The FSI Sandia Sandhawk is a 48-inch tall, two-inch-diameter scale model of a sounding rocket developed by the Sandia Laboratories in the 1960s. 

The kit is designed to use FSI's high-thrust black powder motors, the E60 and F100. Because of the difficulty in obtaining these motors, not to mention their expense, I modified my Sandhawk to accept 29mm reloadable motors and 24mm black powder motors. 

The motor mount conversion and modifications to the recovery system resulted in a nice sport scale model capable of flying on D through F motors. 

The kit features four fins cut out of one-quarter-inch thick balsa wood. The nose cone and bulkhead for the payload section also are made out of balsa. Body tube thickness is closer to model rocket kit thickness than high power thickness. Even though FSI recommends two high-thrust motors for this rocket, I stayed away from motors with a high initial thrust. 

To modify the motor mount, I took a 29mm motor tube from a MMA-2 motor mount kit. The centering rings that come with the kit can be used for the 29mm tube. They're made for a 27mm tube, so some careful sanding of the inside ring will allow the 29mm tube to fit. I recommend folding up a piece of coarse sandpiper and rolling it around the inside of the centering rings. Test the fit periodically until the 29mm tube smoothly slides in. Use epoxy to attach the rings to the mount tube. 

I installed an engine block in the tube, leaving enough room for an AeroTech 29mm 40-120 reload casing. In fact, I used my casing to push the block up the tube, being careful to clean the glue off of the casing afterward. 

I tried a couple of 24 to 29 adapter methods. I settled on attaching two pieces of MMA-1 adapter tube with part of an expended Estes D12 motor. I trimmed the top of the assembly to allow it to fit in the mount and put an engine block, leaving enough room for a D12 motor. 

For convenience and reliable motor retention, I took a one-quarter-inch piece of brass, drilled a hole near the end and bent it into a hook. A self-tapping screw was used to attach the hook to the rear centering ring. Tightening and loosening the hook is accomplished by loosening the screw. Thus, no masking was required to install the motor! 

The shock cord consisted of a long piece of elastic thread. To beef up this part of the recovery system, I installed Kevlar® cord and wrapped it around the elastic thread. However, I failed to use enough thread, as the first test launch proved. 

Fin alignment is critical, particularly with the thick fins. I used cyanoacrylate glue to tack the fins on the rocket and reinforced the joint with epoxy fillets. The kit's launch lugs seemed a bit thin, so they were replaced with thicker one-quarter-inch lugs. 

The first test flight on a D12-3 resulted in an impressive, slow liftoff. Everything went fine until ejection, when, to my horror, the payload section separated from the rocket! This usually means the booster section crashes into the ground with bad consequences. 

But to my surprise, the payload section tumbled down by itself, while the booster came down on the 26-inch yellow fabric parachute. The Kevlar® thread had been stretched to its limit before the elastic thread was stretched; consequently, the thread pulled the screw eye out of the payload nose block. The rocket suffered no damage. 

The entire shock cord assembly was replaced with three-eighths-inch elastic, anchored by a twine mount similar to those found in LOC/Precision and Vaughn Brothers kits. 

The second flight came at a DARS launch on an AeroTech E16-7 reload. The motor delay was too long, resulting in a cliffhanger flight. Fortunately, ejection was high enough above the ground to allow a safe recovery. The rocket was undamaged, despite the high-speed ejection. 

After another D12 flight, the rocket was launched at a DARS high-power launch with an AeroTech F22-4J Blackjack reload. The flight was picture-perfect. The rocket landed on a street, but was undamaged. 

Between the first two launches, the rocket was painted in a red, white and green scheme. The kit instructions give detailed information on painting the tube lengthwise, but no information on which fins to paint black. There are some paper cardboards apparently intended to be glued onto the rocket to simulate some devices around the fins, but I dispensed with those and the antennae wire, deciding to keep the rocket as a sport scale rocket. 

Even with the basic color scheme, it is an impressive-looking rocket - even one of the LCOs said so. 

The rocket has held up much better than one would expect, considering it has balsa for the nose cone and fins and a thin body tube. 

The pluses for the kit are ease of assembly, impressive looks and the surprising ruggedness. Even with the motor mount conversion, the rocket weighs right at one pound with the F22 reload, making it legal for flight without FAA notification. With a D12-3, it's well under the one-pound limit and makes an impressive small-field flyer. 

The minuses are the thin body tube, the relative lack of scale information and instructions that can be hard to read. My set looked like a fifth-generation photocopy. 

You may find the kit to be relatively expensive. It retails in the low $30 range. Cluster R offers a 2.6-inch Sandhawk with a retail price in the high $30 range. To the best of my knowledge, the FSI Sandhawk is the only flying kit available in its size. 

If you're looking for a nice-looking scale model of a rocket that you can fly anytime, then the FSI Sandhawk should fill the bill.