Flyfalcons
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- Apr 14, 2015
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This will be a build thread/sorta review of the new Polecat Aerospace 4" Black Brant III! I was tempted to title this one "An Accidental Build", which I'll explain in a little bit. Anyway, I purchased this kit to go for my Level 2 certification, but also because A) I'm a big Black Brant fan, B) I wanted to do a "real" high power kit, more than just running a mid-power design on a baby H motor, and C) I've never tried or even seen a Polecat kit before, so doing something new should be fun! As an added bonus, I think the kit cost of $139 represents an excellent value for what you get, and Polecat Aerospace is probably the coolest company name in rocketry. I haven't seen many BBIIIs on the forum here or at the launches I've been to, so flying something a bit different from a typical DX3 or other sport rocket will be fun. Since this is my first real HPR rocket, I'm not doing this build as a "Here's how to do this", but more of a reference if others are interested in a Polecat kit (I haven't found a whole lot myself while searching the forum on them), and to solicit help and advice when I run across a problem I can't solve.
I will say though, that when I saw this kit on display by a vendor at the big launch I went to earlier this year, I thought I was looking at a Madcow BBII. I had the vendor ring me up for a Madcow, then he went to help me pull the kit out of the display area. "Oh hey, that's not a Madcow, those come in plastic bags. These boxes with the rocket outlines painted on are Polecats". No kidding. Hmm. I originally wanted to do a Madcow 4" BBII for my L2 project, but in speaking with the vendor about the differences between the kits in terms of construction, completeness, price, etc, I decided what the heck, let's try a Polecat! The Madcow offerings will always be there for another project (and I've since added three of their fiberglass kits to my build pile), and it's so much more fun to bring an actual kit home from the vendor display instead of ordering a kit and waiting for it to show up in the mail (he didn't have any Madcow 4" kits with him).
As you can see from the photo below, I thought I was taking a 4" Black Brant II home.
I will say though, that when I saw this kit on display by a vendor at the big launch I went to earlier this year, I thought I was looking at a Madcow BBII. I had the vendor ring me up for a Madcow, then he went to help me pull the kit out of the display area. "Oh hey, that's not a Madcow, those come in plastic bags. These boxes with the rocket outlines painted on are Polecats". No kidding. Hmm. I originally wanted to do a Madcow 4" BBII for my L2 project, but in speaking with the vendor about the differences between the kits in terms of construction, completeness, price, etc, I decided what the heck, let's try a Polecat! The Madcow offerings will always be there for another project (and I've since added three of their fiberglass kits to my build pile), and it's so much more fun to bring an actual kit home from the vendor display instead of ordering a kit and waiting for it to show up in the mail (he didn't have any Madcow 4" kits with him).
As you can see from the photo below, I thought I was taking a 4" Black Brant II home.