Brief:
This big colorful rocket ejects a skydiver with parachute at apogee! A separate parachute recovers the rocket booster while the nose cone tumbles to earth by streamer. A somewhat good starter set by Estes. Comes with a controller, launch pad, rocket, and C6-5 engines.

Construction:
The rocket had a payload section that was pathetic. It came with a army man on a parachute to put inside. The shock cord was surprisingly good compared to other Estes kits. It was a starter kit so their wasn't much assembly.

Some of the good things about this kit is that it comes with everything you need, like engines, launch pad, and a launch controller. A little G.I. Joe comes with the kit for a tiny payload section. He/she comes down on a separate parachute. It was amazing to find a decent shock cord for the rocket. A few bad things were that the rockets fins are weak. You have to apply plastic cement to make them stronger. On my first launch two fins snapped, so let that be a lesson for you.

Finishing:
Their wasn't much to assemble on this kit except for the parachute for the rocket and the parachute for the little army guy. It is obviously not a challenging kit, its a starter kit so comes in average condition.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
As most rockets, it required wadding. For my first 3 flights I used the B6-4 engines the kit came with. The first flight was straight up with a good ejection. Then came the second launch, straight up then at apogee it came down mighty hard snapping two fins. Then third launch took off unstable due to the bad fin stability.

Recovery:
I honestly despise parachutes most of time due to the drift they cause. The Free Fall sticks to its name. The parachute doesn't do much for it so it "free falls" back down to ground. The fins will snap on landing unless you make them stronger.

Flight Rating: 2 out of 5

Summary:
To me the rocket stinks, but the equipment is good. The rocket has weak fins that you really have to make more solid. The whole rocket stinks but good for the starter to have all of the equipment.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5