Brief:
I purchased this kit from a rocketry vendor on eBay for short money, however, when I received it I found that two of the tubes were partially damaged--not badly but there was some creasing (3 inches and 11 inches, respectively) along the length of two of the tubes.

Modifications:
What I decided to do was to modify the rocket slightly by adding some balsa strips to cover and strengthen the damaged areas. To make it symmetrical I used four balsa strips at each of the two damage sites. Once the strips were added you couldn't tell that the tubes had ever been damaged.

Since the modifications gave the rocket a slightly Sci-Fi look, I also added four small fins at the top of the rocket for additional detail. I also left off the decal since that would have detracted from the now Sci-Fi themed CFX-Six Footer.

Construction:
The components were of good quality. I don't blame the damaged tube on Sunward. I believe it happened during shipping.

Components Provided:

• 4 BT-56 x 18" body tubes (two tubes damaged)
• 3 tube couplers
• Plastic nose cone with canopy
• 24mm motor mount kit
• Motor hook
• 4 laser-cut balsa fins
• Shock cord
• Parachute
• Peel and stick decal (not used)

Components Added:

• 4 balsa strips 4 1/4" x 1/4"
• 4 balsa strips 12" x 1/4"
• 4 forward fins

I followed the build instructions and then added the four forward fins and the eight balsa strips.

I chose to have the model break for recovery at the nose cone. If I had it to do over again I would have set this up to break between the second and third tubes (in the middle).

Instructions for both setups are provided by the manufacturer. It would just make it easier to transport this rocket to and from launches.

Finishing:
Finishing was a bit time consuming due to all of the painting on the balsa strips plus it's a long rocket. It didn't end up being one of my best paint jobs, but from a few feet away it isn't bad.

Flight:
This rocket flies extremely well on a D12-5. I've flown it eight or nine times and it's never disappointed.

As is to be expected from long, thin rockets it flies straight and true. The only thing is that since it gets way up there, it tends to drift.

If you don't have a large recovery area, don't launch this on windy days. I've had to travel quite a distance to recover this bird a couple of times when launching on windy days.

Recovery:
This is a great flier and performs well. It gets right up there and flies straight and true.

I'd suggest using a long rod and a sturdy launch pad to send this up and I'd also suggest doing so when the wind is not more than 5mph.

Summary:
This is a nice kit and made for an interesting modification to an (albeit simplistic) Sci-Fi based flier.