Rocket R&D Jayhawk (4")

Rocket R&D - Jayhawk (4") {Kit}

Contributed by Matt Bugera

Construction Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Flight Rating: starstarstarstarstar
Overall Rating: starstarstarstarstar_border
Manufacturer: Rocket R&D
 

[Rocket Pic]

Brief:High power rocket modeled after an army target drone, 38 mm. motor mount and parachute recovery.Takes a lot of time and patience to build, for the serious model builder. 

Construction: Excellent instructions included with the kit.They go through each stage of construction in detail. A lot of attention to the small details since there is quite a bit of fooling around with the fin tabs and outer wings. Rocket R&D through the wall fin attachment is the sturdiest method I have run across.My only complaint about the kit is the Ace nose cone. (Ace is a brand name. They are very light weight and have a milk cap closure.There is no shock cord mount built into them, however,on the upside with the milk cap closure it is very easy to add weight to the nose for stability.)

Finishing: I had my rocket painted gloss black with the intentions of making some decals on my laser printer, there are none included with the kit. I never bothered to fill in the body tube spirals, but since the kit was professionally sprayed the grooves are not visible

Construction Rating:  4 out of 5

[Rocket Pic] Flight:Excellent flier, because of fin tabs it spins when launched.On a real calm day it will leave spirals in the exhaust. I have flown it many times on G-80-4 single-use engines.These are excellent flights for a small field [est.800 ft.]I have also flown on G-75 and H-97 reloadable motors with short delays, the dark smoke and low thrust flights really allow you to see it spin.The largest engine I have used is the H-123.  Here you get a fast take off but because of the spin created it slows down quite a bit so be sure to use a short delay.Very simple to prep and fly.I built my own motor retainer with t-nuts.I built my own motor retainer with t-nuts.Wadding is required, a big handful of cellulose works every time. 

Recovery: Rocket R&D has a different way to attach the chute, It is tied to the shock cord on a 12" piece of heavy nylon string. The shock cord is mounted to the inside of the airframe Loc/Precision style.If I had to do it all over I would mount it to the centering ring.I have over twenty flights with this rocket and have never had a chute deployment problem. 

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary: I think this is an excellent kit, its my favorite this week. excellent project for the winter, I spent a month building it. 

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5

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