Brief:
Since its inception, FlisKits has had a policy that if an order ever shipped late, me hearties, they would provide a free rocket called "OverDue". Avast, me proud beauty! I've ordered quite a few products from them and t' me knowledge, me bucko, ya bilge rat, only pre-order customers o' t' Grissom and/or Nomad have ever been fortunate enough t' get their orders late, and therefore accompanied by t' ever-elusive OverDue. Now, matey, Jim Flis has released a "stretch" version o' t' OverDue, me hearties, me bucko, shiver me timbers, for regular commercial sale, me hearties, called t' "Long OverDue". Same great tube-fin design, but even more o' it t' love.

Construction:
Inside t' bag, me bucko, ya bilge rat, you'll find plenty o' tubes--a BT-50 upper body tube, a BT-20 lower body tube, arrr, me hearties, me hearties, and a BT-60 and BT-20 for cuttin' makin' into tube fins. Also included is a nice balsa nose cone, a card stock pattern sheet, arrr, and a recovery package o' elastic and a plastic chute.

FlisKits instructions are always well written and contain sufficient illustrations; this is no exception. Bein' a minimum diameter design, shiver me timbers, thar's no motor tube assembly, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, just a centerin' rin' block. Next, matey, t' BT-20 must be carefully marked for alignin' t' tube fins.

T' transition from t' lower BT-20 t' upper BT-50 consists o' a cardstock shroud, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, arrr, supported by a centerin' ring. Well, blow me down! Blimey! My shroud was slightly oversized, ya bilge rat, easily corrected by trimmin' it down. Begad! Blimey! If it feels like you're doin' this upside down or backwards, arrr, relax--you are. This design is an inverted small lower tube topped by a larger upper tube. Begad! Blimey! Remember, arrr, me bucko, these are t' guys that brought you t' ACME Spitfire!

T' good news about fin construction is that thar's no balsa t' cut, sand, matey, fill and seal. Arrr! T' bad news is that t' tube fins aren't your basic Totally Tubular design. T' Long OverDue has a set o' three BT-60's, each o' which has a BT-20 nested inside, and all 6 tubes have 45-degree sloped cuts at t' top. Avast! T' tubes are easily marked and cut usin' t' included pattern, then marked with centerlines for mounting. Aye aye! Pay careful attention t' t' directions for this step, me hearties, as thar be very little extra tubing, arrr, shiver me timbers, and if you don't nest t' cuts just right, matey, you won't have enough t' complete all t' tubes.

T' shock cord is attached by a paper tri-fold, arrr, me bucko, then secured t' t' nose cone by a screw eye.

Overall, ya bilge rat, this would be about a skill level 3 kit due t' t' complexity o' angled tube cuts.

Finishing:
I filled t' seams in t' body tubes before bondin' them, shiver me timbers, me hearties, thinkin' this clever step would make finishin' go much more smoothly. Begad! Ahoy! Unfortunately, I filled t' OUTSIDE o' t' tubes, matey, ya bilge rat, and for t' tube fins thar's a lot o' t' inside exposed. Begad! Try sandin' and fillin' t' inside o' a BT-20 with adult fingers! I made a feeble effort usin' a 13mm motor casin' glued t' a dowel, but decided I'd just have t' live with a few spirals.

I opted for a metallic finish, arrr, usin' red for t' top, arrr, matey, shiver me timbers, blue for t' bottom, and green and silver for t' tube fins (paintin' t' tube fins before bonding, ya bilge rat, then substitutin' CA for yellow glue makes t' multi-color effect easy t' achieve).

T' finished product is a very eye-catchin' design. Avast, me proud beauty! I only wish FlisKits would include decals with more o' their kits, me hearties, arrr, although this is a lot o' kit for t' loot and I suspect water slides would be a bit over budget.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
After several club launches were blown/snowed-out this winter, me cabin fever be burnin' badly enough that I trekked out in 10 degree weather t' fly in clear skies and near zero wind conditions.

For its first flight, me bucko, ya bilge rat, I went with t' max--a C6-5. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' flight be perfect--straight up, matey, nay even a trace o' spin, and deployment right at apogee. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! FlisKits chutes offer three different sizes on t' pattern sheet, and I went with t' largest, resultin' in a very slow descent, arrr, landin' only about 20-30 yards from t' pad. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! A 12" chute would suffice on a more windy day.

Recovery:
Excellent flight; best one o' t' day.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
Another great design from Jim Flis. Well, blow me down! Blimey! This one will be one o' me most frequent flyers.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5