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). Ahoy! Begad! One o' t' first that I downloaded was FlisKits' Midnight Express™. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I downloaded t' Pre-printed Pattern Sheet in t' PDF format from FlisKits. Ya scallywag! Avast! 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. Blimey! Aye aye! Then got busy.

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

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

FlisKits also recommends that you have a pencil, me bucko, razor knife (hobby knife), me bucko, matey, white glue, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, matey, 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, shiver me timbers, I cut each o' t' rocket pieces out o' t' pattern sheet and followed each step in t' instructions. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Good because I did.

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

I liked t' method for rollin' t' body tube. Ahoy! This is accomplished by linin' up 4 motors and wrappin' t' tube around them. Ya scallywag! Avast! Worked great. Well, blow me down! T' tube has a glue strip. Begad! Aye aye! It is cut out separately from t' body tube, arrr, glued on t' inside edge o' one side and set aside t' dry. Blimey! Then t' other side is glued t' t' tab, 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. Arrr! It was attached usin' t' 3-fold paper method (outlined in t' instructions) t' t' body tube. Aye aye! It was glued into t' tip o' t' nose cone per t' instructions. Well, blow me down! Avast! Then after that was 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. I cut this from a roll o' Nomex® that I had purchased from t' now defunct Rogue Aerospace many years ago.

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

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

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

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

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

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

T' third flight be a week later on a B6-4. Arrr! This time when it was goin' up, shiver me timbers, thar was a very tight spiralling-wiggle. Ya scallywag! When t' trackin' smoke was seen, matey, shiver me timbers, it did seem t' be startin' an apogee arc. Avast! Recovered.

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

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

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