PENINSULA, Ohio USA -- A rare opportunity to purchase probably the best made high-power kraft cardboard rocket kit on the market is slowly drawing to a close.  Doug Stout has just 10 of his unusually high quality 4.08" ARCAS kits left and when they are gone, they are gone forever.

Stout drew up plans for this Level 2 capable bird directly from the drawings and photos from Atlantic Research Corporation, the ARCAS' builder, with full permission from the company.  You will not find a kraft cardboard kit on the market today as well manufactured as this one.  This kit is built like high power kits used to be built, not the current variety of plastic and thin tubes you see now.

Ever seen a high power kit packed this well? Click to enlarge

For starters, the nosecone and boat tail are CNC-machined from solid (not glued-up) basswood! The fins are CNC-machined from 6mm 12-ply birch, notched to fit the boat tail and CNC pre-bevelled. The centering rings and bulkheads are CNC-machined from 5mm 10-ply birch. Want to hear more?

The main body airframe tubing is LOC/Precision 3.90" .080" wall motor tube.  This is not the standard thin-wall airframe tube that comes in standard LOC/Precision kits, this is the thick walled motor mount tubing, so it's going to stand up to a lot of abuse. The motor mount is a single 54mm motor mount, which comes as a full-length 34" motor tube.

The booster section (the aft section of airframe) uses an entire 34" section of both body tube and motor mount tube. There is a centering ring at the top of this section, and a tube coupler. What remains by scale is 26" of tubing to be divided among the parachute compartment and a payload section, but since a whole 34" body tube is provided, the parachute and payload compartment dimensions may be "customized" by the builder.

The parachute compartment can either be epoxied or bolted to the lower coupler, and the payload (upper) coupler and nosecone can either be bolted or friction fitted to the payload compartment. The finished rocket "breaks" at the payload (upper) coupler for chute deployment. Please note this kit does not include a recovery system. The size of chute to be used should be determined by the finished weight and desired descent rate.

The assembled kit's weight is approximately 7 pounds, 6 ounces without motor or recovery system.  It is recommended to be flown on a full "I". This is a very high quality kit manufactured to very close tolerances. Additional photos of the components are available online at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kingshousemachine/.

Feel free to contact Doug directly at This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it   with any questions. Buyer pays actual shipping, plus $2.00 for shipping materials. Kit price $140.00 each, only 10 left.

Overall Specifications:

• Diameter: 4.08"
• Length: 80"
• Component weight: 6 pounds 11 ounces
• Dry assembled weight: approximately 7 pounds 6 ounces
  (w/o parachute)
• Center of pressure: 62-1/8"

Nosecone Specifications:

• Length: 16-5/8" (exposed)
• Overall: 20-5/8" (with shoulder)
• Base Diameter: 4.08”
• Nosecone Weight: 2 pounds 10 ounces

Boat Tail Specifications:

• Shoulder: 3.90" x 1/4"
• Major diameter: 4.08"
• Minor diameter: 2.29"
• Length of taper: 3.23"
• Through bore: 2.26"
• Boat tail Weight: 4 ounces

Fins Specifications:

• Root chord: 6.68"
• Tip chord: 4.29"
• Semispan: 4.12" (from root diameter 2.26")
• Weight per 4 fins: 11 ounces

Airframe Specifications:

• Inside diameter: 3.90"
• Outside diameter: 4.06"
• Wall thickness: .080"

Without a doubt, this is the best ARCAS kit ever made, and at $140 plus shipping, it's an even better deal.  Order now, while there are still some left!