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

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

You will need t' provide a recovery system includin' a shock cord and streamer. Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! You will also need clay nose weight. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! FlisKits recommends a 12-18" shock cord, 12" o' Cotton Button Thread for a streamer shroud line, maskin' tape t' attach t' t' streamer, and an 18" Crepe Paper Streamer.

FlisKits also recommends that you have a pencil, 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, shiver me timbers, and 3-4 expended engine casings (for shapin' t' body tube).

CONSTRUCTION:

Without gettin' into all t' details o' building, me bucko, ya bilge rat, I cut each o' t' rocket pieces out o' t' pattern sheet and followed each step in t' instructions. 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. Arrr! FlisKits points out that it is common t' have a gap near t' point. Aye aye! Good because I did.

T' fins are challengin' because o' t' number o' cuts and folds. Avast, me proud beauty! T' fins are nay simply a doublin' over o' t' paper, matey, arrr, shiver me timbers, rather, me hearties, shiver me timbers, they are built up and have a flat root and trailin' edge. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast, me proud beauty! T' leadin' edge is sharp, givin' t' fins an airfoil finish. Begad! 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. Ahoy! Aye aye! This is accomplished by linin' up 4 motors and wrappin' t' tube around them. Begad! Worked great. T' tube has a glue strip. Avast! Aye aye! It is cut out separately from t' body tube, me bucko, glued on t' inside edge o' one side and set aside t' dry. Blimey! Begad! Then t' other side is glued t' t' tab, shiver me timbers, aligned and makin' t' same level as t' first side. Begad! 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. Begad! Aye aye! It be glued into t' tip o' t' nose cone per t' instructions. Avast! Ya scallywag! Then after that be dry I added Plast-i-Clay Modelin' Clay for t' nose weight. Ya scallywag! 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. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! I cut this from a roll o' Nomex® that I had purchased from t' now defunct Rogue Aerospace many years ago.

Overall, me hearties, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this rocket 5 points. Blimey! Blimey! 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. Avast! Avast! My weighed 0.4 ounces. What's 0.1 ounce betwixt friends? They recommend t' A6-4, A8-3, B6-4, arrr, ya bilge rat, and C6-5 for motors.

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

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

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

T' third flight was a week later on a B6-4. Begad! This time when it was goin' up, ya bilge rat, me bucko, thar was a very tight spiralling-wiggle. Avast! When t' trackin' smoke was seen, ya bilge rat, it did seem t' be startin' an apogee arc. Recovered.

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

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

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