matey, me bucko, it's nay an issue. Begad!

I started by cuttin' a channel in t' smaller rings for t' shock cord anchor wire t' pass through. Avast! Ya scallywag! Once I got t' fit I wanted, I slid t' anchor wire over t' motor tube, ya bilge rat, and t' inner rings over t' anchor wire usin' liberal amounts of epoxy. Aye aye! Once that cured, I slathered t' inner rings with epoxy and slid t' outer rings over t' inner rings forming t' full width centerin' rings. Avast! Just for grins, I added chopped fiberglass t' some epoxy and made fillets for t' top and bottom o' each ring. Ya scallywag! Those rings aren't goin' anywhere without rippin' t' motor tube t' shreds.

At t' bottom o' t' motor tube, matey, me bucko, I tacked t' fin can in place, leavin' ~1/2" at t' bottom t' attach an Aeropack 38mm retainer. Ya scallywag! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! T' retainer was attached usin' JB Weld per t' Aeropack instructions.

Since t' fin can was moved up, shiver me timbers, I extended t' slots in t' booster t' accommodate t' new position. A quick dry fit showed t' slots were too short, so I extended them a little more. Arrr! Lather, me bucko, rinse, repeat. Ahoy! Blue Tube is tough to cut. Begad! Next time, matey, ya bilge rat, I'm pullin' out t' router. Eventually, I got t' slots t' t' right length.

Onward. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! Time t' mount t' motor tube in t' airframe. Avast! How t' $#@%$#@??? do you glue a 26" long motor tube? There's no way t' get glue on t' rings and hope it stays. Begad! By t' time t' mount is slid in place, you'll have epoxy smeared up and down t' entire airframe tube, matey, and Murphy's law says that exactly NONE o' it will be where you want it t' be.

While ponderin' t' motor tube conundrum, I figured I'd do t' e-bay. Begad! T' electronics bay assembled smartly and easily. Begad! Instead o' a stiffy tube runnin' t' entire length, a couple o' rings epoxied t' t' inner walls act as bulkhead stops. Blimey! T' plywood bulkheads rest against these while bein' sandwiched by 6-32 threaded rods, ya bilge rat, nuts and washers. Ahoy! In t' center o' each bulkhead is a 1/4-20 eyebolt for attachment o' various tether lines. A couple small brass tubes are glued t' t' plywood sled, and t' sled assembly slides into t' bay ridin' on t' threaded rods. Well, blow me down! A 1" rin' o' 54mm airframe is glued t' t' middle o' t' bay, matey, completin' t' bay construction.

Back t' t' motor tube. Aye aye! Well, I give up. Avast! I went ahead and slathered t' rings hopin' that somethin' would stay. On t' airframe tube, shiver me timbers, I put a bunch o' epoxy where t' upper rin' should be, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and then slid t' whole assembly in. The top o' t' upper rin' ended up with a nice amount o' epoxy poolin' on top o' t' ring. Arrr! Good enough. Ya scallywag! Begad! On t' bottom side, I took a 1" piece o' coupler and epoxied it t' t' airframe behind t' fin can. Now t' entire motor tube is sandwiched betwixt t' coupler in t' back and t' pool o' epoxy in t' front. Begad! That's about t' best I could come up with, and it sure seems solid enough.

Finishing:
There's actually very little t' do for surface prep with Blue Tube. Avast, me proud beauty! A few coats o' sanding sealer like Minwax furniture sealer fills t' spirals nicely. Ya scallywag! It also soaks into t' Blue Tube formin' a nice vapor barrier against moisture. You still can't dunk it in a pool t' clean it off, but it's nice extra protection against a light rain.

I painted t' bottom purple, arrr, arrr, and t' top white. Well, blow me down! I masked off a couple rings right around t' e-bay so that it has a series o' fadin' stripes from t' white t' t' purple and vice versa. Ahoy! Arrr!

