Brief:
The Thrustline Mars Probe is a unique, eye catching design utilizing two ring fins, a smaller one fore and a larger aft both mounted on four well-styled fins. It is a sleek looking and novel design that, in all honesty, I wish I had come up with. Basically it is a single stage sport flyer that takes 18mm motors and comes with a balsa nosecone, fin stock, precut rings, preprinted tail shrouds, decal sheet, and is topped off with a Kevlar® enhanced parachute recovery system. Don't let the small size fool you--this kit takes a bit of skill to complete properly, Thrustline rates it a level 2/3, I would give it a solid level 3 rating. All in all, I think it is one groovy rocket.

Construction:

• 1 0.978" diameter body tube, 8.75" in length
• 2 Sheets of 1/16" x 9" balsa fin stock
• 1 Balsa nose cone
• 1 1" tube coupler
• 18mm motor mount tube, thrust ring and centering rings
• 2 Pre-cut ring fins
• 1 12" parachute with shock cord and Kevlar® thread
• 1 Eyelet
• 1 Launch lug
• 2 Preprinted paper shrouds
• Fin wrap marking guide and fin pattern sheet
• Instructions

PROs: The supplied instructions seem a bit crude, roughly printed on eight 8.5" x 11" pages but the B&W instructional photos proved to be a great aid in construction. Two tail shrouds are included in case one gets buggered. Kevlar® enhanced recovery system. The "Bag O' Parts" contained all the items needed to complete the kit.

CONs: The kit came in a plain plastic bag, no label, no header card, no artwork, just a bag of parts stapled shut. Now all this doesn't put me off my lunch, as long as all the parts are there I can build it, but I sure hope the retail packaging is a bit more refined. The kit is supplied with tiny printed fin patterns that need to be cut out and then inscribed on the balsa fin stock. The tiny fin patterns and the flimsy paper made accurate tracing a pain and the balsa fin stock was much too thin and fragile for such small parts. After breaking a couple of fins, I finally was forced to soak the balsa in thin CA just to keep them in one piece. Since the fins are meant to fit snuggly inside the included ring fins, it would be advisable to have precut fins in order to fit such close tolerances. Supplied Kevlar® thread is way too short, because if the shock cord were to break, the thread would have to be coaxed back through the engine tube in order to attach another. The instructions do not advise that you leave the Kevlar® thread hanging from the rear of the engine tube until it is too late in construction, making shock cord attachment a hassle. Luckily, I foresaw this "gotcha" and was able to attach the shock cord with little difficulty.

Finishing:
PROs: About the only saving grace for this kit is its great looks. The instructions advise that you paint the airframe and fins prior to mounting the ring fins. I went with just a couple coats of Banner Red paint and then she was ready. Balsa nose cone was tight grained and finished nicely. I never got to apply the reflective tape included for the ring fins but it did appear to be of decent quality.

CONs: No information on finishing is included in the instructions. Balsa stock was too soft and difficult to seal without rounding edges or pushing tolerances. Included water slide decals were atrocious, the lowest quality decals I have ever seen in a kit in all my 20 years of rocketry. I had planned on printing my own until the rocket was lost.

Construction Rating: 2 out of 5

Flight:
A C6-5 was used on both flights and a scrap of Nomex® from Pratt Hobbies was used instead of wadding.

PROs: She moves fast for a ring fin rocket and the flight was straight even in 10mph winds. It looked like she broke 1000' easy on both flights. I wasn't expecting that kind of performance as ring fin rockets usually decelerate very rapidly.

CONs: Not much of anything, she is a good flyer.

Recovery:
PROs: All functions nominal. No sign of burning on chute.

CONs: The 12 inch "you cut" chute is too large for this small kit. The first flight ended two hay fields away with no damage and the second took her to a different ZIP code. If I build another I will use a streamer.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
PROs: Unique design, pleasing to the eye, flies well, pre-cut tube fins, Kevlar® enhanced recovery system, two tail shrouds supplied, instructional photos proved to be a great aid in construction.

CONs: Poor quality parts and decals, soft balsa, tiny fin templates, crude packaging, "gotcha" in instructions, Kevlar® thread is too short, chute is too big, and the kit needs precut fins. I would consider the Mars Probe a diamond in the rough, although as long as the builder is experienced the kit should turn out decent.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5