Aardvark Rockets Black Brant VC

Aardvark Rockets - Black Brant Vc {Kit}

Contributed by Sarah O'Brien

Manufacturer: Aardvark Rockets
Style: Scale
(Contributed - by Sarah OBrien)

ASPBBXBrief:
The 18mm ASP (left) and 18mm Black Brant Vc (right) are both small single stage streamer recovery type rockets. My dad, Bruce OBrien, won these rockets in a drawing from EMRR sometime last year and gave them to me and my brother Eric to build, fly, and review.

Editor's Note:
The ASP and Black Brant Vc were formerly Blackhawk R&D rockets which are now fully owned and produced by Aardvark Rockets. Both of these specific kits were produced by Blackhawk R&D.

Construction:
Kits consist of body tube, sheets of balsa, fin patterns, cast nose cones, streamers, stickers, Kevlar® string and elastic string, and instructions.

Instructions were easy to follow even for us first time kit builders. Patterns were provide for the fins. Otherwise construction was straight-forward.

Finishing:
Standard simple finishing applies here. These are small easy to finish rockets.

ASP Lift OffBBX LiftoffFlight:
We lost the instructions so we tried a C6-5 on the BBX on the first flight. The flight was a little wobbly, but flew high and ejected a little soon. We got a zipper. Second flight on the Asp we used the C6-7 and got no zipper and a straighter flight, but due to insufficient wadding the shock cord got melted and separation occurred. The rocket was recovered undamaged however.

Recovery:
We determined that the wadding needs to be sufficient to protect the elastic on subsequent flights

Summary:
These are good basic rockets for beginners. The cast nose cones are a nice touch. Easy to build and fly.

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