The CiCi is a traditional canard-style boost glider. The canard is the name for that smaller front wing, or horizontal stabilizer. A canard-style glider is simply a glider where the canard is forward of the main wing. A boost glider is a glider that boosts straight up like a rocket, and then ejects some part, usually the engine, to change into a glider. This is as opposed to a rocket glider, where no parts are jettisoned, but rather other changes are made (moving the wing surfaces, changing the angle of elevons, etc. ) to make the transition from vertical boost mode to horizontal glide mode.

Upon opening up the zip-lock-bag-style package of the CiCi, I was first surprised by the fact that the instructions consisted entirely of a single 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper, printed on one side only! This was particularly surprising for this rocket, considering that the Deltie, also from Edmond's Aerospace, had a 10+ page booklet for instructions. Although sparse, the instructions here are obvious and straightforward. Unlike most rockets, the order of assembly for the CiCi is largely irrelevant. The instructions are fairly complete, except that they never mention trimming the glider, or the supplied lump of clay and what to do with it. Basically, the instructions seem to assume that you have trimmed a boost glider before. The second thing that I noticed about the kit contents was that a piece was missing. The instructions say that there is a small, triangular piece of wood, curved on one side, that can be used to mark a straight line on the engine tube, but there wasn't one in my kit. No big deal, there are of plenty of ways to mark a straight line on a tube. The third thing that I noticed was that another piece was missing: the launch lug. Again, not a show-stopper, since I have some extras lying around, but a rather inauspicious beginning.

The kit itself is quite nice, with thick, sturdy balsa parts that have been precision cut. All parts fit well, and there was absolutely no confusion about how to assemble the rocket. Construction was simple, quick and easy, with no fuss. Full assembly took me about 1 hour, but could be done much faster. Make no mistake, the quality of the parts is first-rate, and the kit was well thought out. The only time I deviated from the instructions was with the clay. I added a small amount (about the size of pencil eraser) to inside of the corner formed by the main (rear) wing and the left vertical stabilizer. The purpose here was to make the CiCi tilt left a little bit in flight so that it would glide in circles, rather than in a straight line. You want it to glide in circles so that it stays on the flying field. (Note that these pictures were taken before I added the clay. )

The instructions don't mention it, but I attempted some hand-tossed glide tests prior to flight. Hmmm. . . it glides ok, but flies and lands in a rather nose-down attitude. Nose-down enough that the balsa nose cone hits before the front edge of the canard. Perhaps a small amount of weight in the rear might help. I added a small amount of the supplied clay (again about the size of a pencil eraser) to the inside of the corner formed by the fuselage and the main wing. More hand-toss glide tests. Hmmm. . . a slightly better glide attitude and landing, but still noticeably nose-down, and there was no discernible arc to the left (so that it will glide in circles). I added just a tiny bit more clay to the inside of the corner formed by the main wing and the left vertical stabilizer. After a couple more throws, I still couldn't discern any arc to the left, but I didn't want to add too much weight for fear of adversely affecting the flight characteristics. Time for some real flight tests.

It was a pretty nice day for launching rockets. Moderately windy, but not too bad. I was anxious to try out the CiCi, so it was first in line. I figured the light weight of the rocket, combined with the moderate wind and the fact that this was the maiden flight, dictated using an A8-3.

It was a good, quick boost, as you can tell from the blur it gives in this photo, even with 400 speed film. In spite what this photo of the early flight path might indicate, it was, overall, a fairly straight boost to, oh, maybe 150 feet or so (I didn't measure it). Even though it arced over on its back after burnout, it make a smooth, controlled transition to right-side-up glide. The glide was ok, but still with a bit of nose-down attitude, and it definitely falls faster than a Deltie. It made about 1 3/4 circles before landing. . . with a crack. Uh-oh.

As you can see from this photo, it snapped clean in half on landing. Note that although it's photographed here on cement (for clarity), it did land in the grass when it broke. Disappointing, but not the end of the world. A bit of thin CA, and she'll be good as new.

Also visible in this photo is the slight blackening in the forward half of the center of the main wing. This is just soot from the black powder, not scorching of the wood. A bit dirty, but not a safety concern.

Unfortunately, the second flight, under nearly calm wind conditions, was an exact duplicate of the first. The A8-3 gave a good, straight boost, with a nice transition to glide, a decent but slightly too rapid, nose-down descent, and a landing with a crack. Broke clean in half again, this time about 3mm further rearward (CA is strong stuff).

Warning! Do not try the following with your model!Being a bit of a tinkerer, I thought I'd make a more serious attempt to fix that nose-down attitude. So, prior to the third flight, I sanded an airfoil into the top of the canard. I left the bottom of the canard completely flat. I left the bottom of the canard completely flat. The idea was to have this canard generate more lift, and thereby lift the nose in flight, giving a flatter glide. Hand-tossed glides didn't show any visible difference, but I was confident that it would be noticeable at speed. DO NOT TRY THIS WITH YOUR MODEL! The airfoil was much too severe, and caused the model to arc over under power and plow into the ground at full speed! Ironically, the damage was only slightly worse on this flight, with a small piece breaking off of the canard as well as the model snapping in two at the usual spot. If your model also breaks on landing, and you want to try to airfoil the canard to help that situation, start with a very slight airfoil, and perform actual launches before sanding any further.

Overall, I give the CiCi a 3 out of 5 points. The kit itself gets a 4 out of 5 points, having high quality parts, but missing a couple minor pieces. The instructions should include trimming instructions, but were otherwise adequate, despite their brevity. The construction gets a rating of 4. 5 out of 5 points being simple and straightforward. The flights (before the airfoiling, at least), were both excellent, rating a 4 out of 5 points. Of course, the big downer was the recovery, particularly the landing damage, which is easily fixed, though not easily avoided. The recovery gets a 1. 5 out of 5 points.

I'll probably repair the CiCi again when I get a chance. If you're looking to buy your first boost glider, I'd have to recommend the Edmond's Aerospace Deltie. But, the CiCi certainly has the potential to be a great boost glider, perhaps as your third or fourth boost glider model.