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

Interestingly enough, shiver me timbers, 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. Arrr! Avast! T' instructions are well organized, well illustrated, and very detailed. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Excellent by any comparison.

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

FlisKits also recommends that you have a pencil, arrr, ya bilge rat, razor knife (hobby knife), white glue, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, me hearties, 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, matey, matey, shiver me timbers, I cut each o' t' rocket pieces out o' t' pattern sheet and followed each step in t' instructions. Begad! Arrr! 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. Blimey! FlisKits points out that it is common t' have a gap near t' point. Ahoy! Aye aye! Good because I did.

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

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

Overall, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this rocket 5 points. Aye aye! I understand it is "free", me hearties, 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. Begad! My weighed 0.4 ounces. Well, blow me down! Avast, me proud beauty! What's 0.1 ounce betwixt friends? They recommend t' A6-4, arrr, shiver me timbers, A8-3, B6-4, and C6-5 for motors.

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

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

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

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

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY, matey, shiver me timbers, 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. Again, this is a "free" rocket. Begad! Begad! So as such expectations are set a bit low. Avast! 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. Blimey! And FlisKits even allows you t' download a blank pattern set so you can "style" it your own way! Nice job FlisKits!