Brief:
This is, I believe, Mile High Rockets first venture into rocket kits. Packed with quality components and sporting a somewhat unusual design, this kit offers a pleasant diversion from the standard modroc fare.

Construction:
BT-50 body tube, plastic nose cone, 18mm motor mount assembly with hook, 6 balsa fins, balsa fin mounting rail (more on that later), and Mile High's own flame proof recovery system, including Kevlar elastic cord and a heavy duty film parachute (plastic like, but much higher temp rating).

Construction starts with a basic tube/centering ring motor mount assembly, though includes Kevlar line attached below the centering ring. Most of us on EMRR consider this a basic upgrade to commercial kits, so it was nice to see a company adopting that as their standard.

After marking the tube, the rather unusual fin mounting begins. Rather than mount directly to the tube, the fins are mounted in a groove cut in a tiny rail, which is then bonded to the tube. Secondary fins are then mounted to the primary fins using this same rail technique. The secondary fins are mounted perpendicular to the main fins, resulting in what look like 3 tiny wings with rudders on the rocket (sort of like a Tie Fighter). Cutting the rails to fit and matching the slope of the fins is a little tricky, and you'll definitely want to make use of the fin alignment template when gluing everything together.

 Overall, the rails give this a unique look although I prefer regular glue fillets.

The parachute is attached to what's described as a Kevlar elastic cord. This felt like a regular elastic cord, wrapped in a thin braided Kevlar sleeve, which offers the stretch of elastic but also has the heat protection of Kevlar. This was very impressive material in so affordable a modroc kit. I'm a little surprised they didn't throw in a small square of Nomex to complete the heat-proof package, but that doesn't take away from the overall quality of materials in this kit.

Finishing:
I applied Elmer's Fill N Finish to fill the tube spirals and seal the balsa fins, then a couple of light coats of sandable primer. After sanding down the primer with 400-grit wet/dry sandpaper, I finished it off with two coats of gloss white, then masked off for the trim red coat on the fins and nose cone. After allowing everything to dry, I applied the decals, which include "Mile" on one fin, followed by "High" and "Rockets" on the other two.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
First flight was on a modest A8-3 with no winds, freezing temps, and perfectly clear skies. The flight path was spinning but straight, deployment just past apogee and recovery was perfect under the opaque yellow chute.

While I'll certainly move up the power curve and try it on a C, I suspect that this will put it at the very edge of my eyesight (around 1600-1800 feet).

Recovery:
Excellent recovery materials for a basic modroc kit!

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5