Brief:
The US Rockets (USR) Banshee is a 4FNC MPR with a 29mm MMT, TTW fin attachment, large payload bay, and streamer recovery. The kit also includes a 29-24mm motor adapter allowing this lightweight design to be flown on motors ranging from a D12 for small fields to H motors by the exceptionally brave. The Banshee would make an excellent first MPR kit for someone looking to make the transition from LPR. It is also lends significant proof that many people (myself included) often overbuild our rockets.

Construction:
USR excels in communicating with its customers. I received a confirmation email within 30 minutes of submitting my order and then another less than 48 hours later stating that my order had been shipped.

The kit includes:

• 1 2:1 ogive balsa nose cone
• 2 18" x 2.25" body tubes
• 1 coupler tube
• 1 6" x 29mm MMT tube
• 1 3/32" poplar plywood bulkhead plate
• 2 3/32" poplar plywood centering rings
• 1 1" x 3/32" plywood disc
• 1 screw eye
• 1 tri-fold paper shock cord mount
• 1 7' x 1/4" elastic shock cord
• 4 3/32" poplar plywood fins
• 2 1/4" launch lugs
• 1 5' x 3" plastic streamer
• 1 29-24mm motor adapter kit
• Decals
• Instruction manual
• Advanced Information Report (AIR) #1 -- Motor Installation

All parts were present and in good shape. Kit is packaged in a long plastic bag with hang tag that is on par with other kits you would find in your local hobby shop. I was particularly impressed with the thick, strong, and nearly spiral free glassine coated body tubes. The nose cone is dense high quality balsa, which is unusual to see in an MPR kit. The fins, centering rings and bulkhead are all on the thin side (made of 3/32" poplar plywood) but should be sufficient for a rocket of this design. Two of the fins also had knots in the wood, making them a little unsightly, requiring some extra effort to get a smooth fin surface during the finishing process. All documentation included with the kit contains a lot of useful information, especially the AIR document explaining how to prep motors for rockets that do not have thrust rings. That seems to be a common point of confusion for someone new to MPR/HPR rockets. Instructions are thorough, easy to follow, and include pertinent data such as CP, Cd, and motor recommendations.

Before beginning the build of the Banshee, I contacted U.S. Rockets (USR) to find out any recommendations and/or advice they might have regarding what kind of adhesive to use along with seeing if there were any potential "gotchas" while marking and slotting the tubes (which you have to do yourself), getting a smooth finish on the balsa nose cone, or painting the Banshee. There weren't any gotchas to report, but USR did encourage the use of aliphatic resin (yellow wood glue) in place of epoxy. The recommendation was backed up by a link to http://www.rocketmaterials.org/, where there is test data comparing different popular adhesives used in rocket construction.

The first order of business is to glue the centering rings onto the MMT tube followed by gluing the MMT into the body tube. Next, the body tubes come unmarked and have to be slotted for the fins. That might seem like a daunting task, however, it is made easy if you remember 2 rules: 1) Measure twice; cut once, and 2) Use a new blade and take your time. I had only used white glue, CA, and epoxy previously but was willing to give USR's recommendation a shot. Using Elmer's Carpenter's Wood Glue along with roughing up the glassine covered tubes with 220 grit sandpaper, I found the wood glue to be as easy to apply (and clean up!) as white glue while rivaling the strength of wood-wood and wood-paper joints that epoxy is capable of. The thin fins made me nervous when I first opened the kit, but they were held firmly in place and have almost zero flex after being attached to the MMT tube followed by wood glue fillets. I chose to glue the coupler into the payload tube but the nose cone is held in place by friction fit. (The Banshee could also be easily built with a zipperless design thanks to the generous payload tube.) Even with some minor editorial issues in the instruction manual, the build offered no surprises until I was coming down the home stretch. The kit includes a 29-24mm motor adapter, which consists of 2 short pieces of tubing--one fitting inside the other and then both slide inside the 29mm MMT tube when ready for action, however, this step was left out of the instruction manual. I fired off an email off to USR, who replied in a pleasantly short turnaround time with the appropriate information for me to continue the build.

The recovery system is simple and contributes little weight to the rocket. A self-tapping screw eye (the kind designed for screwing into wood and having no nut) goes though the bulkhead and a small wood disc (glued onto the bulkhead), providing plenty of strength from having it ripped out under a rough ejection. A generously long (7') piece of tough elastic is tied on to the screw eye. The other end of the elastic is attached to the booster body tube with a heavier stock version of the Estes tri-fold paper mount. While some may frown on this seemingly dated method, I think that it falls under the if-it-ain't-broke-why-fix-it? mind set. I also feel that the 5' long streamer is a good choice for recovery. Even with a small chute, the rocket is so light that it would be vulnerable to drifting.

