Brief:
This newest kit from Squirrel Works is simply awesome! It's a BT-55 kit that comes with two fantastically designed parasite gliders fashioned to resemble the Corsair and Zero WWII fighter planes. The booster also bears resemblance to a WWII bomber, uses 18mm motors and recovers with a big 18" mylar chute. The face card in the kit is another true work of art, a signature of Squirrel Works kits. Parts quality is excellent, especially the decals. Don has found a new source for these, and they are the best I have ever used. Thank goodness, too, as there are a lot of decals to apply. They didn't take nearly as much effort to apply as I thought they would though, and they really make this kit stand out. Building the kit was loads of fun, but flying the rocket is even more fun!

Construction:
The kit is loaded with parts:

• 1 BT-55 kraft main body tube
• 1 BNC-55 balsa nose cone
• 8 laser cut balsa sheets
• 1 standard 18mm motor mount kit with motor clip
• 2 standard 1/8" launch lugs
• 1 screw eye
• 2 small dowels
• 1 shock cord, 1/8" elastic
• 1 Kevlar® anchor
• 1 clay for balancing (but I didn't have to use any!)
• 2 pennies for glider nose weight
• 1 18" mylar parachute kit
• 7 decal sheets, water slide

You're going to need to clear off the build table for this one. There are a lot of parts, and if you skip around through the instructions you can build the gliders and the booster simultaneously as your waiting for glue to dry. Allow plenty of time. This isn't something you want to rush. Savor the build. It really is a fun kit to build.

Since I would be skipping around in the instructions, I started off by reading the instructions several times to get a clear mental picture of how everything went together. Next, I test fit all of the parts and sanded for fit as needed, then sanded all the tubes and balsa, filling the balsa grain and tube spirals with Elmer's Fill 'n' Finish to get that all out of the way in the beginning. I also papered the large booster wings and fin tips using computer paper, applying CA along the edges to keep the edges smooth after rounding. Only a light coat of filler was used on the glider parts to minimize weight. I built the balsa glider jigs after that. These are awesome! They are designed to perfectly align the glider parts as you build them. The parts for the stand are laser cut and tabbed, so it's a snap to put them together. I used rubber cement to hold them together, so I could pull them apart once the gliders were finished so they would store easier. After that, I put the motor mount together and moved on to put the glider wings together while the glue was drying. Be careful with the glue when putting the glider together or you'll find them glued to the glider stand. A sharp hobby knife will separate them if you mess up on that though.

Next, I inserted the motor mount into the tube, and while that was drying I attached the glider wings to the fuselages and returned them to their stands to dry. Then I constructed the shock cord mount, inserted the screw eye, and cut out the marking guide and drew the alignment lines. I was very pleased to find that the kit included an 8+" length of flat Kevlar® to install in the shock cord mount. Very nice, as it is something I will add myself if not included. I put CA around the top half-inch of the inside of the forward end of the tube to protect against abrasion, then added a loop at the end of the Kevlar® to tie on the long 1/8" elastic cord. I attached the wing fins on the booster next, and as these were drying, I added the stabilizers and rudders to the gliders. The wing tips were added to the booster fins after that and the engine cowls, weight (a penny), and dowel were added to the nose of the gliders to complete their construction. This was really looking sweet and I was already getting anxious to fly it! Finally, the glider support fins and launch lugs were glued onto the booster: one launch lug was placed along one of the wings for launching, and the other one was cut in half and glued on to hold the gliders. Lastly, the shock cord was connected to the screw eye in the nose cone. Put the parachute together and you're done. Ready for finishing.

Finishing:
Finishing the booster is pretty standard. Primer, sand, primer, sand, and then paint the entire booster and its nose a light gray. Finishing of the gliders needs to be careful as not to add or detract too much weight. I applied a light coat of white primer on the gliders and then sanded most of that off before applying a light coat of gloss white. Decals are next. I marked the back of the glider decal sheets to indicate orientation of the decals, as there are a lot to put on. I also kept them in separate bags for each unit so I wouldn't mix them up. I test fit all of the glider decals before removing to make sure they would easily fit where intended and trimmed as necessary. I also kept a hobby knife and a pair of small trim scissors handy for minor adjustments after placement. I was really dreading putting on the long fuselage decals as these have to go over the wings and then a narrow section has to go under the stabilizer. It wasn't a problem though, as the decals lay down very easily, and I was able to move them fairly radically without them coming apart. Nice job on the decals, Don! Next I applied a couple of coats of Future floor wax on the booster and a light coat on the gliders to protect the finish and improve the shine. I was amazed. What would have taken days to paint to get even a close resemblance to the glider markings was achieved in probably less than an hour for each glider. They look fantastic, even if I do say so myself!

