Brief
Single stage high-power model rocket with a 30" parachute recovery.

Construction
The PML Phantom was my first HP rocket. Construction was straight-forward with through-the-wall fins. The instruction sheet, although very brief, was concise and clear.

The Phantom is a six-finned rocket. On my kit, one of the slots on the body tube was slightly off about 0.1" so the fins are not aligned perfectly. Through-the-wall fin attachment was easy, however, it was a bit difficult to get good epoxy fillets on the inside of the tube...especially since two of the fins have a very long root edge.

The fins are made from 0.090" thick fiberglass G-10 epoxy. After using these just once, I would never use anything else. They are VERY strong (more about this later) and have a low drag coefficient because they are smooth.

The Phantom uses PML's piston ejection system. I found that my piston hung up in the tube about half-way down. My main body tube was out -of-round on the inside, but looked OK on the outside. After some serious sanding on the piston, it slid smoothly along the tube.

PML's Phantom uses a 38mm engine tube. To date, I have only flown it on 29mm engines. The kit does not include a 38mm to 29mm adapter. This will be my level 1 certification rocket.

Finishing
Finishing this rocket was easy. I tried something different. I covered the tube in MonoKote. Model airplane hobbyists have been using MonoKote for years on their kits. It is SO EASY to cover the tube of a rocket, and the finish looks beautiful. The spiral seams disappear. I chose metallic blue and chrome for the body, with white fins and nose cone. I spray painted the fins and the nose cone with Meijer's brand gloss white spray paint. Another advantage of covering the tube in MonoKote is that is strengthens the tube and reduces "zippering" from the cord during ejection.

The nose cone that came with my kit had a large imperfection along the seam. I sanded and spray painted several coats, but was never able to make the seam disappear.

Construction Rating: 3 out of 5

Flight
This rocket is large enough that it weathercocks into the wind. It is very stable. CG is several inches ahead of CP. One the first flight I made the mistake of tying the chute onto the shock cord with a simple over and under knot. The AeroTech F50-6T single-use engine ejected immediately after burnout. The result was that the parachute deployed at the rocket's maximum velocity. This pulled on the knot so hard that the parachute came free from the cord allowing the rocket to free-fall to the ground. The rocket suffered no damage at all. It fell into a grassy field. From that point on, I was sold on fiber glass fins. PML makes a durable kit.

Recovery
The Phantom features a 30" rip-stop nylon parachute which has a large bleed hole in the center. It is very strong and the cords are heavily stitched. The rocket falls almost vertically, even in gusty wind. After the first flight I started looping the 'chute through it's own shock cords so that the knot couldn't pull loose. This works well. I also stuck in some flameproof fiberglass insulation down the tube to prevent the piston strap from getting the brunt of the ejection gasses. This should extend the piston strap's life.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary
The PML Phantom is a good kit. It is easy to build, fun to fly, and has a good sized payload bay. Aside from the quibbles of the finishing problems I had with this particular kit, I would recommend it to anyone starting out in HPR.

PML also posts flight data for all their rockets with various engines. This is downloadable from their website.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5