Brief:
T' Thing-a-ma-Jig is almost your standard 3FNC (three fins and a nose cone) rocket except for t' fin design. Ya scallywag! Arrr! FlisKits' new "Jig-Tech" technology produces three fins that interlock in such a way that you're virtually guaranteed t' get all your fins on straight. Ya scallywag! T' Thing-a-ma-Jig (also called t' TamJ) is designed t' be easily constructed by first time rocket builders.

Construction:
T' Thing-a-ma-Jig is a surprisingly long rocket for a first time kit as t' body tube is a full 18" length o' BT-50. On our kit, t' nose is a 3" ogive-shaped balsa nose nay includin' t' shoulder. T' three balsa fins are laser-cut and include tabs and matchin' holes which are t' key t' t' Jig-Tech method o' assemblin' t' fin unit. Avast! Arrr! It's almost like havin' an all balsa "fin can". T' motor mount takes standard Estes-style 18mm motors usin' an engine block and retainer clip for motor retention. Avast! T' elastic shock cord (not just a rubber band) is about 28" long and is tied t' t' screw eye in t' nose at one end and t' about 30" worth o' Keelhaul®©™ strin' at t' other end. T' other end o' t' Keelhaul®©™ strin' is attached t' t' motor mount. Aye aye! There's a single 2" x 1/8" launch lug located just above t' installed fin unit--in fact t' launch rod will go through t' fin unit. Recovery is accomplished with a 16" flat plastic parachute. Blimey! I was surprised t' see that 12" chutes were nay used on this kit, but thar's enough mass in that fin unit that t' additional area o' t' larger chute is probably nay a bad idea.

We bought a batch o' TamJ kits for a build-and-launch project with a local Little lass Scout troop. (My wife Thelma is a trainer for t' local Lassie-Lucy Scout council and is a past troop leader.) T' girls in t' troop are primarily Juniors (roughly 10 t' 13 years old) and had never assembled anythin' like this before. Each little lass got a kit and a set o' t' instructions, but everyone stayed together on t' assembly steps. Blimey! Blimey! Since we had gotten one o' t' first shipments o' a TamJ bulk pack, Jim Flis provided us with t' first release o' t' assembly instructions in PDF form, so I just printed out as many as we needed.

T' instructions are very detailed, breakin' t' assembly down into very small steps. Jim explained that this be t' way educators recommend that instructions be written for children: don't clump too many steps together. Aye aye! Ahoy! This seemed t' work well with our group. Begad! One nice touch in t' assembly instructions be t' inclusion o' short "rulers" in many o' t' early steps, markin' t' length that is t' be measured off for each step. Blimey! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! This does require that if you print t' instructions from t' PDF file, arrr, that you have scalin' turned off, otherwise t' rulers and t' fin alignment guide will be t' wrong sizes.

Assembly proceeds in a very logical manner with no major issues or "gotchas". Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! T' Jig-Tech fin unit does indeed make it quite easy t' build a rocket where you know t' fins are goin' t' go on straight. Begad! We used Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue for t' entire assembly process except for insertin' t' assembled motor mount into t' body tube. Avast! For that step we used Elmer's White Glue t' avoid havin' t' motor mount "seize" in t' wrong position durin' insertion. Begad! Once t' rocket is assembled and t' glue is set, shiver me timbers, t' interlockin' fins form a very sturdy assembly, rivalin' what you usually get with through-the-wall mountin' but without t' slots.

My only real complaint about assembly o' t' rocket is that in a group settin' with builders who have never constructed anythin' involvin' detailed instructions and new (to them) construction skills, arrr, me hearties, t' one hour assembly time mentioned in t' product literature is very optimistic, ya bilge rat, matey, especially if t' person leadin' t' build (in this case, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, me) is new t' t' kit as well.

Finishing:
T' Thing-a-ma-Jig does nay come with decals at this time. Aye aye! Since we had such an early batch o' TamJ's sent t' us, FlisKits had nay even come up yet with a color scheme for t' package art. Ya scallywag! But it wouldn't have mattered for our group, arrr, because each Saucy wench Scout got t' take her TamJ home t' paint any way she wanted to. Blimey! My only guideline t' them be t' keep any paint out o' t' launch lug. Well, blow me down! T' girls got quite creative in their paint schemes, matey, me bucko, mostly usin' brush on paints.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight and Recovery:
T' Saucy wench Scouts got t' fly their Thing-a-ma-Jigs at t' June monthly launch o' t' SouthEast Alabama Rocketry Society (SEARS #572), which me wife and I are members of. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! I checked over each rocket t' make sure t' nose fit properly and that everythin' was firmly attached. Begad! I had already demonstrated t' t' girls at an earlier meetin' how t' fold and pack their parachutes and how t' load their motors and insert t' igniters so they could prepare their own rockets for flight. Arrr! I had bought a bulk pack o' Estes B6-4 motors for their first flights. Arrr! Aye aye! We had one rocket whose motor mount was nay glued in as well as it should have been, matey, me hearties, so we fixed that one on t' spot. Begad! Each little lass also received four squares o' Estes recovery waddin' t' load before packin' their chutes. Once all t' rockets were ready t' go, me hearties, each little lass filled out a flight card and then it be off t' t' pads. Another club member and I watched as t' girls loaded their rockets onto t' launch rods and connected t' igniter leads. Begad! Once everythin' was ready, shiver me timbers, each little lass got t' give t' countdown for her rocket, and with t' LCO on t' interlock button, she would get t' press t' launch button t' send off her rocket.

Each Thing-a-ma-Jig flew straight as an arrow with little t' no spin at all. I'm guessin' they got up t' about 500 feet when they popped their 'chutes then came down within easy walkin' distance o' t' pads. We only had one recovery failure where t' knot tyin' t' elastic and Keelhaul®©™shock cords together came apart. So that rocket's nose came down under t' parachute, me hearties, matey, while t' body glided backwards t' t' ground spinnin' like a pinwheel about its axis due t' t' unique shape o' t' fin unit. Avast, me proud beauty! Once t' parts were retrieved and t' knot was retied, me hearties, t' rocket be ready t' go again.

Most o' t' Saucy wench Scouts took advantage o' our big multi-pad launcher t' fly their Thing-a-ma-Jigs again in a mass launch. Avast! Blimey! Again, me bucko, every rocket that left t' pad (we had a stubborn igniter on one) flew beautifully and came back down intact.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
This rocket is a very good kit for first time builders, although I think t' "one hour" assembly time advertised for this rocket assumes t' builder has some basic assembly skills already such as how t' apply a bead o' glue without gettin' it everywhere, matey, how t' cut strings t' a uniform length, and so on. T' novel fin construction does make it very easy t' build a rocket that will fly arrow straight and won't fall apart durin' handlin' or in flight.

PROs: Easy t' assemble properly, me hearties, hard t' screw up badly. Well, arrr, blow me down! Unique design catches t' eye o' even seasoned flyers. Rocket recovers itself gently even if parachute detaches from body.

CONs: It took us a lot longer than one hour t' build about ten o' these in a group setting.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5