(by Randy Ashley courtesy of WildRocketry.Com)

The Rocketman Explorer-7 came packaged in a very secure box. Upon opening there was a checklist of parts and they were all there. The instructions were clear and I encountered NO "What" type moments.

First step for me is always to build up my motor mount and fin can. On the Explorer the shock cord is glued to the side of the motor mount and trapped in place by the forward centering Ring. I went with this stock configuration but on future kits I would add an eye bolt for the shockcord. Once the motor mount was glued in I finished up the fin can with the usual filleting techniques inside and out. The tube used by Rocketman does require you to fill the spiral groove for a nice finish. I used the Rocketman motor retainer which can be installed after gluing in the rear centering ring, so no forethought was necessary there. I primed and painted my kit Burgundy with a Silver nose cone. The stock Rocketman shockcord only extends out of the body tube a couple of feet. A phone call to Ky at Rocketman revealed that he felt the soft opening Rocketman chutes did not require a longer shock cord. I didn't feel comfortable with this and added 10 more feet of tubular Kevlar® for a total shockcord length of about 12 feet outside of the tube.

Flight
The maiden flight of the Explorer was on a J-350 for my level 2 certification flight. The flight was perfect. I used motor ejection at apogee and fired an ejection charge at 1.5 seconds after apogee via my altimeter as a backup. The chute did open very softly. I am impressed with the Rocketman chutes and I am going to order them to replace most of my existing chutes. The recovery was made about 1/2 mile downrange after a 2640 foot flight. The chute allowed the rocket to descend without the swaying that is present in a lot of chutes without spill holes.

Summary
The Rocketman Freedom to fly Explorer-7 is a great kit for level 2 certification and built stock it is very sturdy. I plan to extend mine and add an altimeter bay for dual deployment. I would highly recommend any of the Rocketman kits to anyone wanting a sturdy "out of the box" rocket.