Brief:
Scale 4FNC model that is single stage rocket with parachute recovery.

Construction:
After being out of the hobby for nearly 20 years, and being a BAR for the last 3, I have slowly gotten into high and mid power rocketry. While attending the Michigan Space Modeling Championships in Jackson, Michigan on June 26-27 put on by HUVARS section #463 of the NAR, I purchased a Bull Pup mid power kit from Scale Kits.

The kit was packaged in a plastic bag with a colorful header card on top to show finished kit.

Parts were all there and included the following:

• 1 2.14" nose cone
• 1 15" long 2.3" diameter body tube
• 4 precut 1/8" plywood canard fins
• 4 precut 1/8" plywood main fins
• 1 preformed balsa tail cone
• 1 8" long 29mm motor mount tube
• 1 2.14" to 1.14" centering ring
• 1 18" rip stop nylon parachute
• 1 12" nylon rope shock cord
• 1 large swivel hook
• 2 1 ½" long ¼" diameter launch lugs
• 1 72" long tubular elastic shock cord
• 1 2ozs of clay weight
• 1 fin pattern guide
• 1 sheet of decals

The instructions were excellent with good drawings and measurements, steps were laid out in good order and there are no gotchas in the assembly. I did however vary the stock kit with the following:

I added a PML 2.1" piston recovery system that was installed during step 1 in the construction of the motor mount. (If you do likewise, you will want to cut off approximately 12" of the nylon strap to allow easier packing of the recovery system in the body tube.) I also added a screw insert in the bottom of the balsa tail cone to allow for motor retention, which was easy to do since it is good quality thick balsa. My last modification was to add a metal "L" to the other side of the engine retention screw. This was for the motor mount tube sticking out of the end of the rocket in case of a hard landing the "L" would take the impact and not the motor tube. All parts had an excellent fit and superior quality, such as the plywood fins only needed to be filled and sanded with SIG sanding sealer. I'm starting to really see the superior quality of plywood/basswood over balsa in ease of filling and strength. Body tube spirals were filled with Bondo spot putty and sanded smooth. I also fiberglass my motor mounts on anything over an "E" for strength and flame retarding.

Finishing:
Applied 2 coats of Plasticote white primer and wet sanded the rocket smooth with 600 sandpaper. Then I sprayed 2 coats of Krylon flat white over entire rocket. Vinyl striping made the 1 red and 2 black stripes easy to apply as the decals were very good quality and went on with no surprises. Overall the finished kit is OUTSTANDING to look at. Now to put it up in the air.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
My finished Bull Pup weighed in a little heavier than the 18.6oz in the instructions, however this is due to my adding a recovery piston. The first flight was on an AeroTech E23-4. Launch was perfect since there was no wind that day. No weather cocking was observed and she flew pretty straight and true, topping out at around 400'. Second flight was made on an AeroTech F40-7, which was a spectacular flight well over 1000'.

Recovery:
There was some minor tangling of the chute in the tubular shock cord but eventually it did deploy fully. On both flights the chute performed great and is constructed of high quality nylon.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
I would not fly it on anything larger than an F for fear of losing a fin. The lack of TTW fin construction may limit your motor selection a little and perhaps a shock cord that's not so stiff. Those are the only things I would consider changing on the kit. The tangled chute may have been my packing and not the shock cord's fault. None of this is enough of an issue to keep you from buying and building this kit. The price was good and the overall quality of the parts was superior. I look forward to my next purchase from Scale Kits.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5