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, me proud beauty! Blimey! I downloaded t' Pre-printed Pattern Sheet in t' PDF format from FlisKits. Arrr! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I printed it on 110lb Card Stock (Georgia Pacific brand purchased from WalMart). Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! 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. Blimey! Avast! It is a testament t' t' effort put into this "free" rocket by FlisKits. Arrr! T' instructions are well organized, well illustrated, matey, and very detailed. Avast! Excellent by any comparison.

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

FlisKits also recommends that you have a pencil, me hearties, ya bilge rat, razor knife (hobby knife), matey, white glue, arrr, an 1/8" dowel (for shapin' t' launch lug), arrr, me hearties, a short length o' BT-5 body tube, me hearties, matey, me bucko, 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. Arrr! Well, blow me down! 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! FlisKits points out that it is common t' have a gap near t' point. Avast! Aye aye! Good because I did.

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

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

Overall, shiver me timbers, me hearties, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this rocket 5 points. Ahoy! I understand it is "free", but with t' quality o' instructions, me hearties, 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. What's 0.1 ounce betwixt friends? They recommend t' A6-4, A8-3, B6-4, ya bilge rat, and C6-5 for motors.

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

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

That was fun, shiver me timbers, 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. I saw t' trackin' smoke and t' ejection. Avast, me proud beauty! T' ejection was 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. Ya scallywag! This time when it was goin' up, thar was a very tight spiralling-wiggle. Arrr! When t' trackin' smoke be seen, me hearties, it did seem t' be startin' an apogee arc. Ahoy! Recovered.

T' nose cone shoulder is showin' a little wear, shiver me timbers, me hearties, but in general t' rocket is holdin' up well. Well, blow me down! There colors on t' body tube show some stains, ya bilge rat, 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. Brin' trackers because it goes on a B motor.

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