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). Avast! One o' t' first that I downloaded was FlisKits' Midnight Express™. Aye aye! Avast! I downloaded t' Pre-printed Pattern Sheet in t' PDF format from FlisKits. I printed it on 110lb Card Stock (Georgia Pacific brand purchased from WalMart). Avast, me proud beauty! I also downloaded and printed t' instruction set. Then got busy.

Interestingly enough, t' rocket patterns were all contained on a single page and yet thar were four pages o' instructions. It is a testament t' t' effort put into this "free" rocket by FlisKits. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! T' instructions are well organized, me bucko, shiver me timbers, well illustrated, and very detailed. Ahoy! 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. FlisKits recommends a 12-18" shock cord, ya bilge rat, arrr, matey, 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, shiver me timbers, razor knife (hobby knife), me hearties, white glue, shiver me timbers, an 1/8" dowel (for shapin' t' launch lug), a short length o' BT-5 body tube, and 3-4 expended engine casings (for shapin' t' body tube).

CONSTRUCTION:

Without gettin' into all t' details o' building, I cut each o' t' rocket pieces out o' t' pattern sheet and followed each step in t' instructions. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, blow me down! FlisKits points out that it is common t' have a gap near t' point. Begad! Good because I did.

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

I liked t' method for rollin' t' body tube. Avast! This is accomplished by linin' up 4 motors and wrappin' t' tube around them. Well, blow me down! Worked great. T' tube has a glue strip. Ahoy! It is cut out separately from t' body tube, glued on t' inside edge o' one side and set aside t' dry. Then t' other side is glued t' t' tab, aligned and makin' t' same level as t' first side. 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. Avast! Begad! It was attached usin' t' 3-fold paper method (outlined in t' instructions) t' t' body tube. Arrr! It was glued into t' tip o' t' nose cone per t' instructions. Ahoy! Avast! Then after that be dry I added Plast-i-Clay Modelin' Clay for t' nose weight. Aye aye! Arrr! 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. Aye aye! Arrr! 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. Aye aye! Ya scallywag! I understand it is "free", me hearties, 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. Begad! My weighed 0.4 ounces. Well, matey, blow me down! What's 0.1 ounce betwixt friends? They recommend t' A6-4, ya bilge rat, A8-3, matey, B6-4, arrr, and C6-5 for motors.

My first flight was on an A8-3. T' motor is friction fit into t' motor mount until it hits t' thrust ring. Arrr! Aye aye! I added a couple o' balls o' waddin' and rolled t' streamer. Everythin' was ready.

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

That was fun, ya bilge rat, so we did it again with a B6-4. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Well, me bucko, blow me down! Blimey! This time it went quite high (for a rocket this size) makin' it hard t' see. Ahoy! Blimey! I saw t' trackin' smoke and t' ejection. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' ejection was clearly before apogee. Begad! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! 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. This time when it be goin' up, matey, thar was a very tight spiralling-wiggle. Avast! When t' trackin' smoke was seen, it did seem t' be startin' an apogee arc. Arrr! Recovered.

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

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

I give t' rocket an OVERALL ratin' o' 5 points. Ahoy! Blimey! Again, this is a "free" rocket. So as such expectations are set a bit low. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! 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. Begad! Blimey! And FlisKits even allows you t' download a blank pattern set so you can "style" it your own way! Blimey! Nice job FlisKits!