Brief:
The Maurader is a two-stage rocket originally designed to fly on 18mm motors. I upscaled it to accomodate 24mm "D" engines.

Construction:
The instructions consisted of some assembly sheets downloaded from JimZ. The plan was easy to follow and the assembly order was ok. The rocket is easy to build if you have ever built from scratch before and shouldn't cause too much pain to the first time scratchbuilder. Fin alignment is critical on any rocket and this one is a little bit harder due to the 8 fins having to align on both booster and sustainer. this rocket is of sturdy design, and should survive most recoveries. No special tools needed, and the supplies came from my bag of tubes, pile of balsa, and an old PNC-56 I had laying around. I made mine an upscale to accomodate "D" engines instead of "C's" :), and added 3/8" to the dimensions of the fin templates. Used BT56 tubes and appropriate couplers.

Finishing:
Normal finishing techniques were employed, with sealing of fin material with Dope Sanding Sealer, sanding, and painting with Krylon paints; White, Red, Black, and gold. I think the model has a very nice look, and brought back memories of the "Good Ol' Day's" when you had to BUILD everything. I have found myself building more, and more of the OOP models lately and really enjoy it. I will send the dimensions (tubes length, etc.)used if you send E-Mail request for them to bobcat2@alaweb.com

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
I used Estes D12-0 for the booster and the D12-7 for the sustainer. Preparation was normal with engine being put in booster and sustainer with standard Estes motor clips for retention. Wadding was the celulos insulation material used in the sustainer. The flight was great with a straight climb and separation of the booster and subsequent ignition of the sustainer. This rocket puts the sustainer a long way up, and is not a small field rocket. The recovery of the booster is by tumble method and it came down very gently without any damage. The sustainer was on an 18" Estes chute suspended from aprox. 6 ft. of 1/8" elastic shock cord. All was recovered in perfect condition.

Recovery:
Recovery was without incident. The only negative I noticed was that the area where the booster and sustainer join, had a lot of residue from the ejection charge. The area caused it to go together very tightly. I feel that after a few flights more the area will not go together, and it may turn into a single stage rocket. I see no way to prevent this from being a problem. I will probably launch it a few more times, and make it a static display of "How we used to do it"..

Flight Rating: 3 out of 5

Summary:
Main Pro's - Fun to build, nostalgic, good looking, semi-complex, sturdy design. Main Con - Coupler area getting dirty, and not going together after a realitively few flights.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5