Brief:
The Estes Astrobeam is a very simple kit to put together. It doesn't take more than 15 minutes depending on what you use for glue. It is a pretty cool, inexpensive way to get into night launches.

Construction:

Parts included in this kit:

• 1 - Four fin plastic fin assembly
• 1 - Twist-lock motor retainer cap
• 1 - Clear plastic tube (Covers lighting section)
• 1 - Lighting assembly
• 1 - Upper body tube covered in reflective design
• 1 - Silver colored plastic nose cone
• 1 - Rubber band shock cord
• 1 - 18" Black, red and white parachute

Construction is very easy and quick! As with most Estes kits, the instructions are very easy to follow and have plenty of illustrations.

Nothing special is required for building. the whole kit can be build with CA or plastic cement.

Finishing:
PROS: Very easy to build. Works great as a night launching rocket. has five different lighting patterns that can be switched between by pressing the power button until it gets to the pattern you want.

CONS: Plastic covering over upper body tube peeling off after several flights. That could have been made slightly sturdier.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
Flies like most plastic finned RTF or EX2 rockets. Flew high and straight and the flashing lights were easy to see in the night sky.

Recovery:
Recovery when fine on all flights using the included 18" parachute and rubber shock cord.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
Overall, this is a nice starter rocket if you want to get into night launches. We actually bought it when our club announced there would be a night launch at the larger 2-day annual launch. We were short on time, so we bought this kit to have something to fly. We ended up missing the club night launch, but had fun flyiing it ourselves in the nearby park at night on another night.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

Other:
I would like to see Estes put this same lighting mechanism in a Skill Level 2 or higher rocket rather than one that looks like an RTF model.