Brief:
This is a pretty simple rocket to build that is very neat and flies great. It is a single staged rocket, flies on mid and high power motors. Price is a little high but not too bad.

Construction:
The kit includes:

• 1 4" diameter cardboard body tube
• 4 fins
• 2 centering rings
• 1 motor tube
• 10' elastic shock cord
• 1 nose cone
• 42" parachute

The instructions where easy to follow with very good descriptions and had great illustrations that were very detailed and easy to follow. It was very easy to build--it couldn't have been easier. The fins aligned very well except for one. I had to sand the nose cone to make it fit. My piston was the same size as the body tube which I had to sand for hours. I got it to fit very tight but it bent up the body tube trying to put it in. I gave up on the piston since I didn't really need it anyway. I just used regular X-Acto knives, epoxy, body putty, paint, and primer. I had most of these tools and supplies at home but did buy red and yellow paint at my local hardware store and I got the body putty at the auto parts store.

Finishing:
Finishing was very hard for me since it was kind of cold and a bad brand of paint. I started out painting it with several coats of primer, sanding in between coats. Then I painted the whole thing red, making about 7 coats total. It took about 2 weeks total to do the red. Next I painted fins and below with a horrible yellow. This also took about 2 weeks to do and was quite a bit harder since the paint was uncooperative. I finally got it painted and started putting on the decals. This was also very hard to do. I messed up putting the decals on the fins but the one on the body tube was easy to do. It looks great now. It is a very good rocket but I wouldn't put the piston in it.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
The first flight was in Argonia, KS in November 2002. It was the last flight I shot that day so I got the G80-4T ready and put it in the rocket. I thought it took wadding but I later found out that It doesn't really need it. I've always put a flame shield in it anyway. It has a engine hook for motor retention. I got it on the pad and then the countdown 5....4....3....2.....1.... lift-off!

With a huge flame, it went to about 50ft and came back and nosed in. Houston, we have a CATO! It shoved the motor up into the motor tube and burned everything. After a quick repair, I flew it again on a G38-4FJ. At end of countdown black smoke went everywhere and the rocket zipped straight as an arrow into the sky for a great flight!

Just this October (2004), I flew it on an H128W at The High Frontier in Pawhuska,OK. It roared off the pad with a huge trail of White Lightning smoke behind it. It went about 2000ft up then it arced and arccced and arccccccced and arcccccccccccced...until it went THUMP and shattered everywhere! All that was left was the fin can. None of the fins were broken, believe it or not! All I need now to fix it is a new body tube and nose cone.

Recovery:
The first flight was awful of course since it catoed! The second flight was great, coming down very slowly on the 10' foot shockcord and large chute. It just missed the trees by about 50ft. The last flight was horrible too since it lawndarted. The nose cone was bent inside itself from the impact since it was going like 300mph when it hit the ground. The body tube was completely torn and crumpled. I can't wait to fix it.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
It is a very good rocket especially if you are looking for a somewhat cheap rocket for your level one certification. I like everything about the rocket and I would like it even more if my piston would have fit. I would recommend this rocket to everyone.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5