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
I didn't get a chance to put the decals on for the Dogfight's first launches. My first launch was on a B6-2. Nice slow boost with the gliders releasing perfectly at apogee and gliding down in lazy circles for near perfect landings and the booster touching down beautifully under the big 18" red mylar parachute. On the next flight, Don and I flew our gliders in a drag race, both boosting on B6-2s. Nice slow boost and perfect deployment of the gliders at apogee. Almost everybody at the field stopped to watch it. It almost looked like a real dogfight with the gliders circling and crossing time and again above the field. Wow! I have never seen a flight get as many 'oohs' and 'aahs' as that one did. The excitement level flying this rocket is off the chart.

Recovery:
The chute is perfect for the booster and the gliders flew perfectly.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
The Dogfight is a great kit. Instructions are clear and well illustrated. Parts quality is superb, and the decals look fantastic. The specially designed laser-cut glider jigs are a fantastic building aid. Squirrel Works kits are always fantastic, but this one has a coolness factor that is only rivaled by their Police Call Box.

PROs: A simple design that has been engineered into a pure work of art, a set of quality parts with laser cut fins, excellent instructions, a nice long shock cord with a Kevlar® anchor, and a very reasonable price. The gliders flew perfectly "out of the box" with no trimming whatsoever. The decals really bring this kit to life, and they are superb!

CONs: I can't think of a single one.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
Squirrel Works has followed up their very popular Red Baron glider with another cool historic-themed glider kit, though this one includes TWO dueling gliders, a Corsair and a Zero. It's a reasonably simple kit to put together and the gliders are minimal effort. So if you're looking for an easy diversion from the basic 3FNC rocket and a serious "wow" factor, grab yourself a Dogfight kit.

Construction:
James Gartrell's review accurately described the components of the kit, so I'll skip on to construction notes. I would point out that this is probably the first kit I've ever reviewed where I could not frame all the parts in a single photo and even the decals took multiple shots to capture!

While the construction on this is fairly easy (probably no worse than a 2 on the skill scale), you will want to be very careful and organized throughout the project. There are lots of parts and three different sets of instructions, one for the rocket and one each for the gliders. James hopped back and forth, working all 3 simultaneously, but I decided to go for a more single-threaded approach.

I began with the booster which has a 15-step instruction sheet on legal paper with pretty good illustrations. The motor mount is straightforward, a 5/20 block, 18mm motor tube, metal hook and pair of 20/55 rings. This in turn goes inside the BT-55 body tube.

There are only two fins on this, plus 4 support braces which are all laser-cut balsa. Marking lines are done via wrap-around guide. Each of the main fins also gets a balsa fin tip attached, perpendicular to the main fins.

In addition to the regular launch lug which goes in a fin/root joint, there are two other launch lugs that must be carefully placed along the centerline between braces. These are used to secure the gliders during boost.

Booster construction wraps up with shock cord and chute. James pointed out the Kevlar® anchor, though I did not feel very comfortable anchoring an 8" length of Kevlar® using paper tri-fold, figuring eventually it would rip through the paper/glue. Instead, I swapped it out for a 15" length of 150# Kevlar® from my stash and anchored this to the forward centering ring on the motor mount. I then used the regular elastic included with the kit and tied it to the end of the Kevlar®.

Next, I moved on to the gliders. Looking closely at the two, I decided to start with the Zero, as it looked slightly simpler. I was impressed that with similar laser cut pieces leading to potential mistakes in selecting parts, Don went the extra mile and actually had the plane's name etched on each balsa sheet. I grabbed the "Zero" sheets and got to it.

