Brief:
New "E" motor high altitude sport rocket. Single staged, parachute recovery. I do believe that this is the old Maniac rocket with new colors, a new name, and a new motor mount to accommodate the E9 motor.

Construction:
The kit included the motor mount tube, block, adapter for D motors, centering rings, hook, two purple BT-56 body tubes, coupler, launch lug, standoff, yellow fin can, shock cord, nose cone, 12 and 24 inch pre-assembled parachutes and decals.

The instructions were typical Estes with illustrations and the shock cord mount. This kit is rated at skill level 2 but I think that is because of the 24mm mount and the ability to fly on an E motor. I started with the motor mount. The motor hook on my kit unfortunately was missing, so rather than waiting for Estes to send me one, I decided to go with friction fit retention. I glued the mount into one of the body tubes. I then glued the fin can into place. After that I glued the launch lug standoffs into place. The kit included a 1/4 inch lug (can't imagine why)! I replaced that with a 3/16 lug. I now joined the body tubes. I then assembled the shock cord assembly and glued it into place. Two parachutes were included. An addendum was included to inform you that if you wanted to use the 24 inch chute to cut out the entire spill hole to prevent loss of the rocket. I used the 12 inch chute and cut the spill hole.

PROS: Fast and easy construction

CONS: Can't think of any.

Finishing:
No real finishing is required because of the purple and yellow parts. Just slap on the decals and that's it. I also painted the lug standoffs and tube joint with purple paint. An optional step is to apply clear spray enamel but I chose not to do this.

PROS: No painting required.

CONS: None

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
Between getting a new job and lousy conditions for flying a rocket like this, I have only flown this rocket once so far. The recommended motors are the D12-5, D12-7, E9-6, E9-8. I also saw the new C11-5 listed for this rocket in the 2002 Estes Catalog. The hook holds the motor in place, but since my hook was missing, I wrapped a single layer of masking tape around the motor and fit it in place behind the adapter. The flight was on a D12-5 and it was without a doubt an awesome flight. Very fast lift-off and arrow straight boost to apogee at 1000 feet or so.

Recovery:
With the small chute, this rocket appeared to come down quick, but safe. I would not recommend using the 24 inch chute. On an E9 flight, I would recommend using a large streamer. Even with a friction fit, I still recovered the rocket with the motor in it.

PROS: Excellent flight performance.

CONS: None

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
Priced at about $15.00 to $21.99, this rocket is a super buy. My thanks goes to EMRR for providing me with this model from the Rocket Give-Away drawing.

Main PROS: Easy and quick construction, no painting required.

Main CONS: None

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5