Brief:
Single stage rocket, all plastic except for body tubes. 3 sets of fins that can be mixed & matched. Peel & stick "decals". 12" parachute.

Modifications:
Minor, as noted below.

Construction:
The main airframe of 4" and 7" body tubes, plastic coupler that also serves as shock cord mount, 18" long x 1/4" wide shock cord. 6 3/8" nose cone, all plastic engine/fin holder with screw on engine cap, 3 sets of differently shaped fins.

Very easy to build - I helped my 7 year old put it together - just keep glue out of fin mounting slots. Rocket assembles with tube type plastic cement. Shock cord is tied to body coupler tube, which has an X in the middle to tie to. Directions say to put white glue on knot and next 1 inch of elastic shock cord. We didn't, figured it'd be a pain to get at if ever needed replacing.

Finishing:
Body tubes are pre-finished yellow, nose cone is black, engine/fin holder and body tube coupler are orange. Peel & stick decals went on nicely and look sharp.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
We launched on A8, B6, and several C6 motors. First flight on A8, the unprotected-with-glue shock burned thru, with nose cone/parachute and body tube coming down in separate peices. No damage. Repaired by acquiring Kevlar Yarn from Pratt Hobbies (www.pratt-hobbies.com) and tieing a piece to the cross piece in the body coupler, and the other end to the shock cord. Subsequent flight had no problems on B6 and C6 engines, flying pretty high, and landing without damage.

Recovery:
Except for shock cord burning thru, we had no problems. Replaced Estes plastic chute with home made 12" rip-stop nylon chute with nylon braid string, and used Kevlar cloth from Pratt Hobbies in place of normal wadding (parachute & Kevlar cloth both have fishing spinner/clips from Walmart to connect to nose cones and move easily between rockets). Used the same chute & cloth on about 10 flights afternoon of 5/26/02 on 10 different rockets, with no damage to the chute at all. In my experience, Estes chutes don't last like that.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
Very nice rocket, good for beginning builder with some parental help (manning the glue, mostly) during building, and packing the chute for launches. Very durable.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5