Brief:
This is a single stage cluster model rocket kit. It is an upscale clone of the old Estes Astron Cobra that uses a 3 motor cluster of 24mm motors where the original one from back in the 1960's used a 3 motor cluster of 18mm motors. The original one was 22.250" tall with a diameter of 1.6". They are both "payload" rockets and the big one gives you a 1.6" payload section where the original was .986". It uses an 18" Mylar parachute. It comes with what I think is a real cool looking set of decals, a big Cobra! The picture I have here is a shot of the completed kit with my ORIGINAL Cobra from 1969! Yes, I still have a few left that are in one or two pieces!

Construction:
I have built a few kits from Rocketpad and the assembly of this one was very straightforward. I used Elmer's wood glue for assembling this kit. Rocketpad has received some heat in the past that on some of their kits had misspellings in the instructions but this one went through the spell check and was fine. The kit is rated skill level 3 and if you ever built a few rockets, then this one you could just about do without looking at the instructions maybe except for the part of the cluster mount and Kevlar hook up. The instructions were in an easy to follow order and include some particularly helpful pictures to show how the mount is assembled.

The kit uses two body tubes: 2.6" and 1.6". The 4 fins are nice quality 3/32" balsa with a fine grain. It still had a sticker on it that read "MIDWEST" on it. The kit uses 2 laser cut black fiber cluster centering rings with 3 white tubes for the 24mm motors and motor blocks, plastic nose cone, heavy paper fin template, Kevlar shock cord mounting system, 18" mylar parachute, and a nice quality balsa wood transition. The decals are a thick material, not the thin stuff like on some other kits. These took about 60 seconds to slide off with a little resistance, which is the way I like to apply decals). The kit uses a 3/16" launch lug as well. There is a small pack of clay to push into the nose cone to help balance the rocket.

First you build the motor mount. I had to sand a little to get the motor tubes to slide in the centering ring, which you glue on after installing the motor blocks. Then they have you hook up the Kevlar cord through two holes in the upper centering ring and put some glue over the holes to make sure the knot stays put. I have used this mount on a few other Rocketpad kits and it has held up well. The templates for the fins were on a thick cardstock that made it easy to trace the fins on to the balsa with a pen. There is a tube marking guide that has you place the tube over a circle of the correct body tube size to mark where the fins and launch lug go. I like this type better than the wrap around type. It's a bit like my Estes tube marking guide. Everything fit fine except the centering ring, but that problem happens in a lot of kits, and assembly went nicely. No cons in the assembly here. It was fun building a bigger version of my original Cobra!

Finishing:
The kit is finished like most any other model rocket that has balsa parts. I used some sanding sealer on the fins and transition, then painted the kit as shown on the kit package picture. That is why I buy a kit--I like the way the it looks! The nose cone was left unpainted because it was already black. I used Rustoleum spray paint from Home Depot to paint this kit. That paint seems to take a while to stop smelling! The decals were great and the kit came out looking real cool. I like to keep it next to my original that had its very last flight the day I launched this one. I'm just not taking any chances with the original one any more as I had to save my 25 cent allowance to get that kit! No cons here in the finishing...it is just like most kits in this area. I am giving this kit 4 1/2 points only because I think it needs something more in the decal area, maybe something for the payload section? I don't know, I think I will add some of my own from a load of decals I got on eBay a time back. Otherwise, the kit was great.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
The rocket flies with 24mm motors and the manufacturer says to use a C11 for the first flight. I already had a pack of C11-3 motors. You have to put some masking tape on the motors for a snug fit to hold them in and used some dog barf wadding to protect the chute. I hooked up the igniters from my Estes Command Control launcher with 2 hobby batteries in it. The rocket went up rather slow and looked great to onlookers. It did not go up that high but was fine and it came back not too far from the pad. The next launch was with a pack of Estes D12-3 motors. This time it kicked and went high up. I don't know how high but it has to be about over 1000 feet! Each flight was straight up. I am happy all the motors lit. I hate it when only 2 ignite and the rocket flies off at an angle! The flights were ok and there were no cons here.

Recovery:
The rocket came back at a good rate with the included Rockethead Rockets Mylar parachute. There was no wind at this time so the walk was OK on the C11 flight but I had a bit of walking to do with the D12-3 flight since the wind was just starting to come up.

The rocket has been flown twice so far and the recovery system is in good shape. I like those Rockethead Rockets parachutes with the Kevlar® shroud lines. I think the rocket will hold up fine.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
It was fun finding an upscale version of my old original Cobra! The moment I saw it for sale I knew I had to have one. I enjoyed my original one and don't want to lose a bit of my old rocketry past that I still have so this is a new fun rock to have. It brings back thoughts of the old days. I would recommend this one to any BAR out there who had an original one or wanted one. I guess you can tell I loved the old rocket days. This big one is cool!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5