I was really enjoying my 24mm RMS system on my Nordic Rocketry Meanie and Ascender, as well as other rockets when I started getting the "cluster" urge. I looked for 24mm cluster rockets and found very, very few. When I spotted the THOY Snipe, I jumped at it. THOY says "the Snipe is an easy to build rocket with great eye appeal. This high performance sport rocket is capable of achieving high altitudes with a payload." The payload I chose was the Missile Work's RRC² deployment electronics. I also planned on using my Unique Rocketry IgniterMan home-dipped igniters. The Snipe is 56" long and uses 2.6" diameter tubing. It is designed to use three 24mm motors to push its 18 ounces into the air and then recover with a 28" parachute.

The Snipe consists of two 2.6" paper-wound body tubes that coupled with the plastic 13" long nose cone make up the 56" length. The three fins are are 1/8" plywood with a through-the-wall tab. The two centering rings and one bulkhead are also 1/8" plywood. Both centering rings have the cut-outs to handle the cluster of three 24mm motor tubes. The upper centering ring has a 3/32" thick, 18.5" long steel cable already attached and a loop crimped to attach the 9' long, 1/2" wide shock cord. The three 24mm motor tubes are just under 8" long. There is also a 1/4" launch lug and an eye-screw and nut for the bulk head. Lastly there is a pinkish in color, 28" rip-stop nylon parachute.

CONSTRUCTION:

The instructions are short and simple to follow. There are illustrations down the right side with text instructions on the left side. All instructions are included on both sides of a single 8x11 sheet of paper.

Assembly is very straight-forward and there are only a couple of tasks that require special attention. The first is the fit of the three 24mm motor tubes into the centering rings once they are glued together. I found sanding was necessary to not put too much stress on the tubes. The second is cutting the slots for the fins. THOY has made this as easy as possible by pre-drawing the lines for both cuts per fin on the body tube. Just take your time to get nice cuts.

I had a couple of building disappointments with this rocket. One was that the fins have only a 1/2" tab that is inserted through-the-wall. The diagram in step #8, shows the fins going all the way to the joints between the motor mount tubes. The second, was that there was no positive motor retention. This was very easily remedied by getting a #8 screw that was 3" long and cutting off the head. I then epoxied the screw in the small center space created when the three motor tubes are glued together. Then an appropriately sized washer and two nuts hold those motors right in place.

The "great eye appeal", to me, is due to the shape of the fins and the long nose cone. Both make it impressive to look at on the pad.

I have consistent results for finishing using Elmers' Light Spackle to fill the spirals, then several good coats of Plasti-Kote primer. I then used a special "hammered look" paint from Rustoleum. This gave the rocket a unique look. I used a forest green "hammered" paint for the bottom and a silver "hammered" paint for the top. I then masked off a few green strips. The kit does not come with any decals.

Overall, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this kit 4 points. The quality of the parts are solid and the cuts on the fins were precision (not lazer either). The instructions met the needs and the kit is actually very easy to assemble. The through-the-wall fins and motor retention fall a bit short.

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

The preparation of this bird takes a bit of time. I built three 24mm RMS motors using E18's without an ejection charge. The recommended motors are three D12-3's, three E15-7's, or three E30-7's.

Once the motors were built and installed using IgniterMan home-dipped ignitors and then connected to my Estes Command Controller, the Snipe was ready to go. I had installed the Missile Works RRC² with dual deployment. It was wired and beeping at launch. After a much anticipated countdown, Varooom! Up went the Snipe on 3-E18's, all lighting and giving it a nice punch!

Just before apogee, the initial RRC² charge fired. The momentum of the ejection at the mid-section also popped the nose cone out of the upper section, thereby deploying the main chute. As I chased this across the field, at about 300 feet I heard the secondary channel discharge. Then this rocket drifted into a tree, 60 feet up, where it stayed for four attempts over a 5 week period. I did finally get it back though.

After some touch up and replacing the payload section, the Snipe was ready to go. I really wanted to have a successful flight using my RRC² and felt good about another attempt in my (rebuilt) cluster rocket. I used three E18's again. This time I was using RocketFlite MagnaLite ignitors. Again I armed the RRC² and everything seemed ready. Another excellent boost. This time the main charge deployed perfectly at apogee. It fell on the drogue until at 300 feet the secondary charge blew the nose cone off. But guess who had moved the main chute to another rocket to use? Yep, me!

With the impact one fin popped off and the tubing was bent, so thus retired the Snipe (at least the bottom half). I have immediate bought another one because I enjoy the looks and flights of this bird so much.

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY, I would rate this kit 5 points. Despite my electronic bloopers, the initial flight showed that recovery is fine on the 28" parachute. Also, the impact to satisfaction when all three motors light makes the Snipe have a little extra enjoyment.

The size stands out a bit, the fin shape is unique, and the flights with all three motors burning on the way up adds a new dimension to 24mm flights. The ease of build also makes this a good kit for relatively new rocketeers. There are not many cluster rockets in the market and this 24mm cluster is a winner!

I give the kit an OVERALL rating of 4 ½ points.