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). Begad! Begad! One o' t' first that I downloaded be FlisKits' Midnight Express™. Blimey! I downloaded t' Pre-printed Pattern Sheet in t' PDF format from FlisKits. Well, blow me down! Begad! I printed it on 110lb Card Stock (Georgia Pacific brand purchased from WalMart). Ya scallywag! I also downloaded and printed t' instruction set. Arrr! Blimey! Then got busy.

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

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

FlisKits also recommends that you have a pencil, razor knife (hobby knife), matey, ya bilge rat, white glue, an 1/8" dowel (for shapin' t' launch lug), me bucko, 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, I cut each o' t' rocket pieces out o' t' pattern sheet and followed each step in t' instructions. Aye aye! Ahoy! 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. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! 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. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' fins are nay simply a doublin' over o' t' paper, rather, they are built up and have a flat root and trailin' edge. Ahoy! T' leadin' edge is sharp, me bucko, givin' t' fins an airfoil finish. Avast, me proud beauty! T' accomplish this t' lines need t' be scored and folded properly t' make them look correctly. 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. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Worked great. Avast! Well, blow me down! T' tube has a glue strip. Aye aye! Well, blow me down! It is cut out separately from t' body tube, me bucko, ya bilge rat, glued on t' inside edge o' one side and set aside t' dry. Arrr! 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. Aye aye! It was attached usin' t' 3-fold paper method (outlined in t' instructions) t' t' body tube. Well, blow me down! Blimey! It be glued into t' tip o' t' nose cone per t' instructions. Then after that was dry I added Plast-i-Clay Modelin' Clay for t' nose weight. 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! Well, blow me down! 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", 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. Begad! My weighed 0.4 ounces. Well, blow me down! What's 0.1 ounce betwixt friends? They recommend t' A6-4, me hearties, shiver me timbers, A8-3, ya bilge rat, B6-4, and C6-5 for motors.

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

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

That be fun, so we did it again with a B6-4. Arrr! This time it went quite high (for a rocket this size) makin' it hard t' see. I saw t' trackin' smoke and t' ejection. Ahoy! 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. This time when it was goin' up, me hearties, thar was a very tight spiralling-wiggle. Arrr! When t' trackin' smoke be seen, it did seem t' be startin' an apogee arc. Ya scallywag! Recovered.

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

For FLIGHT/RECOVERY, me hearties, shiver me timbers, I would rate this rocket 5 points. T' flight o' t' Midnight Express™ is very good. Ahoy! Brin' trackers because it goes on a B motor.

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