Brief:
This rocket is called the "Mega Mag!". It is a beta kit from BoRocks Rocketry. The rocket wasn't in kit form at the time of this review. It came in a LARGE box.

Construction:
The parts were all very high quality and include:

• Four BT-80 tubes, 18" each
• High quality (close to foot long) balsa nose cone
• Sunward 3x24 motor mount kit
• Pre-assembled T-80 bulkhead
• Pre-assembled T-80 baffle
• T-80 coupler
• The longest lengths of shock cord and Kevlar® line I have ever seen
• 18.5" of fin stock
• 2 Screw eyes
• 3 Swivels
• Illustrated Instructions

No parachute was included with the beta kit. I decided to use two 24" chutes for the rockets first two flights.

This rocket is basically 4 BT-80s, a huge almost foot long balsa nose cone and 4 fins. This is wrapped around a Sunward triple 24mm motor mount, a baffle, a bulkhead, and lots of Kevlar® line and shock cord.

The beta rocket as built breaks between the third and fourth BT-80.

Pros:

• All of the parts in this kit are top quality.
• Pre-assembled bulkhead
• Pre-assembled baffle

Cons:

• The beta instructions don't indicate grain direction for the fins. I know that most people know which way the grain is supposed to go in relation to the fin leading edge, but I still like it when that info is referenced in the instructions.
• The included beta fin pattern was a bit short so I used an Estes fin marking guide to line the fins up.

I am sure these two issues will be corrected for any future kit version of this rocket. Photographing the whole rocket all at one time is difficult. This thing is huge!

Finishing:
I used Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish on the fins and nose cone (two coats each), sanded and then primed everything, followed by three coats of finish paint. I used Painters Touch primer and Gloss Red paint.

I then put on some home made decals and used some black detail tape on the rocket.

I purchased some chrome tape from an auto supply store and wrapped each of the three exposed engine mounts with it. It gave them a very finished look.

Pros:

• This rocket is relatively easy to finish.

Cons:

• No decals are included with the kit so you have to come up with your own design.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
I used the recommended motors for this rocket, 3 D12-3s. Motor retention is by engine hooks. Preparation technique for this rocket is actually easier than what I do for much smaller rockets. Since it has a baffle, I didn't use any wadding. That's a first for me.

First launch: 3 D12-3s. The Mega Mag! left the pad very slowly and hit about 600 feet or so. Very impressive flight. However I had expected it to go higher. Ejection was perfect and two 24" chutes carried it to within about a hundred and fifty yards of the pad. When we got it back I found that only two engines had fired.

Second launch: 3 D12-3s. This time all three engines lit and the Mega Mag! left the pad very quickly and there were three distinct fire tails showing through a cloud of smoke. It was an awesome flight. We estimated that it went a thousand feet. Now that's an estimate so I can't say for sure but it was way up there.

Ejection right at apogee. It was on the windy side and the two chutes carried it what seemed like almost half a mile, however, I recovered it with no damage.

Recovery:
Pros:

• The baffle worked great. I used no wadding and both chutes were fine both times. I am now sold on baffles. This custom BoRocks baffle worked perfectly
• This rocket is a crowd pleaser and commands attention. Like I said, it's huge and it really performs!

Cons:

• The only thing that happened (and it was my fault) is that the really nice chrome tape that I wrapped the engine mounts with got burned off. I should have clipped the rod further up. Three engines hitting that blast pad all at the same time with the rocket sitting so low caused the tape to melt. It's an easy fix.
• I will list my decision to use two 24" chutes as a con only because I haven't figured out the best chute option yet. The double 24" chutes was a bit too much for the rocket, which surprised me. A better method might be one 24" chute for the lower section, which is comprised of three BT 60s, and one 18" or 24" chute for the top section, which is comprised of one BT-60 and the nose cone. I will enjoy figuring that out during subsequent launches.
• The beta rocket used 3/16" launch lugs and this rocket probably deserves 1/4" lugs to accommodate the larger rod, however, I launched the rocket twice from an Estes E Launch pad using 3/16" rod and had no problem whatsoever.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I really like this rocket. All of the parts were top quality and it was a dream to build and fly. It's so big that for a while I had parts of it all over my house!

BoRocks is coming out with some very interesting rockets and I look forward to building more from them.

One of the things that I believe BoRocks is working on is the weight of this rocket. I believe they are trying to get it down to 11oz empty.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5