Brief:
Single stage 18mm payloader. Single 12" parachute recovery. 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, arrr, arrr, four laser cut balsa fins, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, balsa nose cone, balsa tube coupler, matey, motor tube, two centerin' rings, ya bilge rat, thrust ring, shiver me timbers, motor retainin' hook, launch lug, screw eye, Keelhaul®©™® cord, me hearties, shiver me timbers, elastic cord, 12" colorful plastic parachute, and decals. Begad! Blimey! All materials were very high quality and some components, shiver me timbers, such as t' motor mount, parachute, shiver me timbers, Keelhaul®©™® and elastic cord, me bucko, ya bilge rat, all come packed in sub-assemblies makin' them easier t' find and small parts harder t' lose. Begad! Well, arrr, blow me down! I ordered me kit directly from Semroc, 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. Blimey! Ahoy! Semroc obviously cares about their products and their customers.

Semroc's instruction booklets are superb. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! I have built three o' their kits and each shows their obvious attention t' detail. Begad! Arrr! 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. Ahoy! Arrr! The instructions are broken down into logical sub-assemblies with check boxes next to each step so you know right where you left off. Avast, me proud beauty! Each step is well illustrated so thar be never any confusion. Ahoy! All t' parts fit like they are supposed to, me hearties, construction was straightforward with only a basic hobby knife, glue o' choice, ruler, matey, and sandpaper, arrr, required for t' build. Ya scallywag! Well, blow me down!

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

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
I flew it once on each o' t' recommended motors. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! All were very good flights, although I had a little trouble with parachute deployment. This be by no fault of t' kit, however, me bucko, it just got wrapped too tight and tangled. I used about five sheets o' waddin' per flight, me bucko, matey, t' motor hook makes for quick and easy flight prep and turnaround times for t' next flight. Ahoy! It had a little wobble when launched on t' B motor for some reason, t' rest o' t' flights were real straight t' whole way. Aye aye! It didn't quite achieve t' altitudes I thought it might (just by eye-ballin' it, matey, me hearties, thar be no trackin' or altimeter) but then again, arrr, shiver me timbers, me hearties, I was launchin' with me brother who was flyin' a Quest Aerobee-Hi kit, so obviously he be 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! Arrr! 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. Begad! When the chute did deploy on t' last flight, it performed fine with an average rate of descent. On t' flights where t' parachute didn't deploy, it came down sideways and be 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, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, but I usually don't fly anythin' in mine anyway. Well, blow me down! It would still probably easily accommodate some of the smaller altimeters though, ya bilge rat, such as t' AA powered one available from Apogee Components. Begad! I haven't found much about t' rocket that I don't like yet.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5