Brief:
I won this rocket in an EMRR contest last year. This is a very basic looking 4 finned rocket. It is constructed of very good quality components. The rocket is a minimum diameter 29mm rocket capable of very high altitude and speed.

Construction:
The kit comes with:

• 1 12" body tube
• 1 6" body tube
• 1 very nice balsa nose cone
• 2 couplers (mine only came with one)
• 1 wide plastic streamer
• 1 thin elastic shock cord
• 1 big screw eye
• 1 plywood bulkhead
• 4 fins
• 1 launch lug

First, I would like to say that I am very pleased with the quality of this kit. Construction is very basic and straightforward. One of the plywood fins was cut a little small, but nothing too terribly noticeable. The bulkhead was cut way oversize, but I ditched it anyway. I epoxied the coupler into the booster section for a "zipperless" design. I then epoxied the large screw eye into the balsa nose cone for payload attachment. I cut dado slots in the tube for extra strength of fin attachment. Then I tacked the fins down with super glue, followed by a very generous epoxy fillet on all of the fins. I also ditched the launch lug in favor of rail buttons.

Finishing:
Nothing really special about finishing. I sanded everything until it was very smooth, then applied a couple of coats of primer, sanding in between coats. I then sprayed Krylon Red on the whole thing. When that was dry, I masked off the area around the "small" fin and shot it with black. I used one of the supplied "U.S. ROCKETS MINIROC 1.2" stickers on the BT above the fins and one of the U.S. Rockets logo on the fin.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
The first flight was on March 11, 2006 on an E9. It was very straight and went very high. It blended in with the low dark overcast skies. Luckily, someone spotted it just before touchdown, about a third of a mile away.

The second flight was on May 13, 2006, on an AT F21W. Wow, this is the motor for this rocket. I saw it all the way from liftoff to touchdown. Rocksim says 3,000' and Mach 0.8. I believe it, too. Recovery was about a half mile away.

The third flight was also on May 13, 2006, on a D12. Unfortunately, the motor spit at ejection and it came in hot. It stuck straight out of the sod. The body tube pushed into the balsa nose cone about an inch past the shoulder. This has since been repaired and it is ready for another flight.

Recovery:
I used a normal 3/4 inch wide and 5 foot long streamer for recovery. I was able to see it just fine from apogee to touchdown on the F21W flight.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I believe Jerry has produced a wonderful kit here. If you like altitude and speed, you need one of these. The design is also pleasing to the eye (not that it will matter when you press the launch button.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5