I made 2 minor modifications to the kit: 1) installing rail buttons in place of the launch lugs and 2) drilling small vent holes in both the payload and booster tubes to relieve air pressure (preventing premature separation) during high altitude flights. The launch lugs are made of the same material that come with Estes rockets, just bigger. Although certainly more susceptible to damage than brass or heavy paper lugs, I think they would still work sufficiently with the overall lightweight design of the Banshee kit.

Motor retention, as covered in the included AIR #1 document, is provided by masking tape. Seeing how I pretty much stick to single use F and G motors, which is what I planned on flying the Banshee with, and have had plenty of success with the friction fit method, I did not find it a problem (nor a disappointment) that a mechanical retention system was included with the kit. Also, the 29-24mm motor adapter included requires that it be held in place by friction fit when used.

Finishing:
I started with Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish for sealing the nose cone and fins, laid down a couple of coats of Krylon primer, and sanded everything smooth with 320 grit sandpaper. Touched up any missed rough spots with F'n'F again before another round of primer coats and sanding with 400 grit. The entire rocket was then painted Krylon orange, wet sanded, and then another coat of orange before being masked off for the Krylon cherry red accents. After the paint cured, I used an old T-shirt to buff the entire rocket to a mirror-like shine and smooth out any paint dam ridges with 3M Rubbing Compound. Then I attached the shock cord (tied it onto the eye bolt and glued the tri-fold paper mount inside the booster tube). Lastly, the rail buttons were screwed into place after putting a couple drops of CA in each of the mounting holes. The kit does come with a pair of decals that say "US ROCKETS Banshee", but I chose not to use them because the backing paper has a matte finish. I'm sure that a couple coats of clear would resolve that issue but clear coating is not a normal part of my finishing process.

Also, the coupler had a pretty loose fit initially, however, I chose to paint the coupler. The paint provided enough bulk so that I actually had to wet sand the coupler for a smooth and proper fit into the booster tube without any tape.

Ultimately, the spirals were all but gone and the balsa nose cone had a flawlessly smooth finish. The final product was a rocket that screamed "rocket god sacrifice".

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
First flight was on an AeroTech SU F50-9T. A handful of dog barf wadding was dropped in to protect the shock cord, streamer and beeper before setting it up on the rail. RockSim projected peak altitude of just under 2200ft, so I thought it a good time to use my new beeper (a slightly modified Radio Shack personal "security system") to aid in locating the rocket. However with the overall light mass of the rocket (10oz without motor and beeper), I decided to pull the pin on the beeper and have it going off while the rocket sat ready to go on the pad.

After a (at the time seemingly endless) string of continuity issues--not to mention being annoyed by the beeper squealing--we had ignition. The Banshee s-c-r-e-a-m-e-d off the pad. I can say with good confidence that it came within a couple percent of the RockSim estimate and got there in a hurry. There was only a slight amount of weathercocking but it came in the latter part of the coasting phase.

Recovery:
The streamer included with the kit is a 3"x60" piece of plastic. I knew with the light mass of the Banshee I did not want to switch to a chute but something told me this streamer was a little on the small side. EMRR's Streamer Size Calculator showed that I needed to upgrade to a 5"x96" streamer. I happened to have a plastic disposable tablecloth (less than $2 at your local party supply store and a huge choice of colors), which also was a perfect material match for the stock streamer. Tying a swivel onto one end of the streamer, I attached it to a small loop I tied in the shock cord.

Ejection best I could tell came right at apogee. In fact, I was able to see the Banshee with its neon green streamer for a few seconds before I could hear the beeper. The plastic streamer brought it almost straight down with very little drift. All in all, it landed within a hundred yards of the pad. Not bad considering the altitude it'd just gone! The field was soggy but the Banshee managed to find a small dry-ish patch and I walked right out to retrieve it. I found everything intact--and there wasn't even a scratch or ding in the balsa nose cone!!! Only problem was it took me forever to fish the beeper pin out of my pocket to shut the darn thing off!

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
The US Rockets Banshee may not come with all of the so-called "modern niceties" (like Kevlar® shock cord, mechanical motor retention, heavier wood components, etc.) but I learned that with solid construction, finishing, & flight prep techniques, a solid rocket can be built to last and probably outperform comparable kits that so many folks tend to (unnecessarily) overbuild.

It should easily fly on as little as a D12, up to take any H (for the extremely brave/crazy/stupid/insane) that you can put in it. 'Banshee' is indeed an excellent name for this rocket.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5