Brief:
This is a very cool mid and high power scale kit of the Nike Smoke that is a lot of fun to build and fly. It can make a good second mid-power rocket with scale looks and can be used to transition to level 1 high power.

Construction:
The kit came in a bag with all parts in good condition. The first thing that stands out is the awesome balsa nose cone which at 16" long is almost half the length of the rocket. All parts are very good quality and included are some items that add scale realism to the kit.

The 3 page instructions were very good with detailed text and diagrams I have not seen in most mid and high power kits. There were templates for the fins, the nose cone, and the nose cone hatch covers. The build was fairly straight-forward with everything fitting well. I understand that Cosmodrome now includes motor retainers with all their kits but I purchased mine before they did so I drilled holes in the aft centering ring and added blind nuts with custom clips for motor retention before assembly.

In my opinion, the hardest part for someone new to high power kits was to cut the fin openings in the body tube. The fins are thru-the-wall so you epoxy the fins to the motor mount tube and epoxy internal fin fillets on the inside of the body tube. Therefore you cut the fin openings so the fins will fit tight and no external fin fillets preserve a scale look. The kit has instructions to sand the fins with scale like razor edges but I chose to leave them with square edges. I did use the thin plywood and the pins to make the scale nose cone hatches and they looked pretty good.

Finishing:
The main body and fins were an easy finish - I just primed with several coats of Krylon white sandable primer and then Krylon gloss white. Then the fins were masked and painted gloss red and one fin gloss yellow.

The nose cone was another matter. My normal lazy method is to wait for a warm weather and prime balsa or wood fins with 2 or 3 thick coats of Krylon sandable primer, sanding between coats and finishing with gloss paint. This usually covers most wood grain to my satisfaction without the trouble of using sanding sealer or wood filler. But the solid balsa nose cone kept soaking up the primer and after maybe four coats of primer and several gloss coats, the grain was still too visible for my liking. So I kept adding coats of primer and gloss. I guess there may be up to 20 coats of paint on the nose. Learn from my mistake and seal the nose cone first with sanding sealer, wood filler, or CA. Of course the paint added extra weight and most of my rockets come out a little heavier with thick epoxy fillets. The kit weight is stated on the package as 17 oz, but mine came out about 23 oz.

The final look of the rocket is very good, sport scale and I would give the construction and finishing a 5/5 since you get a very solid rocket that looks impressive. The only glitch was my mistake on sealing the nose.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
The recommended motors range from E30 to H97. Because mine came out on the heavy side and I had recently certified level 1 high power, I elected to try it on an H97-J10 Aerotech reloadable motor at ROCStock 10. I attached a Pratt Hobbies Nomex® chute protector but also threw in some cellulose fiber wadding for insurance.

The rocket has a wire shock cord mounted firmly to the forward centering ring. I chose to scrap the 7.5' elastic shock cord and replace it with a 15' length of 1/2" flat Kevlar® strap. I have seen so many experienced sources that recommend trashing the elastic that comes with mid & high power kits, I wonder why kit makers keep including them.

Flight conditions were very warm with light to zero wind. The flight was very fast, stable and high. The chute came out perfectly and the rocket came down about 150 yards from the pad for a perfect flight. No damage was observed on the rocket body, nose cone or fins.

The next day, I decided to try it on an H180-14 Aerotech reloadable motor. Again the flight was very fast, stable and very high. The chute deployed without a problem and I watched it until it touched down and then pulled a diet coke out of the cooler and started across the playa to get it. This time it was about 500 yards from the pads. After this flight I noted that the bottom of the rocket around the motor mount and retention clips was very charred and the cardboard peeling. I don't know if this occurred on just the 2nd flight but I will try to clean it off and seal this area with epoxy and or CA. There was no other damage.

After the launch I modeled the rocket dimensions on Apogee Components' RocSim4 program and determined that on the H97-10 the rocket could reach 3136 feet and on the H180-14, 3680 feet. A G64-10 could lift it about 2120 feet. I will try to upload my file to the RocSim Design library soon.

Recovery:
For the first flight I hooked up the 24" nylon parachute that came with the kit, but due to the rocket coming out heavier than what the package indicated, I decided to add a second 18" chute made of ripstop nylon. They both deployed fine with no tangles. The descent rate seemed safe and as stated the rocket touched down with no damage.

On the second flight I switched out the two chutes and tried a new RocketMan standard R4C chute made of ripstop nylon. This chute also deployed perfectly with no tangles and the descent and touchdown was without problems.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
This would make a great 2nd rocket for someone starting in mid-power or high power with good scale looks and great flight performance. It would also be a lot of fun for the experienced flier. The instructions are very good and the materials high quality. I would only replace the shock cord and recommend some heat proofing on the aft end of the rocket.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5