Brief:
I bought 36 Swingers in a job lot. Obviously I was going to fly one, as I’ve been more interested in rocket gliders than rockets for some time.

Construction:
After a bit of trimming, this rockets is ready to go. The general feel of the kit is cheap. The elliptical wings that sweep forward are very stiff and unless the elastic band is stretched taught the wings rarely swing forward completely, unless they are worked a bit. I added silicone spray to the last swinger and that helped. The wings are held back during boost via a metal pin attached to a block with the largest pin sticking up from the body tube. The ejection charge moves the block and pin forward releasing the wing.

The rear stabilizer is slid into the rear of the boom. It's a tight fit and does not require gluing so this helps keep the mass down.

The most difficult part is trimming. The balance point is given in the instructions, clay is provided but on two of the swingers that I trimmed the test throws resulted in the polystyrene nose cone breaking.

Instructions are clear, but even with the balance corrected to the given balance point in the instructions, test throws showed that the glider needed to be trimmed again.

Finishing:
While there are two stickers to add and a bit of trimming, the coarse polystyrene and bright yellow and orange coloring makes this an ugly beast. The stickers do help to prevent the motor from melting the polystyrene wings.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
All three flights have been on C6-3s with the same results. Each time the rocket arcs after take off. At the end of the boost phase, the Swinger is either vertical or nose cone down. The coast phase brings the Swinger really close to the ground, the wings then sweep forward awkwardly causing the glider to hit the ground. There have been variations in the way it hits the ground, but each time the Swinger becomes a mass of broken polystyrene. I doubt if this glider ever has or ever will glide.

Recovery:
I wish it did!

Flight Rating: 1 out of 5

Summary:
If someone buys you this kit, then build it as guided above but do not install the motor. Take the Swinger out to your flying field and them jump up and down on it. This way you'll still have a smashed Swinger, but you won't waste a motor.

Overall Rating: 1 out of 5