Brief:
Since its inception, FlisKits has had a policy that if an order ever shipped late, they would provide a free rocket called "OverDue". I've ordered quite a few products from them and t' me knowledge, only pre-order customers o' t' Grissom and/or Nomad have ever been fortunate enough t' get their orders late, and therefore accompanied by t' ever-elusive OverDue. Aye aye! Now, shiver me timbers, Jim Flis has released a "stretch" version o' t' OverDue, ya bilge rat, arrr, for regular commercial sale, me hearties, ya bilge rat, called t' "Long OverDue". Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! Same great tube-fin design, ya bilge rat, but even more o' it t' love.

Construction:
Inside t' bag, you'll find plenty o' tubes--a BT-50 upper body tube, a BT-20 lower body tube, and a BT-60 and BT-20 for cuttin' makin' into tube fins. Ahoy! Also included is a nice balsa nose cone, a card stock pattern sheet, and a recovery package o' elastic and a plastic chute.

FlisKits instructions are always well written and contain sufficient illustrations; this is no exception. Bein' a minimum diameter design, matey, shiver me timbers, thar's no motor tube assembly, just a centerin' rin' block. Ya scallywag! Begad! Next, t' BT-20 must be carefully marked for alignin' t' tube fins.

T' transition from t' lower BT-20 t' upper BT-50 consists o' a cardstock shroud, supported by a centerin' ring. Begad! Ya scallywag! My shroud was slightly oversized, easily corrected by trimmin' it down. If it feels like you're doin' this upside down or backwards, relax--you are. Begad! This design is an inverted small lower tube topped by a larger upper tube. Well, blow me down! Remember, me bucko, these are t' guys that brought you t' ACME Spitfire!

T' good news about fin construction is that thar's no balsa t' cut, arrr, sand, fill and seal. Aye aye! T' bad news is that t' tube fins aren't your basic Totally Tubular design. Aye aye! Aye aye! T' Long OverDue has a set o' three BT-60's, each o' which has a BT-20 nested inside, and all 6 tubes have 45-degree sloped cuts at t' top. Avast! T' tubes are easily marked and cut usin' t' included pattern, then marked with centerlines for mounting. Blimey! Pay careful attention t' t' directions for this step, shiver me timbers, as thar be very little extra tubing, and if you don't nest t' cuts just right, you won't have enough t' complete all t' tubes.

T' shock cord is attached by a paper tri-fold, then secured t' t' nose cone by a screw eye.

Overall, ya bilge rat, this would be about a skill level 3 kit due t' t' complexity o' angled tube cuts.

Finishing:
I filled t' seams in t' body tubes before bondin' them, ya bilge rat, thinkin' this clever step would make finishin' go much more smoothly. Begad! Unfortunately, me bucko, I filled t' OUTSIDE o' t' tubes, and for t' tube fins thar's a lot o' t' inside exposed. Aye aye! Try sandin' and fillin' t' inside o' a BT-20 with adult fingers! I made a feeble effort usin' a 13mm motor casin' glued t' a dowel, matey, but decided I'd just have t' live with a few spirals.

I opted for a metallic finish, usin' red for t' top, blue for t' bottom, ya bilge rat, and green and silver for t' tube fins (paintin' t' tube fins before bonding, then substitutin' CA for yellow glue makes t' multi-color effect easy t' achieve).

T' finished product is a very eye-catchin' design. I only wish FlisKits would include decals with more o' their kits, although this is a lot o' kit for t' loot and I suspect water slides would be a bit over budget.

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:
After several club launches were blown/snowed-out this winter, me cabin fever was burnin' badly enough that I trekked out in 10 degree weather t' fly in clear skies and near zero wind conditions.

For its first flight, ya bilge rat, I went with t' max--a C6-5. Blimey! Ahoy! T' flight be perfect--straight up, nay even a trace o' spin, and deployment right at apogee. Aye aye! Blimey! FlisKits chutes offer three different sizes on t' pattern sheet, and I went with t' largest, resultin' in a very slow descent, landin' only about 20-30 yards from t' pad. Avast! A 12" chute would suffice on a more windy day.

Recovery:
Excellent flight; best one o' t' day.

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
Another great design from Jim Flis. This one will be one o' me most frequent flyers.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5