Brief:

This is a single stage three finned rocket with a balsa nose cone. Avast! Avast! It is a simple clone kit o' a very popular high performance rocket offered by Estes from 1970 t' 1972 as t' "Astron Cherokee-D" and from 1973 t' 1983 as t' "Cherokee-D".

Construction:

I believe this was t' very first kit offered by what is now known as Thrustline. I purchased it on eBay in late 2001 t' early 2002. Begad! Blimey! It arrived shortly in a plastic ziplock bag. T' only differences that I noted in it and t' original estes kit is that it came with elastic for t' recovery system where t' original had a rubber band, me bucko, t' parachute be mylar where t' original had a standard estes orange and white plastic chute, and t' fins were nay pre-cut as were in t' original kit.

After outlinin' t' fins on t' balsa sheet and cuttin' them out with a very sharp X-Acto knife I used a piece o' maskin' tape t' hold all three o' them together as I sanded t' edges t' make them uniform. They look exactly like t' originals. I then used yellow wood glue and an Estes fin alignment guide t' mount them perfectly. Well, blow me down! Over t' period o' a few days I added yellow wood glue fillets by applyin' two while t' rocket laid horizontally, me hearties, allowed 12-24 hours t' dry, turned and repeated twice.

I modified t' recovery system by usin' a piece o' Keelhaul®©™ mounted t' two sides o' t' motor mounts. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! I then tied a knot near t' middle as t' have a double fireproof mount where if one side burns through t' other will still hold. Arrr! Avast! I then tied a smaller knot near t' top and added a small snap swivel t' allow parachutes or streamers t' be easily swapped out. Arrr! I also discard t' short piece o' sewin' elastic that came with t' kit and added me own 6 foot long piece o' 1/8" elastic. Avast! I also put t' mylar chute in me range box and selected a 10" yellow nylon rip stop chute.

Finishing:

Finishin' be simple. All I applied was about 3-4 coats o' flat white primer. Begad! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! It filled t' spirals on t' body nicely. T' nose cone received two coats o' gloss red. T' decals that came with it looked very original and t' scale. Begad! Unlike t' original Estes water-slide decals t' instructions indicated that t' decal sheet must be sprayed with clear coat and allowed t' dry before usin' them. Aye aye! As I did nay have any clear coat handy I just skipped t' decals. On an interestin' note I misplaced t' decals over time yet was still able t' order a replacement set from Thrustline in t' summer o' 2004. Well, blow me down! Begad! I still have nay applied them.

Construction Rating: 3 out o' 5

Flight:

After years o' just sittin' thar it's first flight be at Rushin' Park in Katy Texas on June 12th 2004 with t' Challenger498 Club event. Avast! Wind was a little more than ideal with gusts o' around 10mph. Begad! I selected an Estes C11-5 and up it went very nice and true. Well, blow me down! Even with t' smaller 10" cloth chute it drifted about 200 yards all t' way into a cow pasture and landed right in front o' a long-horned bull. Impressed with t' flight I loaded another C11-5 into it and up it went again. Ahoy! Begad! Same type o' flight and again drifted about 200 yards and landed in nearly t' same place. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Even with me 6 foot piece o' t' nose cone kissed t' body tube fairly hard puttin' a deep core into t' cone. Avast! I ordered a replacement nose cone but have nay installed it yet.

T' third and fourth flights were again at Rushin' Park on July 10th 2004 with t' Challenger498 Club event. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Blimey! Third flight was again on a C11-5. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Blimey! This day wind was much lower and it landed only 300-400 feet away. So finally for t' fourth flight I popped in a D12-5 and it flew great. I really like how this rocket performs. Begad! It rode t' D12-5 straight up t' over 1000 feet.

Recovery:

T' shock cord provided was too short. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' mylar chute is attractive and is better than what came with t' original kit but I prefer rip-stop nylon chutes for long term durability. T' Astron Cherokee-D was t' third rocket that I ever built in t' mid 1970's and I always enjoyed it's flights. This clone did indeed remind me o' exactly how t' original flew. Avast! I am very pleased with it.

Flight Rating: 4 out o' 5

Summary:

This is such a simple rocket that you do nay need t' purchase a kit t' build it. Well, blow me down! Arrr! It can be scratch built with a BMS nose cone and an accurately sized fin template that can be download from t' Internet. Begad! Decals can be purchased from Tango Papa however they are more expensive than t' ones that came with this kit. Ya scallywag! I am pleased with t' kit as it provided me with everythin' I needed t' replicate one o' me all time favorite classics, all in t' same bag. I feel that t' kit should come with die-cut or laser-cut fins t' simplify t' build and be more true t' t' original kit which came with die-cut fins.

Overall Rating: 3 out o' 5