Brief:
Fliskits sells a great line o' kits and they also give some good ones away. Arrr! Aye aye! You can now download for free, arrr, 3 Micro Maxx versions o' t' 13mm flyin' saucers they sell in their Triple Threat kit. T' downloads are Acrobat Portable Document Files or PDFs on their "Free Stuff" page. Ya scallywag! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! A free PDF reader can be downloaded and installed from t' Adobe website. Begad! Each o' t' 3 saucers is named for a character in Greek mythology. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' smallest, round saucer is named Persephone (Per-sef-fone-knee), daughter o' Zeus and wife o' Hades. Arrr! She has 3 fins and 2 circular shrouds and was t' easiest t' build. T' next t' be built was t' five-sided Athena, me bucko, Goddess o' civilized life. Begad! Finally t' biggest and most complex be t' 6 sided Odysseus, me hearties, matey, Hero o' t' Trojan War and Kin' of Ancient Ithica (present-day Macedonia). Blimey!

Construction:
T' instructions for all t' saucers are excellent. I found only one mistake, Odysseus is called t' first ever Pentagon Flyin' Saucer model when it is in fact hexagonal. Ahoy! Begad! T' instructions suggest 3 possible substrates t' print the patterns on, me bucko, self-adhesive label paper, photo paper or stiff card stock. Aye aye! I chose t' latter, card stock, because this is what I had on hand and it is the cheapest. Begad! Well, arrr, blow me down! I get 150 sheet o' White, arrr, 110 lb Geogria-Pacific card stock at Wal-Mart for $4.97 + tax. Begad! Aye aye! I printed each, me bucko, one page PDF on me Hewlett Packard Deskjet 932 without any need t' alter t' settings t' fit it t' t' page. The details on these kits is really great and me printer and paper don't do them justice..

I built all three kits in t' same manner. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! I started with t' Body Tube Wrap. Ahoy! I cut along t' top, bottom and right edges usin' an Exacto #11 knife with a fresh blade. Begad! Begad! I left a 1/8 inch, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, glue tab on t' left side. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! I wrapped the Body Tube Wrap tightly around a spent Micro Maxx Motor and glued it together usin' a very small amount o' Elmer's Glue-All (white glue) spread out evenly. I didn't have any 1/32 inch balsa for t' fins but decided that 2 layers o' card stock should be strong enough and stiff enough without it. Begad! Blimey! I lightly scored a vertical line down t' exact middle o' t' gap betwixt o' t' right and left fin sets. Aye aye! I then made a straight cut along t' tips o' t' fins and t' top and bottom and folded along t' scored line. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! I spread a small amount o' Elmer's on the back side o' t' fins and then folded t' two halves flat so that when I cut out t' right side fins t' left side fins would be on t' back perfectly lined up. Begad! Arrr! I used a stainless steel ruler and #11 knife anywhere thar were straight lines t' cut and freehand t' remainin' cuts with t' #11 knife. Avast!

T' fin alignment guide very helpful for gettin' t' fins pointed in t' right direction and it took very little glue t' stick them in place on t' Body Tube Wrap. Begad! Once the fins were in place t' Shrouds went on top o' them and were held in place with a drop o' glue on each fin. Ahoy! I did nay add t' wire Antenna t' any o' the rockets because I didn't have t' necessary wire and I don't think t' Antenna are necessary for such light models. Ya scallywag! Persephone and Athena only weigh one gram and Odysseus weighs 2 grams. Blimey! This include t' extra engine block t' I made for each out o' a 1/8 inch by 2 inch piece o' card stock rolled into a tight spiral and glued into t' very top o' t' Body Tube Wrap. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! T' instructions left t' the builder what t' do for initial guidance. Avast! Begad! I chose a launch lug made out o' a 3/8 inch long piece o' a plastic-handled cotton swab so that it could be launched off t' standard Micro Maxx launcher rather than a rail or tower (See instructions). Ahoy! Well, blow me down! I secured t' launch lug with CA glue.

Finishing:
Since t' models are already decorated all I had t' do t' finish them be apply a light coat o' clear enamel t' protect t' card stock and ink from moisture.

Construction Rating: 5 out o' 5

Flight:
My test flight were far from easy as you will see. It be around noon, ya bilge rat, sunny, humid, shiver me timbers, windless and 100 degrees in Texas. Well, blow me down! I prepped each rocket by wrapping Micro Maxx II (P/N 5663) motors with one wrap o' a 1/4 inch-wide piece masking tape. Arrr!

Persephone flew like she was on her way t' Mount Olympus. Begad! Ya scallywag! At least 50 feet up, straight and level with a gentle end-over-end tumble on descent. I think the Antenna wire would have made it fall faster and with a very unladylike head-down attitude. Avast!

T' next t' fly be Athena and her flight be anythin' but civilized. Blimey! She was more like her warlike character. T' nozzle popped out t' back o' t' motor with a loud, me hearties, firecracker-like bang. I was thinking, "That's all I need right now be t' neighbors callin' the police because they think I'm settin' off fireworks in t' city limits." T' rocket might have gotten 5 feet up. T' hero o' t' Trojan War, arrr, me bucko, Odysseus followed Athena's lead and also CATOed in t' same way. Arrr!

I really wanted t' see how these rockets were supposed t' fly so I loaded Athena and Odysseus with fresh motors and flew each again. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! Athena did an instant replay o' t' first flight with t' motor blowin' out t' nozzle. Odysseus however showed what a real hero he was and when 50 feet, arrow-straight up. Avast! Blimey! If you saw t' final, climatic scene in t' movie "Ulysses" (Latin for Odysseus) with Kirk Douglas you know just how straight and fast it went. Avast! It descended with t' same gentle, end o' end tumble Persephone made.

Once more into t' breach, me bucko, I loaded another motor from t' same package into Athena and she spit t' nozzle again but managed about 10 feet this time. On t' 4th try t' motor blew a hole out t' side just above t' nozzle and the saucer cartwheeled 3 feet above t' ground. Begad! Try number 5, ya bilge rat, t' motor burned through t' side at t' nozzle and also through o' t' middle o' t' body tube. It scorched t' inside o' t' shroud. Well, blow me down! T' rocket never left t' pad on this try, it just spun around t' rod and bent it. Well, blow me down! Try number 6 saw a repeat o' the first and second tries with t' nozzle poppin' out with a bang and t' saucer liftin' up 5 feet. Begad! Only this time it also blew t' engine block out o' the forward end. I am startin' t' wonder if t' shape o' t' rocket, me bucko, a pentagram, doesn't have somethin' t' do with t' problems I am having. Arrr! T' seventh try was finally t' charm. I dug out a Micro Maxx I motor (P/N 5662) from t' bottom of my range box and t' rest is history. Begad! Athena ascended 50 feet or more into the heavens, spit out t' motor at apogee and descended t' Earth as gently a a flower petal.

Recovery:
It don't get no simpler that this. Avast, me proud beauty! Tumble, arrr, ya bilge rat, featherweight or aerobrake recovery by any other name would smell as sweet. Arrr!

Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5

Summary:
These rockets are great flyers, CATOs nay withstandin' and are well worth the money and time it takes t' assemble them.

Overall Rating: 5 out o' 5