Brief:
The G-Force is a single staged, parachute recovered large model rocket.

Construction:
There were 2 4" body tubes that were made out of the AT tubing. I opted to design the rocket for a payload by not gluing the nose. It has 3 fins made of EXTREMELY thin plastic that look just like the Sumo fins. The motor mount was 24" by my best guess, and made from thick cardboard. The shock cord appears to be 12' and is the elastic kind. It has an ACE 4:1 Ogive nose. It is glued on per the instructions, however I tied a separate shockcord to it and made it removable.

The instructions were very easy to follow for such a large rocket. There were a few illustrations that were kind of hard to see due to contrast, however they are probably not needed. There were no templates included with this rocket as the Fin-Lok system aligns the fins right with a little help from eyeballing.

This rocket was very easy to build as I have come to expect from AT kits. There were no alignment issues. There was one problem with fit: the coupler is extremely tight. I sanded it for a while and now it slides out easy. The only sturdiness issue I found was with the fins. Upon measuring with calipers, they are .07 inches thick.

Pros: Pretty sturdy except for the fins

Cons: Thin fins and the coupler fit

Finishing:
I have a suggestion for painting this rocket: wash the nose first. I did not and the paint is now flaking off of it. The decals are the standard peel & stick which were kind of a pain because if you want the G-Force lettering to appear you need to paint the area on the fins white first. I did this, and feel it is worth the extra work. The wrap decal was hard to get on, and it goes around where the rocket splits so it needs to be trimmed at the joint. Painting was easy...simply prime, paint black part, mask first few inches of black, paint blue.

Pros: Easy to paint

Cons: Decals are difficult to apply

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
The recommended motors are any of the AT consumer motors including the G64. My first flight attempt was on a G35-4W, which CATOed. It turned out to be one in a bad batch. The second flight attempt was at the KCAR launch on a G64-4W. It was my second reload. The flight was perfect, delay might have been a couple seconds long but it was perfect at apogee. It missed the neighboring porch by 10-15 feet and I had a very short walk for recovery.

It has a baffle, so no flameproof material is required. I attempted to use my home built retention system but the motor could easily slide out. I guess it needs a spacer. The CATO from the G35 had damaged the MMT and the motor was a bit loose, but I decided to risk losing my reload casing. As it turned out, it was still firmly in there after the flight.

Recovery:
The shock cord was made out of elastic. The chute was a 48" ripstop nylon which was reefed about 12" up. The recovery was a bit on the fast side which yielded a short walk.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I think this is a very good rocket for someone seeking to get into G power.

Pros: Easy preparation, easy assembly, nice and sturdy

Cons: Decals, thin fins, and the coupler fit.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5