Brief:
A six-finned, mid-body rocket with a 28" diameter parachute.

Construction:
The packaging was in a bag (standard), all of the parts were included, no broken or missing pieces. The kit included body tubes made from heavy cardboard, a plastic nose cone, and six high quality plywood fins. The body tube was pre marked and easy to slot with a sharp hobby knife. It was very easy to assemble with 2 ton epoxy.

The only complaint was that the fins were not long enough to reach the engine tube from the body tube. I thought (for an instant) about altering the fins to allow them to reach the engine tube but, I didn't. The epoxy was strong enough to hold all six fins. The six fins were the main reason that I chose the Peacock.

The recovery system has a steel cable that is attached to the plywood centering ring and goes up to near the top of the lower section of the body tube. Then, a 9 foot shock cord is tied to the end of the cable. If I were to do it again, I would have done something to secure the loose end of the cable (near the loop at the end) because it sometimes catches the nylon parachute. In my opinion, a great kit!!

Finishing:
I did wash and sand the plastic nose cone prior to spraying the primer. I also brushed on some sanding sealer (a few times) and rounded the leading edge of the fins. When done, I ended up with nice, smooth fins. There were no decals included, so I looked to the Internet for a picture of a peacock that seemed appropriate. It took just a few minutes until I found the perfect decal image on the Internet. Then, with some decal paper, I adjusted the color of the image and printed it. Two cans of sun yellow paint and then I applied decals (should have made them a little smaller) and the "Screaming Peacock" was complete

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
Motors recommended are F25-6, F50-6, F80-5, G25-5, G40-7, G80-7, H55-10, H120-10. I flew it once (so far) using a North Coast Dark Star F62-4. I tried to get a picture with the digital camera but, I took off too fast. I mean it really lifted off the pad. I wish it had a piston ejection system, barring that, I sewed some Nomex® cloth together and tied it to the shock cord. I should have tied it a little better though, lost the Nomex® on the first flight. It protected the parachute just fine though. The flight was flawless, straight (probably due to the six fin design). I cant wait to put a H128 motor in this thing for my level 1 certification.

April 2000:, I flew it with an F-40 at a club launch. The Peacock has a slow descent rate so, I shortened the parachute cords somewhat with some tape and let her fly. The flight seemed perfect, I received complements from some of the other flyers after I retrieved it. But, as I mentioned before, the TTW fins didn't quite reach the motor tube. That fact, coupled with the somewhat faster descent, cracked the epoxy joint on one of the fins. So, I figured it was time to kill two birds at once. I used a dremel to cut the rear centering ring off to reveal the underlying fins. As you can see in the picture, there is close to 1/8" gap between the root edge and the motor tube. I bought some system three epoxy and filled the gaps, and filleted the internal joints between the airframe and the fins. Now, the connections are strong. Then, before I glued a new centering ring back in, I added two 4-40 blind tee nuts. I don't know if the short fins were an oversight by Rocket R&D or not but, if anyone else runs into the same problem, definitely fix it before installing the rear centering ring. (Rocket Dog is in the launch picture and I assure everyone that the dog loves launches and has never been harmed).

Recovery:
The 28" parachute worked perfectly, and brought it down easy for a safe recovery (in the middle of some high grass) .

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
This rocket is easily my favorite one. The excellent construction materials along with the ease of assembly makes this kit stand above any other ones that I have constructed. If this kit is characteristic of other Rocket R&D kits, I would recommend any of them to rocketeers interested in a quality product.

This kit would have merited 5 out of 5 overall if the fins reached the engine tube and if the frayed end of the cable had been secured so that it did not snag on the parachute.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5