I decided t' do a bit o' "paper building" with some o' t' free rockets throughout t' Internet (See me "Free" Paper-Rocket Comparison Page). One o' t' first that I downloaded was FlisKits' Midnight Express™. Avast! I downloaded t' Pre-printed Pattern Sheet in t' PDF format from FlisKits. Blimey! Aye aye! I printed it on 110lb Card Stock (Georgia Pacific brand purchased from WalMart). Blimey! I also downloaded and printed t' instruction set. Then got busy.

Interestingly enough, me hearties, t' rocket patterns were all contained on a single page and yet thar were four pages o' instructions. Arrr! Blimey! It is a testament t' t' effort put into this "free" rocket by FlisKits. T' instructions are well organized, ya bilge rat, well illustrated, me bucko, and very detailed. Excellent by any comparison.

You will need t' provide a recovery system includin' a shock cord and streamer. You will also need clay nose weight. Ya scallywag! Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! FlisKits recommends a 12-18" shock cord, 12" o' Cotton Button Thread for a streamer shroud line, arrr, maskin' tape t' attach t' t' streamer, and an 18" Crepe Paper Streamer.

FlisKits also recommends that you have a pencil, ya bilge rat, razor knife (hobby knife), shiver me timbers, white glue, an 1/8" dowel (for shapin' t' launch lug), a short length o' BT-5 body tube, arrr, and 3-4 expended engine casings (for shapin' t' body tube).

CONSTRUCTION:

Without gettin' into all t' details o' building, arrr, I cut each o' t' rocket pieces out o' t' pattern sheet and followed each step in t' instructions. Avast, me proud beauty! T' two tough points in buildin' this rocket are t' nose cone and t' fins.

T' nose cone is just a bit tough because o' t' point and tryin' t' maintain a symmetrical finish. FlisKits points out that it is common t' have a gap near t' point. Good because I did.

T' fins are challengin' because o' t' number o' cuts and folds. Well, blow me down! T' fins are nay simply a doublin' over o' t' paper, matey, arrr, rather, me hearties, shiver me timbers, they are built up and have a flat root and trailin' edge. Arrr! Avast! T' leadin' edge is sharp, givin' t' fins an airfoil finish. Begad! Blimey! T' accomplish this t' lines need t' be scored and folded properly t' make them look correctly. When finished t' fins are a little over 1/8" thick.

I liked t' method for rollin' t' body tube. Blimey! Begad! This is accomplished by linin' up 4 motors and wrappin' t' tube around them. Worked great. Blimey! T' tube has a glue strip. Well, blow me down! It is cut out separately from t' body tube, glued on t' inside edge o' one side and set aside t' dry. Blimey! Then t' other side is glued t' t' tab, me bucko, ya bilge rat, aligned and makin' t' same level as t' first side. Aye aye! Ahoy! This makes t' seam less noticeable.

T' nose cone shoulder and t' thrust rin' are essentially t' same patterns with one bein' rolled and glued into t' nose cone and t' other bein' positioned in t' bottom o' t' rocket.

I used 32 inches o' 1/32" Keelhaul®©™® for me shock cord. Blimey! It was attached usin' t' 3-fold paper method (outlined in t' instructions) t' t' body tube. Arrr! It be glued into t' tip o' t' nose cone per t' instructions. Ya scallywag! Then after that was dry I added Plast-i-Clay Modelin' Clay for t' nose weight. Well, blow me down! I added enough t' get t' Center o' Gravity (balance point) t' where t' instructions indicated.

I added a 24" x 3/4" Nomex® Streamer. Begad! Ahoy! I cut this from a roll o' Nomex® that I had purchased from t' now defunct Rogue Aerospace many years ago.

Overall, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this rocket 5 points. I understand it is "free", but with t' quality o' instructions, it must be a 5.

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

FlisKits indicate that t' Midnight Express™ should weigh in at 0.3 ounces. My weighed 0.4 ounces. Avast! What's 0.1 ounce betwixt friends? They recommend t' A6-4, matey, A8-3, arrr, B6-4, and C6-5 for motors.

My first flight be on an A8-3. Avast, me proud beauty! T' motor is friction fit into t' motor mount until it hits t' thrust ring. Begad! I added a couple o' balls o' waddin' and rolled t' streamer. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Everythin' be ready.

Tryin' t' get a picture was funny. Even though betwixt me son and I we have worked out a fairly good system we still missed it. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, shiver me timbers, actually I got t' trail o' smoke. Well, blow me down! It be a good flight though. Blimey! Straight and seemingly stable. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Ejection seemed early and down it came.

That was fun, so we did it again with a B6-4. This time it went quite high (for a rocket this size) makin' it hard t' see. Aye aye! Blimey! I saw t' trackin' smoke and t' ejection. Avast! Blimey! T' ejection be clearly before apogee. We caught t' streamer flutterin' in t' sky and was able t' recover it successfully.

T' third flight was a week later on a B6-4. Aye aye! This time when it be goin' up, arrr, me hearties, thar was a very tight spiralling-wiggle. Ya scallywag! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! When t' trackin' smoke be seen, it did seem t' be startin' an apogee arc. Begad! Recovered.

T' nose cone shoulder is showin' a little wear, but in general t' rocket is holdin' up well. Aye aye! There colors on t' body tube show some stains, but this is from t' snow meltin' on it.

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY, me bucko, ya bilge rat, I would rate this rocket 5 points. T' flight o' t' Midnight Express™ is very good. Brin' trackers because it goes on a B motor.

I give t' rocket an OVERALL ratin' o' 5 points. Begad! Blimey! Again, this is a "free" rocket. So as such expectations are set a bit low. T' expectations are shattered with t' exceptional 4 pages o' instructions and t' flight o' this rocket. It provides a unique rocketry buildin' challenge as well. Arrr! Blimey! And FlisKits even allows you t' download a blank pattern set so you can "style" it your own way! Blimey! Nice job FlisKits!