Brief:
The Vulture is a BT-55 kit that flies on an 18mm motor with parachute recovery. The kit art is the usual high quality graphic that is a signature of Squirrel Works kits. The same goes with the parts quality, which is excellent too. Flights are really spectacular. The rocket is very fast and stable and looks great on the pad.

Construction:
The parts list:

• 1 BT-55 kraft main body tube
• 1 BNC-55 balsa nose cone
• 1 laser cut balsa fin sheet
• 1 standard 18mm motor mount kit with motor clip
• 1 standard 1/8" launch lug
• 1 screw eye
• 1 washer, 1" steel (nose weight)
• 1 shock cord, 1/8" elastic
• 1 mylar parachute kit
• 1 canopy template
• 1 decal sheet, water slide

I test fit all the parts first and sanded for fit as needed, then sanded all the tubes and balsa, and filled the nose cone using Elmer's Fill n Finish to get that all out of the way in the beginning. The body tube seams were hardly noticeable, so I didn't worry with filling them. The wings come in two pieces and are separately glued together on the body tube per the instructions. However, I wanted to paper the fins, so I put the two pieces together first before gluing to the rocket. Since the parts are laser cut, these fit together very nicely. While that's drying, the motor mount, which is a standard build, was constructed. After that, I filled the joints in the wings, re-sanded them and then papered the wings and fins.

Next, I inserted the motor mount into the tube. While that was drying, I constructed the shock cord attachment, epoxied the washer onto the base of the nose cone, inserted the screw eye, cut out the marking guide, and drew the alignment lines. I used double glue joints to attach the wings and fins. Parts go on very nicely with this method and stay where you put them.

The wings are glued on straight away from the tube first, then the fins and launch lug are attached next. After the wings had dried, I then put on the wing fins. Once everything had dried, I added fillets to all of the joints. Then, I cut the cockpit out from the template, folded it, and glued it onto the nose cone. I filled in around the seams and "feathered" it into the nose cone using Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish. The cockpit really adds a lot to the look of the rocket. Lastly, the shock cord mount and shock cord were installed and connected to the screw eye in the nose cone. I added a six-inch length of Kevlar® to install in the shock cord mount, my standard installation. I put CA around the forward end of the tube and tied a knot in the Kevlar® at the exit point to protect against abrasion and added a loop at the end of the Kevlar® to tie on the 1/8" elastic cord. Lastly, I put the parachute together.

Finishing:
The entire rocket was painted with Krylon light gray. I had gotten the decals cut out while waiting for the wings and fins to dry, so I was ready to start applying those. They laid down nicely and look great. The rocket looked cool even before the decals were applied, but as each decal was placed, I was more and more impressed. Next I applied a couple of coats of Future Floor Wax to protect the finish and improve the shine.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
Before loading the rocket on the pad, I forgot to orient the nose cone properly. It's only off 180 degrees! I had a lot of rockets to fly, so I only got in one flight on the Vulture with a B6-4. The winds were under 10mph. It was a perfect day for flying, nothing but blue skies and soft dirt. The rocket zoomed off the pad straight as an arrow to some serious altitude. I was surprised at how quickly it got off the pad and how high it went. Very nice! You'd better have plenty of room for recovery if you intend to put it up on the C6 motor.

Recovery:
The chute popped just before apogee and landed perfectly. Fantastic!

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5