Brief:
T' Binder Design Raptor is a single stage 4 inch diameter kit. Arrr! Ya scallywag! It has a 54mm motor mount and comes with high quality paper body tubes and laser cut fins. Begad! Ya scallywag!

Construction:
T' Raptor came with two 36" body tubes and an Ace nose cone. Arrr! T' body tubes are paper and BSD style with a glassine coating. Ya scallywag! It comes with one paper coupler, me bucko, shiver me timbers, one bulkhead, me bucko, me hearties, 3 plywood centerin' rings, two eyebolts, 2 quick links, 18 feet o' tubular nylon, and a 45" Top Flight parachute. It had three sets o' four fins. Aye aye! T' fins are 3/16" aircraft plywood and come laser cut and sanded. Arrr! Arrr! Blimey! It came with one nice white vinyl decal that said 'Raptor'. Ya scallywag! Begad! Blimey!

One definite pro t' this kit was t' extensive instructions, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, which included directions on how t' make it dual deploy and adapt it for use with Hypertek hybrid motors. Ahoy! It had good drawings that showed exactly what t' do and left nothin' t' chance. Avast, me proud beauty! Another thin' that was good about this kit be t' you had to slot t' tubes yourself, me bucko, arrr, which be actually rather easy with a Dremel. It is also easily done with a sharp X-Acto knife. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! One thin' we did in this kit is fiberglass fillets on t' fins t' allow for a hard landing. Arrr! T' only downside was that it was hard t' finish. Everythin' fit together perfectly with almost no need for sanding. T' put it together, me bucko, me bucko, we just marked and slotted t' tubes, tacked t' fins in place with 5 minute epoxy, and then applied fiberglass fillets. One tip t' align t' fins is t' use two clamps and a strip o' wood attached t' both set o' fins. Avast, me proud beauty! This will insure that they are perfectly lined up. T' only con was that t' directions did nay include t' rocket's CP, me hearties, ya bilge rat, so when it came time for flight some assumptions had t' be made. Arrr! It really isn't that big o' a deal as I had simmed it on RockSim and knew approximately where it was, me bucko, me bucko, but that is just one minor detail.

Finishing:
T' kit is pretty easy t' finish. Blimey! T' only thin' for us was that we used fiberglass fillets, so it took a little Kilz primer and Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish to get it t' look presentable. Arrr! We painted ours yellow and blue. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' decal is computer cut vinyl and says 'Raptor' in a pretty cool font o' white letters. Blimey! We were nay able t' apply ours as we peeled off t' wrong side and t' letters were messed up in t' process. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! This kit looks pretty sharp once it is finished no matter what paint scheme you use. Ahoy!

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
We have only flown it once for a successful level 1 certification and it was a beautiful flight. We used a Pro38 I285 with a 6 second delay. We also attached a Boostervision camera and got a nice video o' t' flight. Blimey! Begad! One cool thin' about the flight was that t' split fin design caused a whistle after motor burnout. RockSim said about 2800 feet on that motor but we built it heavy so I would estimate about 2200-2400' for us. Aye aye!

Recovery:
One cool thin' about this kit be t' 18 feet o' tubular nylon t' manufacturer provides. I thought it was a nice touch. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! We used t' supplied 45" parachute with main at apogee. Begad! T' chute got tangle on t' way down because the nosecone somehow got looped through a shroud line. Avast, me proud beauty! T' rocket be tough enough that it was fine though. Begad! Arrr! I would say that chute is about perfect for this rocket.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This rocket be t' pride o' our fleet right now. Ya scallywag! It is very sharp lookin' and pretty big at 7 feet tall. Ya scallywag! T' construction was fairly straightforward and the directions were wonderful. Aye aye! This kit can be easily modified for dual deploy with an electronics bay that can be bought from Binder Design. Ahoy! Blimey! I would definitely recommend this rocket t' anyone who is lookin' for somethin' they can fly on a high range o' motors. Ya scallywag! It can be launched on anythin' from a high thrust H t' a K. Two thumbs up.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5