Brief:
Upon becoming seriously involved as a BAR in the spring of 2001, I went looking through local hobby stores, hoping to find that some of my favorite rockets from my early years were still available. The Wizard, a high flying minimum diameter rocket, turned out to be the sole remaining holdover from my original fleet.

Construction:
Included in the kit:

• 1 - 8.65" BT-20 (BT-20B)
• 1 - Engine block (AR-520)
• 1 - Launch lug (LL-2A)
• 18" sewing elastic for shock cord
• 1- PNC-20N
• 15" streamer

Despite the hard creative times that Estes had obviously fallen upon during my absence from the hobby, one thing remained constant; the continued excellence of the Estes instructions. (Not that I used them or anything. I just looked through them before I started.) The continued availability of this and several other Beta series rockets makes one wonder why anyone would bother to buy the RTF garbage that Estes seems so intent on foisting upon us these days. (I know. Instant gratification.) With the Wizard you are rewarded with a sharp looking, high flying rocket that can be flown without worrying that the thin walled RTF body tube will fold up as the rocket leaves the pad or if it will withstand a vigorous ejection charge. Building the Wizard is almost obscenely easy. Glue in the engine block and attach the fins and recovery system and you're literally ready to paint.

Finishing:
This was one area where I felt that I could make improvements. Aside from it's stunning performance, the thing I liked best about the original Wizard was it's clean, uncluttered appearance. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way someone at Estes decided that the rocket needed a more cluttered look, so they re-designed the paint and decal scheme to accomplish just that. Gone was the classic simplicity of the purple/white/black scheme of the original, ditched in favor of a blue/red/yellow scheme that looks as slick and nauseating as a polyester suit and a spinning disco ball. That said, I immediately gave the "sticker" decal to my kids to play with and set about painting the rocket to look just like the one I lost on it's first flight 22 years earlier. At the time I wasn't acquainted with the myriad of options available for recreating vintage decals. As such, I was going to let the rocket go without the distinctive decal that graced the original, but then I remembered that Rocketry Online had a free classified ad service. I placed an ad looking to buy an old Wizard decal from someone, and to my great shock and surprise, I received several e-mails offering one to me for free. The first offer came from Stan Hyuge and while I'd like to say thanks to Stan, I'd like to also thank the others who also offered me the decal. I was happily surprised at discovering that, with a few obvious exceptions, this was a very friendly hobby. This was the first rocket on which I used sanding sealer made from thinned Elmer's Fill N Finish, and the difference was noticeable in the finished product.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
I've flown the Wizard on engines throughout the recommended range and have had great results on all of them. An A8-3 is a decent choice for small field flying, the rocket never quite going completely out of sight, while C6-5's and C6-7's should be used only when you have plenty of clear space to work with, because it flies high and drifts forever. Preparation is simple. Put in a bit of recovery wadding, pack the streamer, friction fit the engine with masking tape and it's ready to go. Straight, very high flights. This rocket would seem to be a good choice for the streamer and parachute duration requirements for the NARTREK Program.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
Pro's: Good looks (classic version) and great performance. Easy to build. Bright orange streamer looks great against the purple and white paint.
Con's: Ugly new paint and decal scheme. (Current version.) Sticker decal. Too short shock cord.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5