Brief:
Single stage 18mm payloader. Begad! Blimey! Single 12" parachute recovery. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! 6" long payload section. Avast! Blimey!

Construction:
T' kit contains two sections o' body tube: one for t' booster and one for the payload section, me hearties, four laser cut balsa fins, balsa nose cone, arrr, arrr, ya bilge rat, balsa tube coupler, shiver me timbers, motor tube, two centerin' rings, me bucko, thrust ring, ya bilge rat, motor retainin' hook, launch lug, matey, screw eye, Keelhaul®©™® cord, elastic cord, 12" colorful plastic parachute, me bucko, and decals. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! All materials were very high quality and some components, such as t' motor mount, parachute, me hearties, Keelhaul®©™® and elastic cord, all come packed in sub-assemblies makin' them easier t' find and small parts harder t' lose. Aye aye! I ordered me kit directly from Semroc, matey, me hearties, and it arrived so well packed in packin' peanuts and air bubble packin' you could've dropped an anvil on it and it would've come through OK. Semroc obviously cares about their products and their customers.

Semroc's instruction booklets are superb. Begad! Blimey! I have built three o' their kits and each shows their obvious attention t' detail. Avast, me proud beauty! There is a complete pack list with illustrations and labels for each part, makin' it easy t' be sure everythin' is there. A nice list o' needed tools is on t' first page. The instructions are broken down into logical sub-assemblies with check boxes next to each step so you know right where you left off. Begad! Each step is well illustrated so thar be never any confusion. All t' parts fit like they are supposed to, arrr, construction be straightforward with only a basic hobby knife, glue o' choice, ruler, arrr, me bucko, and sandpaper, ya bilge rat, required for t' build. Begad!

Finishing:
There's nothin' special about finishing, me bucko, just follow t' directions. Filling and sandin' t' balsa takes a little time, arrr, but is well worth t' effort. I didn't fill t' spiral gaps in t' body tube, matey, but you can hardly tell as they are so smooth anyway. Arrr! I didn't use t' decals, ya bilge rat, which is just a personal preference. They really didn't go with me color scheme either. Ahoy! I really like the long sleek look o' t' model with t' sharp point o' t' nose cone. Well, blow me down!

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew it once on each o' t' recommended motors. All were very good flights, although I had a little trouble with parachute deployment. Ya scallywag! This be by no fault of t' kit, me hearties, however, shiver me timbers, it just got wrapped too tight and tangled. Begad! I used about five sheets o' waddin' per flight, arrr, me bucko, me hearties, t' motor hook makes for quick and easy flight prep and turnaround times for t' next flight. Blimey! Ya scallywag! It had a little wobble when launched on t' B motor for some reason, me hearties, shiver me timbers, t' rest o' t' flights were real straight t' whole way. It didn't quite achieve t' altitudes I thought it might (just by eye-ballin' it, thar was no trackin' or altimeter) but then again, arrr, I was launchin' with me brother who be flyin' a Quest Aerobee-Hi kit, so obviously he was gettin' much higher on t' same motors with his smaller, lighter kit. Blimey! Overall though, a very pleasin' performance.

Recovery:
T' Keelhaul®©™® cord is attached t' t' motor retainin' rin' and is longer than t' booster section. Well, blow me down! T' Keelhaul®©™® cord and t' elastic cord are then knotted together. I really like t' Keelhaul®©™®, since whenever t' elastic cords go t' far down they get burned through. Avast, me proud beauty! When the chute did deploy on t' last flight, shiver me timbers, matey, it performed fine with an average rate of descent. Arrr! Ya scallywag! On t' flights where t' parachute didn't deploy, shiver me timbers, it came down sideways and was recovered with no damage. Ya scallywag! Looks like it will be a durable rocket that has a lot more flights in it.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:
This is a great second rocket but ease o' construction would make it fine for a first time builder as well. Aye aye! T' payload section isn't huge, but I usually don't fly anythin' in mine anyway. Begad! It would still probably easily accommodate some of the smaller altimeters though, such as t' AA powered one available from Apogee Components. Ya scallywag! I haven't found much about t' rocket that I don't like yet.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5