Brief:
Single state, 1:19.5 scale model of the German V2 ballistic missile. The only skill level 4 kit Estes currently sells.

Construction:
The kit comes with plastic nose and tail cones, four plastic sheets of fin, a short 4" body tube, a BT-50 for the engine, centering rings, two 24" parachutes, and the usual motor retention stuff. Also, some decals for a more scale appearance.

When I first started on the V2 I was wondering why it is a skill level 4 kit. The first steps involve adding the motor retention to the BT-50 then gluing it and the centering rings to the tail cone. The difficulty of the kit is dealing with the fins. Four vacuum molded fin sheets are included and you are supposed to cut the two halves out of each sheet then glue the fins together. If you buy this kit please note: The instructions simply state "Carefully remove plastic fin halves with knife." You will have a much easier time if you cut one to two millimeters extra all around each fin. A later step says to sand away that extra material, and if you don't leave the extra material you will have a much more difficult time assembling the fins. I learned this the hard way!

Finishing:
Pro: With the exception of the fins, construction is quick and easy - no more difficult than a skill level 2 kit. Con: The fins. After cutting out each half I found they were all slightly warped and had a difficult time getting them glued together well.

Construction Rating: 3 out of 5

Flight:
So far this rocket only has one flight. The Estes documentation lists a maximum altitude of 300 feet after a three second burn on an E9 engine, and I estimated a 200 foot altitude with a D12. The liftoff was slow, and the rocket climbed slower than any other I have ever seen. It is definitely not a scale launch, but a very impressive launch and flight that I enjoyed. The flight was straight and, even though the fins were all warped, there was no visible spinning of the rocket. One problem I found - the instructions say to use 6-8 squares of wading, but this didn't quite seem sufficient to protect the two parachutes. Instead I purchased a 12 inch Kevlar® pad from Top Flight Recovery. If you like a fast launch and a lot of altitude find another kit. But if you prefer low flights and slow climbs you will enjoy the flight of this model.

Recovery:
Just after apogee the charge popped off the nosecone, which pulled out its own parachute. Unfortunately the ejection charge was insufficient to blow out the Kevlar® pad and it stayed in the body tube, along with the parachute for the body. After tumbling back to earth and landing in a soft field there were four cracks in one fin and one small piece completely broken off. Nothing a little epoxy couldn't fix, and this rocket is ready for another launch. In a static test I determined the ejection charge is sufficient to blow off the nosecone and blow out both parachutes IF they are on top of the Kevlar® pad and not inside it.

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
The field where the rocket fell was very soft, and a lot of other Estes rockets recovered in the same manner without damage. I would be happier with stronger fins, but other than this I have no complaints.

Overall Rating: 3 out of 5