Brief:
This is a single stage model rocket kit. It is a futuristic booster for a satellite. The kit uses a 12" parachute and has a payload section. It also has a cool looking plastic nose cone, which I guess is the satellite! I was attracted to this kit because of its cool, different looks and because it uses 24mm motors.

Construction:
I got the kit on eBay and it came in fine shape. It was packed in a standard plastic bag with a cardstock kit liner with a color picture of the rocket. The kit uses a very different looking plastic nose cone that I have never seen quite like before. the fins are cut from a big sheet of nice, fine grain basswood. You cut a fin template from cardstock and trace it onto the basswood. There is a helpful aid that shows how to lay out the fins on the sheet. There is enough basswood stock for a little more than the 3 fins you need to cut out. The instructions have you first assemble the motor mount, install it before moving on to the fins. A tube marking guide is placed on the body tube so that it can be marked where the fins are to be glued on. You then attach a nice size screw eye to a balsa transition. That subassembly is glued into the BT-55 payload tube. You then put some strips on the nose cone to keep it on in flight, attach a parachute, and the rest is regular assembly items. There is a nice amount of separate picture sheets with the instructions to help in the construction of the kit! The kit also uses a metal motor hook for motor retention. The shock cord was connected by a Kevlar® cord to the motor mount.

This was the second Rocketpad kit I have assembled, the first was their USSC SHARK kit that I got last year. The instruction in this kit were much better. There were no spelling errors and was easier to follow. I was happy with this kit. As I had said earlier, I like the screw eye size, which is a little thing, but some kits I have built had big balsa nose cone with tiny screw eyes that look weak. It was also nice to have that large sheet of basswood because I messed up on one fin. The card template was a nice plus--much better than a sheet of thin paper to trace the fins with. The only thing you have to have is a good X-Acto knife to cut the basswood. I used Elmer's wood glue and it worked fine. There were no cons I can think of on this kit.

Finishing:
I filled in the balsa nose cone and basswood fins. The grain in the basswood only used 2 coats of sealer and the transition took 3 coats to smooth them out. The parachute was a bright red mylar with Kevlar® shroud lines already assembled from Rockethead Rockets. The decals are colorful with several sheets of decals to cut out. They were very nice quality material and not the thin stuff you sometimes get. There were no cons in the finishing of this kit. I followed the colors of the kit like on the kit bag and it came out just like the picture. It is an impressive kit to look at.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
The kit uses a 3/16" launch lug and flies with 24mm C11 and D12 motors. I placed about 4 or 5 sheets of Estes wadding in the rocket and put in the recommended C11-5 for the first flight. It launched straight up to a few hundred feet and the parachute came out right at apogee. The bright red mylar was easy to see in the sunlight. There was just about no wind and it came back close to the pad. On the second flight, I got brave and put a D12-7 in it. Straight up like the first flight but much higher! The mylar parachute was easy to spot but I did have to walk a bit to get it at the end of the high school field! It took some time to come down and I was happy there was no wind!

Recovery:
The shock cord was a 1/4" elastic with Kevlar® cord to the motor mount. The 12 inch parachute was the correct size for this kit. My kit weighed 3oz, which was a little lighter than it said on the kit sheet. There was no damage to the parachute. I would not use a D motor with this kit in a small field and/or with any wind, as it will have you running some distance to retrieve it, if you get it back at all!

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
I really like this kit and recommend it. The instructions and decals were all fine. The decals nicely dress up this kit.

There were no cons I can really think of, but be careful with which motor you use on a windy day!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5