Brief:
The P-Chuter is a very easy to build single stage rocket that looks fantastic and flies great! I got my kit from John as a beta test kit. The rocket stands a little over 20" tall, flies on 18mm motors, and recovers by parachute. In my opinion, the rocket actually looks a lot better than it does on the web page. John has appropriately classed this rocket as a "competition" rocket.

Construction:
The kit includes a BT-50 body tube, standard 18mm engine mount, balsa nose cone, screw eye, 1/8" elastic shock cord (nice long one in my beta test kit!), 12" mylar parachute, 1/8" launch lug, 3-fin laser cut fin sheet, and P-Chuter decal and trim Monokote for decoration. The shock cord was long enough that I didn't have to substitute it, although I did add an 8" length of Kevlar® at the shock cord attachment point.

The instruction sheet contains easy to follow, numbered instructions and helpful illustrations. Installation of the motor mount is standard, including an engine hook for positive motor retention. I appreciated the "small parts" bag that keeps all the little things in one place. A fin-marking guide is supplied to properly align the fins. John's instructions for attaching the fins using a "double glue joint" are very good. This method helps assure that the fins are aligned as placed, since they set much quicker. The laser-cut fins were perfectly matched, so minimal sanding was required, and the body tube didn't require any finishing to fill in the seam lines. The spirals were hardly noticeable after primer and paint. A tri-fold shock cord attachment was provided to connect nose cone and body tube. As is usual on any rocket I build, I installed a length of Kevlar® in the shock cord attachment with a loop at the end to attach the elastic shock cord. To minimize abrasion from the Kevlar® against the body tube, I soaked in CA around the top 1/2" of the body tube and tied the Kevlar® so the knot in the loop meets the lip of the body tube. I glued on the launch lug, installed the screw eye into the nose cone, and attached the shock cord. The parachute comes in a separate plastic bag complete with instructions. Once assembled, you're ready for finishing.

Finishing:
The balsa nose cone and fins require standard finishing. I used Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish, but any balsa filler will work fine. The rocket went together really fast, especially since I didn't have to eliminate the seam lines. Also, the trim Monokote was a lot easier to apply than decals, although the P-Chuter decal laid down nicely and looks great on the rocket. I'm not sure if my beta test kit is the same as the retail kit, but I forgot to check the fit of the trim Monokote. It was a little too long for the fins, so I wrapped it around the back of the fin. Uh, well, the instructions did say to test-fit parts before installing. That's a really good idea. This is a very easy rocket to build and the shaped fins look great and probably contribute somewhat to the extreme altitude this rocket can achieve. I liked it so much I actually bought another from him.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
My only flight so far was on a B6-6 but I had to check the motor upon recovery because I thought I had put a C6-7 in by mistake. It's very fast! Flight was perfectly straight with ejection right at the top. However, I forgot to powder the chute after re-packing it. I had left the parachute folded in the body tube a few months before the burn ban was lifted. It came down too fast with wad recovery and put about a 4" crimp along the seam line. That is no fault of Red River Rocketry, it's just my forgetfulness. This rocket should achieve some serious altitude on an "A" motor and will likely go out of sight on a "C."

Recovery:
Regardless of the recovery problems I had, the provided 12" parachute is plenty big for the rocket and appropriately sized I think given the altitude capability.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
The P-Chuter is an excellent rocket that can be built in a couple of hours. Its shaped fins will make it a unique addition to your fleet and it is reasonably priced. Just make sure you've got plenty of room to fly if you put that C motor in it.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
While this is a basic 3-fin and nose cone design, the rounded fins and cool trim make it visually appealing. It also boogies up to pretty impressive altitudes on 18mm motors.

Construction:
The parts list:

• Balsa nose cone
• BT-50 body tube (17")
• 50/20 centering rings
• BT-20 motor tube
• 20/5 thrust ring
• metal clip
• laser-cut balsa fins
• elastic shock cord
• 1/8" lug
• mylar chute
• waterslide decal
• Monokote trim

Parts were all very good quality. In particular, the body tube had hardly a trace of spiral, making finishing extremely easy. Even the bag's header card was good quality color reproduction.

Somehow I've managed to not get around to building any Red River Rocketry kits so far, and I decided to correct that by promoting this kit to the front of the build queue. I'm glad I did, as the kit is well designed and a quick and easy build. I had the whole thing done and ready for finishing in about 30 minutes and would rate it a skill level 1 kit.

Jim Gartrell did a fine job reviewing the construction steps, and there's not much I can add to them given the simplicity of the design. I will point out that the released version of this kit includes instructions that were printed out on high quality glossy paper. That's probably a bit overkill but certainly the nicest paper I've seen in a kit.

While I do like the shape of the fins, the suggested airfoiling is a bit of a nuisance. Rounding the leading edge is pretty easy, but getting a nice taper on the swooping trailing edge requires a good sanding block and steady hand.

As long and rugged as this is, I couldn't help comparing it to the Mercury Atomizer (released later than the P-Chuter) and wondering if it wouldn't do just fine on a 24mm with 18mm adapter for lower flights.

I normally don't bother to comment on the parachute in reviews other than listing the material, but did want to point out that the parachute in this was a very nice red Mylar and cut truly round, with 8 attachment points and ample shroud line lengths of 18+18 per paired line. Each line was attached by punching a hole in the Mylar and securing them by a pair of taped paper reinforcements, so I would not consider this sweet chute a very durable one. I generally prefer higher tack tape disks to attach shrouds to the surface of the chute rather than through a hole. Still, I'd rate the chute nicer than the average chute.

Finishing:
I went with a pretty quick and easy finishing technique. I coated the nose cone with Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish, watered down slightly so that I could smear it on with my finger. Once dried, I sanded down with 220 then 400 grit sandpaper, and it was perfect.

Body tube got nothing, as I felt the primer would probably take care of what little spirals I found. Fins got same Fill 'n' Finish treatment and were clamped down overnight to avoid warping.

For the paint scheme, I went dirt simple--a coat of gray primer base, mostly sanded down, mainly just to confirm no major grains or spirals left. I followed up with a coat of white primer, sanded down with wet 600 grit, then two coats of Rustoleum gloss white.

Accent color is conveniently managed via adhesive Monokote--black, gold and yellow for the fins, and a gold band on the tube near the cone. A waterslide decal completes the trimming.

After paint and decals, I weighed my finished rocket at 1.24 ounces versus the kit's listed weight of 1.25, one of the few times I've actually come in at or near the manufacturer's weight.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
Fearing that a C6 would send this out of our park (plenty of thermal action on our field that day, plus 8-10 mph winds), I went with a B6-4. The recommended delay is a -6, but I was a little low on -6s and wanted to hoard my last few packs for competition flights. The boost was absolutely perfect, straight as an arrow and no spin at all. The -6 delay would definitely have been better, as this was still clearly climbing a bit when the -4 popped the chute.

Recovery:
The mylar chute deployed fine, was a good size for this bird, and held up to the early deployment just fine. So far so good with those reinforcements...

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I hardly ever rate a rocket a full 5 across the board, but I really can't find anything to knock on this one. A very nice flier, looks sharp, and I especially like the use of the Monokote trim. The parts were all very good quality.

In reviewing the other reviews and comments I'd seen, while I think this could certainly work well as a "qualified flight" candidate in 18mm parachute or streamer duration contests, I'd caution against considering this a true competitor model. It's overly long, quite heavy, and while the BT-50 could hold a big thermal-sucking chute, you won't get nearly as high a boost from this as from something like an ASP Hang Time kit. Buy this kit, build it, and have a blast sport flying it, but don't get your hopes up trying to win an NAR contest with it.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5