If you've seen some o' me other reviews, you may have caught that I tend t' fly rockets naked. Well, me bucko, blow me down! It's a superstition that goes way back with me. T' more time I spend finishin' t' rocket prior t' it's first flight, the greater t' likelihood o' somethin' bad happening. Ahoy! Begad!

That said, t' size, weight, me hearties, and flight performance o' t' Predator Jr means that it probably won't fly at our local field, me bucko, so it's a high power only rocket. Aye aye! That means at most 4-5 chances t' fly it per year. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Well, ya bilge rat, arrr, with so few opportunities, me bucko, I went ahead and painted it.

When a superstition is based on empirical fact, matey, is it really superstition? This be t' most expensive rocket I've built t' date. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! Why nay make it look good? This be t' most expensive rocket I've built t' date? How stupid o' me to ignore historical trends.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
With this rocket thar were a lot o' "firsts" for me:

• My first 100% Blue Tube rocket
• My first "Dart"
• My first Dual Deploy flight
• My first L2 flight attempt (yes, shiver me timbers, attempt )
• My first motor CATO...

Pretty obvious what happened, me hearties, me hearties, yes?

3/27/2010 was me first opportunity t' fly t' Predator Jr, and also me first opportunity t' make a L2 cert attempt. Aye aye! Serendipity, right? How could I nay use me "strongest" rocket for a cert flight? Unfortunately, the largest 38mm J engine on site was a CTI J330 at ~760 Ns. This wouldn't be a neck snappin' 8000' flight with a 1000+ Ns J motor, me hearties, but it be still plenty big. Arrr!

A quick shakedown flight with an H118 produced a picture perfect flight t' 1181' with t' altimeter deployin' the drogue as planned at apogee and 750' for t' main.

So on t' t' main event!

Yup, shiver me timbers, me first CATO. Ahoy! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Roughly 1.5s into t' flight, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, it looks like t' nozzle/rear closure cracked and blew out the back end. Blimey! In any other non-composite rocket, I'm 100% sure this would have been a total shred o' at least t' booster section; it be that violent. Avast, me proud beauty!

T' pressure ripped t' Aeropack retainer and t' bottom 1" o' t' motor tube right out leavin' a jagged shear line. Aye aye! T' ACME fin can that's supposed t' be indestructible? I got small pieces on t' aft chipped off. Aye aye! Blimey! T' Blue Tube motor mount and t' fin can appear t' have absorbed t' brunt o' t' forces, for t' aft o' t' 54mm airframe is in perfect shape.

At t' front o' t' booster section, thar be a ~3" zipper where t' Keelhaul®©™® shock cord and t' wire anchor tore through. Arrr! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Again, only 3" zipper for t' level o' force that was displayed is pretty amazing. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey!

I've seen videos and pictures o' CATOs at points in flight similar t' mine, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and thar's usually very little left t' recover. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! I'm lovin' t' fact that this bird is goin' t' fly again after relatively minimal repairs!

Blue Tube is TOUGH STUFF!

Recovery:
For drogue, I used an 18" Top Flight parachute. Ahoy! T' main chute was a 36" chute from Public Missiles with a spill hole. I think t' drogue was a little big. For t' shakedown flight at 1181 feet, it didn't matter, but comin' down from 6000+ will probably need a smaller chute.

T' manufacturer says t' just let it separate and tumble down, but I think I'll go with a 7x70 streamer, or perhaps a small 14" chute.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
Overall, me bucko, I really love this kit. It's a lot o' fun, shiver me timbers, and represents a ton o' new experiences for me. Because o' that, I'm sure t' Predator will always have a special appeal t' me. Just like t' very first rocket I ever flew.

Repairs are already under way, and I hope t' have t' Predator Jr ready t' fly again for t' May 2010 launch. Begad! I haven't decided if I'll make another L2 attempt with this rocket. Well, blow me down! While I'm sure that it can handle it, t' fact is that t' performance envelope o' this rocket on a J motor is high enough that t' error margins are notably smaller. Ya scallywag! Begad! It would be a lot less stressful tryin' t' certify with a bigger 4" rocket that flies low and slow. And I get to watch t' entire flight.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5