Brief:
This is my first Dr Zooch kit, chosen specifically for the 2008 EMRR Challenge. The instructions state that it is a light weight, high flier that is fun to build as it is to chase.

Construction and Finishing:
The kit comes in a very sturdy white cardboard box. All parts were present and correct with no damage. My first impression was how well produced the parts were. There was also a look of horror as I am fairly new to modeling and it seemed to be quite complex.

Parts list:

• One 9.35 inch long T-50 body tube and two 6.45 inch T-50 tubes
• One 6.75 inch T-20 tube
• One 10unch T-5 tube
• One pre-ballasted core nosecone and two SRB nosecones
• Two wood TVC tanks and one wood dowel
• One kit bag containing 1 snap swivel, 1 screw eye, 1 engine clip, 1CR205W engine block ring and 1 launch lug
• Six CR2050P centering rings and four smaller CR205P centering pins
• Two sheets of balsa fin stock
• Two cut-out wrap sheets
• Recovery package including garbage bag parachute, shroud lines, shock cord, Kevlar® cord, and sticky rings

The instructions were well thought out and with the added bonus of dry, sarcastic comments.

The assembly is both straightforward and challenging in some aspects. Basically it is 3 tubes wrapped and glued together. The nozzles on the SRM tubes were quite tricky to make and needed a large amount of internal sanding. Two separate fins are made to fit inside the SRM tubes. There is very little painting to be done on this model so it was very quick to make.

Construction Rating: 3 out of 5

Flight:
Three flights were made on one day. First flight was with a B6-4, and the boost was good and straight. The rocket recovered fine on a 12 inch chute, (I chose not to use the chute provided.) The flight was not that high so the next two flights were on C engines.

The second flight was straight but spun, giving it a corkscrew flight path. Again recovered was fine. The third flight was straight as an arrow but spun massively.

Recovery:
The recovery on this is a yellow garbage bag with adhesive reinforcements and shroud lines. I replaced this with a 12 inch parachute of my own.

The fins were badly burnt by the flames from the motor. By the third flight one of the fins was nearly completely burnt off. This happened even with the fins as far away from the nozzle as possible.

Flight Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:
This is a fine looking model, quite tricky at times for the beginner but fun to make. I would buy another Dr Zooch kit in the future. The fins need some sort of flame retardant added.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5