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

Interestingly enough, me hearties, me hearties, t' rocket patterns were all contained on a single page and yet thar were four pages o' instructions. Begad! It is a testament t' t' effort put into this "free" rocket by FlisKits. T' instructions are well organized, matey, shiver me timbers, well illustrated, and very detailed. Excellent by any comparison.

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

FlisKits also recommends that you have a pencil, me hearties, razor cutlass (hobby knife), white glue, 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, ya bilge rat, I cut each o' t' rocket pieces out o' t' pattern sheet and followed each step in t' instructions. Begad! 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. Begad! Avast, ya bilge rat, 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. T' fins are nay simply a doublin' over o' t' paper, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, rather, they are built up and have a flat root and trailin' edge. T' leadin' edge is sharp, ya bilge rat, givin' t' fins an airfoil finish. Begad! 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. Arrr! This is accomplished by linin' up 4 motors and wrappin' t' tube around them. Arrr! Worked great. T' tube has a glue strip. Arrr! It is cut out separately from t' body tube, glued on t' inside edge o' one side and set aside t' dry. Well, blow me down! Begad! Then t' other side is glued t' t' tab, aligned and makin' t' same level as t' first side. Aye aye! Avast! 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. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! It was attached usin' t' 3-fold paper method (outlined in t' instructions) t' t' body tube. Arrr! Blimey! It was glued into t' tip o' t' nose cone per t' instructions. Blimey! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Then after that be dry I added Plast-i-Clay Modelin' Clay for t' nose weight. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Blimey! 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. I cut this from a roll o' Nomex® that I had purchased from t' now defunct Rogue Aerospace many years ago.

Overall, me hearties, me hearties, shiver me timbers, for CONSTRUCTION I would rate this rocket 5 points. Ahoy! Blimey! I understand it is "free", arrr, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! My weighed 0.4 ounces. Ahoy! What's 0.1 ounce betwixt friends? They recommend t' A6-4, ya bilge rat, matey, ya bilge rat, A8-3, shiver me timbers, me bucko, B6-4, arrr, matey, and C6-5 for motors.

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

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

That was fun, shiver me timbers, arrr, so we did it again with a B6-4. Avast, me proud beauty! 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 be able t' recover it successfully.

T' third flight was a week later on a B6-4. Avast! Blimey! This time when it was goin' up, thar be a very tight spiralling-wiggle. When t' trackin' smoke was seen, ya bilge rat, me bucko, it did seem t' be startin' an apogee arc. Recovered.

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

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

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