Brief:
This rocket from Estes is a "Simple Snap Together" kit that can be quickly assembled and flown. It is a single stage, streamer recovery rocket.

Construction:
There are few pieces to this rocket. There are two body tube halves, one motor tube, four fins, nose cone, shock cord, motor retainer and streamer.

I purchased this rocket one Saturday morning to cure boredom. I was looking for a small, low altitude rocket that would accommodate the small fields I have available for launching. This rocket was very simple to assemble. The nose cone, body tube halves, fins, and motor retainer were all made of purple plastic. The two body tube halves snap together around the motor tube. Fins fit either between the two body tube halves or in slots. The nose cone is also two halves which snap together. There are 3 pre-cut holes in the motor tube. One is for the shock cord and the other two are for lugs that protrude from the two body tube halves into the motor tube that act as the motor stop. After rocket construction, the application of a peel and stick decal is all that is required to finish.

Note that though this kits claims to require no glue for assembly, it will be necessary to glue some things.

Finishing:
This rocket kit has some problems and they will need to be addressed to keep this rocket flyable.

Construction Rating: 2 out of 5

Flight:
After assembling this rocket I headed out for launch. Rocket preparation was simple with the twist lock motor retainer. The first flight was powered by an Estes 1/2A3-2T. The rocket flew straight up and when the ejection charge fired, it burned the streamer together in places. That shortened the streamer. The rocket landed without damage. The second flight was with the same motor, producing another straight flight that again returned the rocket undamaged. Note that I had a problem at this point with the nose cone. The two halves tended to come apart. This isn't a problem for recovery as the shock cord is tied to both halves. Some CA should cure this problem. The third flight was powered by an Estes A10-3T.

This flight didn't seem much higher than the previous two on smaller motors. The flight was straight, but at ejection the shock cord separated and the body lawn darted. The body wasn't damaged and the nose cone and streamer landed ok.

Recovery:
While CA should be used on the nose cone, it should not be used on the two body tube halves. They WILL need to be separated in the event of shock cord failure to allow another to be attached. Note that close inspection of the two motor stop lugs should reveal that they will crack. Mine revealed these cracks which didn't result in total separation of the lug. I used CA to reset them. Some CA fillets might cure this.

Flight Rating: 1 out of 5

Summary:
While this rocket did provide a diversion for my boredom, it really didn't do much to wow me. Maybe I expect too much. Problems with part separation, motor stop lugs, and the shock cord ended it's flight after 3 launches. I was glad I carried another rocket with me to finish the day with.

Overall Rating: 2 out of 5