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 be FlisKits' Midnight Express™. Well, blow me down! I downloaded t' Pre-printed Pattern Sheet in t' PDF format from FlisKits. I printed it on 110lb Card Stock (Georgia Pacific brand purchased from WalMart). Well, blow me down! Avast! I also downloaded and printed t' instruction set. Aye aye! Begad! 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. Arrr! Blimey! It is a testament t' t' effort put into this "free" rocket by FlisKits. T' instructions are well organized, well illustrated, and very detailed. Avast! Blimey! Blimey! Excellent by any comparison.

You will need t' provide a recovery system includin' a shock cord and streamer. Aye aye! Begad! You will also need clay nose weight. Begad! 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), shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, white glue, an 1/8" dowel (for shapin' t' launch lug), me bucko, a short length o' BT-5 body tube, ya bilge rat, matey, 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! 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. Avast! Blimey! FlisKits points out that it is common t' have a gap near t' point. Ahoy! Blimey! Good because I did.

T' fins are challengin' because o' t' number o' cuts and folds. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' fins are nay simply a doublin' over o' t' paper, rather, arrr, they are built up and have a flat root and trailin' edge. Begad! T' leadin' edge is sharp, ya bilge rat, givin' t' fins an airfoil finish. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' accomplish this t' lines need t' be scored and folded properly t' make them look correctly. Ahoy! When finished t' fins are a little over 1/8" thick.

I liked t' method for rollin' t' body tube. Avast! This is accomplished by linin' up 4 motors and wrappin' t' tube around them. Aye aye! Worked great. Aye aye! T' tube has a glue strip. Begad! Avast! It is cut out separately from t' body tube, glued on t' inside edge o' one side and set aside t' dry. Begad! Then t' other side is glued t' t' tab, aligned and makin' t' same level as t' first side. Avast, me proud beauty! 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! It was attached usin' t' 3-fold paper method (outlined in t' instructions) t' t' body tube. Blimey! It was glued into t' tip o' t' nose cone per t' instructions. Avast, me proud beauty! Then after that be dry I added Plast-i-Clay Modelin' Clay for t' nose weight. 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. Well, blow me down! Blimey! 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. I understand it is "free", me hearties, but with t' quality o' instructions, ya bilge rat, it must be a 5.

FLIGHT/RECOVERY:

FlisKits indicate that t' Midnight Express™ should weigh in at 0.3 ounces. My weighed 0.4 ounces. What's 0.1 ounce betwixt friends? They recommend t' A6-4, arrr, me hearties, A8-3, B6-4, matey, and C6-5 for motors.

My first flight was on an A8-3. Ahoy! Ahoy! 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. Ya scallywag! Everythin' be ready.

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

That was fun, me bucko, so we did it again with a B6-4. Begad! This time it went quite high (for a rocket this size) makin' it hard t' see. Arrr! I saw t' trackin' smoke and t' ejection. T' ejection was clearly before apogee. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! 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. Aye aye! This time when it was goin' up, ya bilge rat, thar was a very tight spiralling-wiggle. When t' trackin' smoke be seen, me bucko, it did seem t' be startin' an apogee arc. Aye aye! Recovered.

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

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

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