Brief: The Harpoon is a scale model of a US Air-Launched Anti-Ship Missile, The Launch Pad's kit is an excellent first mid power and scale rocket.

Construction: I was so glad when I finally got my hands on my AGM-84 Harpoon. One of the members of my club was going down to the US and was kind enough to bring it back for me. I received the Harpoon with all pieces present, in good condition, and good quality. I have heard some not so great things about TLP's balsa wood, but I found the wood for the Harpoon great, with a little help from CA.

The instructions were clear, but I wish they would have included more help and info on how to get the little hat that sits on top of a FatBoy style nose cone, straight and in the middle, that was tricky, but I think mine is close enough for my standards. That was the only real "gotcha" for this rocket, the fins aligned great, and everything fit together perfectly.

Finishing: The only thing that really disappointed me in the beginning with the Harpoon was the lacking of decals. But, now I know that it much easier for the consumer to use his or her own techniques. I just painted the bands that go around the rocket, and for all of the small pinpoint rivets that are suppose to be on the rocket, I used a decal pack that I got from a local hobby store (East Coast Model Center) that was 1/5 rivet decals, perfect, went on with ease, and made the rocket look great. Still pondering what to do for the small amount of lettering that will go on the rocket. Just a note, I am not a perfectionist, or a great scale buff, my Harpoon was just sports scale, but I like how it turned out.

Construction Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Flight: The recommended motors for the harpoon are a D12-3, E15-4, and a RMS F24-4 (24mm). I plan on using all of the recommended motors, but instead of the E15, an E18 (reload).

The day for the maiden flight for the Harpoon finally came. First flight would be on a D12-3. Everything was setup, pictures were taken, and after making sure the wind was perfect, that the launch rod was perfect, and that everything was perfect, it was ready to launch. I pushed the launch button and the Harpoon lifted off. The flight was perfect. The Harpoon flied straight as a rail, nice altitude on a D, and then right at apogee the ejection charge fired, and the nice mylar parachute deployed, and the Harpoon drifted down. Perfect flight and recovery.

Second flight, same day. I was going to fly my LOC Aura on an Aerotech E engine, that was the plan, but when I launched that on a D, the stock streamer didn't slow it down enough and it broke a fin off, so I thought I would fly it in the Harpoon. Everything was set, and was readied again. I hit the launch button, and the Harpoon lifted off the pad, the igniter clips didn't come off, it soared... wait a minute (my exact thoughts). The Aerotech igniter clips didn't unattach themselves from the Harpoon, when it was about ten feet off of the pad, the leads ran out of slack, which caused them to pull on the harpoon, causing it to go horizontal. The leads did finally come unattached. The Harpoon sailed directly away from us and over the small hill we launch on. Amazing sight. Then the realization set in. The slow walk started towards the crash site. As we got closer to it, we noticed that the parachute had deployed. Good sign. It landed in some alders, pretty good sign, but then we notice what we thought was the nose cone, was actually the top six inches of the rocket's body tube smashed.

Damage report. First six inches of the rocket are destroyed. The nose cone was completely smashed to bits, one broken fin, and all fins had small slits from the alder branches. It is fixable, it will be fixed, and it will fly again, and hopefully soon. I contact TLP and they were great enough to help me by giving me the length of the rocket, help me with a parts list, and are sending me a replacement 'little hat' that goes on to the top of the nose cone to give it the scale.

Recovery: One thing I really enjoy about the Harpoon is its green mylar parachute, it's easy to see, easy to pack, and has a snap for easy removal from the Harpoon. The 18" seems to be fine from the tests I have conducted (throwing it off my deck). The recovery system is a snap to put together, but instead of using the shroud line material to connect the nose cone to the swivel, I just tied the shock cord to the nose cone, and put the swivel 10" or so down, didn't want to trust that thin string).

Flight Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Summary: This rocket looks awesome, that is the best thing I feel about it. It is a nice looking rocket, the right size, nice motors size, nice scale touch, and a nice finish. The only thing I would say that I disliked about the rocket would be that little hat that goes on top of the nose cone. Other than that, all of the pieces went together easily. A good first mid power or scale rocket.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5