As James noted, there are mini jigs used for wing dihedral, which was very cool. I was also a bit worried about potentally gluing my wings to the jig, so dropped a piece of wax paper on the top of the jig before gluing my wing halves together then placing small weights on top of each half to hold them in place. I used a light Titebond wood glue for the gliders.

After the wing halves are bonded, the assembly slides through a slot in the balsa fuselage and is then glued in place, again using the jig for alignment. I thought the nose weight approach on these was pretty neat. The fuselage has a hole cut out, and a pair of side plates that fit over it. I glued one side plate in place, inserted a penny (provided), then glued the other side plate in place. I finished up construction by tacking on a small dowel underneath, which slides into the launch lug on the booster.

The Corsair construction is very similar to the Zero, except that the wing forms a W shape with multiple dihedrals. I should also point out that the instruction for each glider has specific tips for trimming, adding clay weight to get the CG to a very specific point that's different on each glider. I hand-tossed mine in the back yard without weight and was very pleased with the flights. In fact, I almost lost the Zero as is sailed through my neighbor's yard into the trees. Each of mine have CG's well aft of the recommended locations, so I'm almost wondering if those measurements were before the use of the penny as nose weight. I noticed James's review also indicated that he flew his "natural" without trim adjustments.

Finishing:
I want to say finishing is easy, basically just painting everything white but it is a lot of work and well worth the effort. I would not spend any time (and add weight) filling balsa grains, but I did go ahead and fill the spirals on the body tube and filled the grain on the nose cone with Fill N Finish.

The rocket got two coats of white primer followed by a single coat of Rustoleum gloss white. The gliders got single white primer coats and two coats of Krylon gloss white. In retrospect, I don't think the Zero needed any paint or at the very most a white primer coat, as it was entirely covered with decals. The Corsair, on the other hand, has a fading paint scheme that starts out through blue-based decals and is intended to melt into a base white paint coat.

The decals do make the paint/finishing a LOT easier, but there are pooploads of them. I probably spent as much time on the decals as I did on the construction. I even had to take the water back to the microwave a couple times to reheat it.

I found the sizing of some of the decals just a bit larger than the balsa parts they cover on the gliders, so had a little trimming and folding work. Because of this, I followed up with liberal coating of Micro-Sol decal setting solution (the red bottle stuff), which is designed to help "shrink" decals a bit and really lock them onto tricky contoured surfaces. Once the Micro-Sol had cured out for a couple hours, my decals looked like they were painted on.

Construction Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Flight:
For the first flight, I was down to the last day or two before the hit list deadline and facing 18-20 mphs winds both days. On top of that, our club got booted from our large (1 square mile) field and so I was flying on a small neighborhood field. With all this stacked up against me, I wimped out on the first flight with an A8-3, half the recommended minimum impulse of B6-2.

The carrier and parasites managed to stay fairly straight up during the thrust portion, but at burnout got immediately pushed downwind by the stiff winds. I'd guess apogee was at best 50-60 feet, a pretty lame boost and certainly nothing I'd wind up losing. The ejection was just after the nose arced down, though both gliders separated cleanly.

Recovery:
Forget the trim intructions. These glided fantastically on their own with just the penny nose weights. I did add a little clay under one wing on each hoping to get them to turn into each other, but in this wind there was no chance for that.

The carrier descended fine under the bright red Mylar chute (18"), though got pulled long the ground a good 20 yards before I could catch up to it. During the drag, one of the fins broke loose and one of the gliders also cracked in half after landing and getting knocked around by the wind. Both were quickly and easily repaired with a little CA.

I would definitely not recommend the A8 for this, going with atleas the B6 recommended motor and I would think this would do well to maybe 300 feet or so on a C motor. If it weren't for the damage, I would have gone right back up the same day with a B.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
For parasite gliders, this one is an excellent performer and fantastic appearance. In addition, there are plans to release more gliders for variety. It's a fun build, well designed, and flies/glides very well.

CONs: very minor/picky, the trim instructions, if followed, would result in a very nose-heavy glide, probably crash landing. Decals, while beautiful, were a bit thin/fragile.
Oveall, I am quite pleased with this kit.

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5