Brief:
I had been flying my 1967 vintage Astron Spaceplane when a unusually powerful ejection charge broke both elevon stops and blew away 1/3 of the right elevon. I decided to retire it and build a replacement. The cc:Spaceplane is one of the "carbon copy" kits put out by Semroc. Semroc supplies all the parts including laser cut fins and decals, which were not included in the original kit. It is close enough to the original Astron Spaceplane that the original Estes instructions can be used. The instructions are available for download off the internet, but I still had my set from 1967 so that's what I used.

Construction:
Parts in the kit:

• Body tube
• Solid balsa engine block/bulkhead
• Balsa nose cone
• 2 sheets of laser cut parts
• Launch lug
• Hinge material
• Elastic thread
• 2 Nylon adjusting screws
• Nose cone weight
• Decal sheet

The instructions are vintage and appear to be hand printed. The construction sequence is logically arranged and the laser cutting made construction a breeze compared to the original where all the parts had to be copied from a pattern and cut out. All the parts fit beautifully and the hinge material felt like plastic rather than the paper hinges of the original and stuck very well. Even the hole in the elevons for the elastic thread was laser drilled. The only marking and cutting was for the elevon cutout at the rear of the body tube. I used Elmer's white glue throughout for the construction

Finishing:
Since the cc:Spaceplane is a boost glider, I tried to keep finishing to a minimum to save weight. All the balsa surfaces were given a single coat of Minwax Polycrylic and sanded smooth then a single light coat of Krylon white primer followed by a single light coat of Krylon gloss white except for the nose cone which was painted gloss black. The decals were applied next, were easy to apply, and they stuck fairly well. I balanced it according to the plan which is between 3 7/8" to 3 15/16" from the front edge of the body tube with a motor installed. Instead of cutting parts of the nose cone weight and gluing to the nose cone, I just used a medium sized screw eye which was just about right.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight and Recovery:
Before flying it for the first time, I took it out in the back yard for test glides. The nylon screws make it easy to adjust the elevons for glide and after about a dozen tosses, I had a fairly flat glide with just a bit of right turn into it. For some reason, it didn't want to turn left easily, so I adjusted the glide for a right turn.

The recommended motor for first flight is 1/2A6-2. I chose to try it with an A8-3. At launch, it went up about 50ft, made 2 complete loops, and then the motor ejected. It had a beautiful, if somewhat short glide. The spin tabs didn't seem to have any effect at all. I took it home and added about 1/3 of the weight that was included and cranked in a little more up elevon for the glide adjustment.

Because of the weather, I didn't get a chance to attempt a second flight for 2 1/2 months, but the day of the second launch was clear with very little wind. I loaded an A8-3 and this time the boost was much better. It didn't exactly spin but had large barrel rolls (much like my original Astron Spaceplane) until ejection and had a decent but not great glide. A little more up elevon and a little less right turn and this will be a good sport flyer.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
This rocket kit was of the highest quality with excellent laser cut parts. While not a beginner's kit, it was easy to assemble if you take your time and follow the instruction steps. As is the case with many boost gliders, there is trade off between boost performance and glide performance.

I don't expect to get a better boost without adding more nose weight but that would affect glide performance. I will live with the large rolls as this was intended for sport flying.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5