Brief:

This is a 1/3 scale replica of the famous sounding rocket from the 1950s and 1960s.

You can download their assembly instructions from this page.

Construction:

It comes with:-

• 34" long 54mm motor mount
• two centering rings
• pre-cut, beveled TTW fins
• fibreglass nose cone
• pre-fibreglassed main body tube.
• but like all the Polecat kits, no parachute.

If built exactly like the instructions this kit could end up weighing just 5.5 lbs (without parachute), my build was a bit heavier :-) since it came in at 11.6lbs with parachute and cold smoke canister (more on that later).

There is no provision for motor retension (another common Polecat theme), I chose to use the GiantLeap SlimeLine screw type, a bit pricey but I'm hooked on 'em.

To reduce the damage risk from a zipper; I added a second attachment point to the upper centering ring and a "FireBall" also from GiantLeap.

I mounted the motor mount a bit farther forward than the instructions say to, this was to ensure that the retainer was still inside. That way the rocket will stand up by itself.

I also added some weight to the nose, using lead shot and epoxy. I wanted to safely be able to fly the biggest 54mm motors in this rocket. But, because of a slip while pouring the lead shot into the epoxy, I got more than wanted, but decided to leave it. In hindsight I should have poured some out :-)

Finishing:

There are no decals or info on detailing the Nike Smoke (another common Polecat theme). I used the excellant Peter Alway "Rockets Of The World" book to get sizing and placment data and then printed decals for the lettering on my printer (works great) and then drew the other details with a "Sharpie" and a colored pencil :-)

The "4" rating is mostly because of this. For a $200 scale kit (which is a good deal) it should at least contain the scale data, indicating size and location for the marking that make it a scale model, preferably the decals would have been included. Otherwise, this is a solid and quick build.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:

First flight was on a CTI K660 at FITS 2004 in Mansfield Washington. This is a 54mm, 6 grain motor.

The Cesaroni folks certainly know how to make things easy! There were just 4 parts to the motor (including the case and aft closure!

Clean-up was a "snap"! Compare that to 17-18 parts for an Aerotech.

RockSim said 7569 feet and on a fairly windy day and a launch angle into the wind it made it to 7037 ft, max airspeed = 835f/s

Time to Apogee 21.5 seconds, total flight time was 5 mins 41 seconds with the Main at Apogee deployment.

Recovery:

Mentioned above was the use of the "FireBall", which was attached to about 24ft of tubular nylon, then a 6' chute. Yep, main at Apogee, why you ask? I wanted a long lingering descent. Some time ago I found some orange "cold smoke" canisters, that are designed to be used as emergency beacons in the water. I got four of them (3 more ready to use!). I tied the can up in 1/8" Kevlar® thread and epoxied the knots to create a cage around the canister, then attached the pull string to the nose cone. At deployment the ring was pulled and orange smoke started to pour out. No one at the launch knew (I should have told the Launch Director and will next time), so after I confirmed that it was "by design" and that it was "cold smoke", everyone enjoyed (especially me) the skywriting that happened for over 5 mins. as the rocket lazily descended. The smoke stopped about 10 seconds after landing, and of course I knew exactly where it was!

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:

PoleCat Aerospace, formerly SkunkWorks Rocketry, formerly Peenemunde West, makes some GREAT kits! I have their "Woket" which I modified to be a "Wizocket" (looks like Disney's Wizards hat), their 10" V2 (working on that now for my L3) and their 10" Saturn V (working on that now too).

The main Pro's for this kit are:-

• This is a fairly easy and straightforward build.
• It makes a GREAT looking rocket when finished as the original.
• And as you can tell you can build it "your way".

My biggest concern (some like this, I know) is that there is no scale data included. Which means you have some research and fidlling to do to get it to look it's best. Otherwise this would be a "5"

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5