Brief:
The Longfellow is Pratt Hobbies' newest kit and is 50+ inches long. Like its smaller sibling the Super-6, it is a beginner's streamer recovery model for Super-Roc Duration competition.

Construction:
The kit includes: Two 19mm x 25in body tubes, one 18mm x 8in body tube connector, one 18mm body tube for use as a motor mount, one 18mm engine block, three (3) pre-cut balsa fins, one CMR-style nose cone, one 18mm x 1in body tube connector for use with the nose cone, one very strong Kevlar® shock cord, one Nomex®parachute protector, one "caution tape" streamer, and peel 'n' stick decals.

Construction is very simple and straightforward. The kit can be completed in about one (1) hour using only white glue. No cutting or sanding is necessary. Serious competitors would want to shape the leading and trailing edges of the fins and perhaps make them thinner. The motor mount, body tube connectors are pre-drilled for attaching the shock cord. I only made 2 modifications to the kit: 1) I removed 2/3 of the shock cord and replaced it with some elastic (that Kevlar® is so sweet that I wanted to use it on some of my other models--I wish all kit suppliers would include shock cord of this quality!) and 2) I put a piece of masking tape around the body tube connector where the shock cord is attached (more on this in the flight details).

I understand that the instructions are clear and simple and that a cardboard fin jig is supplied to facilitate fin attachment, although neither was supplied at our section building session.

Finishing:
Other than applying the decals no additional finishing was conducted.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
My first flight was at NARHAMS KATE-2 competition flying in Division C, a Super-Roc Duration. I flew it on an A8-3 using a 24" parachute. The flight was pretty much straight up, ejection occurred slightly after apogee but duration was very short because the parachuted did not fully deploy.

Recovery:
Plastic streamer with Kevlar® shock cord and a Nomex® chute protector means no wadding was needed. At a demonstration launch many other Longfellows were launched and a very high percentage of them suffered a separation at ejection. The hole for connecting the shock cord to the tube connector is very near the end of the tube. The body tube alone may not be strong enough to handle the stress.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
The kit is very easy to build and is an excellent choice for an introduction to Super-Rocs.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5