Brief:
This is a free, easy, 13mm, paper shroud saucer which uses an aerobrake recovery. The 13mm Cinco is a diminutive version of Art Applewhite's Cinco saucer. It is not a kit, per se; it is offered as a free download in the form of a PDF file on his web site.

Construction:
This rocket is made from a single sheet of Card stock. You download the PDF, put a piece of card stock in the printer and print it out. Other than that, you will need some white glue, a straightedge and a razor knife.

Construction begins by cutting out the motor mount. A razor knife is used to carefully cut around the solid lines. Something a bit less sharp should be used in conjunction with a straightedge to score the dashed lines for easy folding. After the mount is cut out, the top tabs of the mount are folded down and glued to the next tab down. The middle tabs are then folded and glued to the interior of the motor mount. When the mount is folded into a tube, these tabs form the thrust ring. The motor tube assembly is set aside to dry while the shroud is formed.

The shroud is also cut out. Again, cuts are made along the solid lines and folds are scored along the dashed lines. A hole is cut for the motor mount and a notch is cut out for the launch rod. The upper part of the shroud is then folded into shape and a tab is used to glue it. After that, the lower shroud is folded and then inverted into the upper shroud. The two shrouds are held together with white glue.

After the shroud has a chance to dry, the motor tube is inserted into the cavity cut for that purpose. Care needs to be taken so that the thrust ring is at the top of the rocket. It should protrude about 1/32" above the top. A fillet of white glue is used to fasten the motor mount to the shroud, top and bottom. With that, construction is done.

Finishing:
The default finish for Art's downloadable rockets is whatever card stock you print it on. In the past, I have applied some decals to the shrouds with acceptable results. This time, I did something a little different. I opened a new file in Pagemaker® and then imported the PDF of the cinco. I then placed the logos for the organizations for which I am affiliated on the 5 sides. I saved the file, generated a new PDF and printed it out. In effect, I "finished" the rocket before it had even been built.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
Being lazy, I used a 1/4A3-3. I think I wanted to see if it would even clear the rod since Art himself listed this as an approved motor for this rocket. It did clear the rod and had a few dozen feet to spare. This is a draggy design and I did not expect much else.

It flew straight, inverted at apogee an coasted down using the aerobrake method so hated by the NAR. It recovered fine and is ready to go again.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
This is a nice, free rocket. Unlike many of Art's 13mm freebies, this one is not limited only to a plugged motor. If it fits, you can use it.

• PROS: free, simple, hard to lose
• CONS: none

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5