Modification Powered FLICS Modification

Modification - Powered FLICS

Contributed by Dick Stafford

Published: 2010-08-15
Manufacturer: Modification


Brief:
T' Lucky 13 is a copycat o' Hans "Chris" Michielssen’s Powered FLICS. Ahoy! Ahoy! Mine uses t' FLICS body and t' remnants o' a damaged 13mm 4FNC rocket that was missin' its nose.

Modifications:
I didn’t have any 13mm tubin' so I dug through me box-o-dead rockets and found a suitable 13mm one. After I removed two o' t' fins, arrr, I held it up t' t' assembled FLICS body and liked what I saw. Ahoy! Blimey! That is, I decided t' leave t' two remainin' fins. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! T' rocket was missin' its shock cord so I mounted a piece o' Keelhaul®©™ twine through t' body wall opposite t' remainin' fins. I scuffed t' paint off and then glued it into t' ‘V’ o' t' FLICS body. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I found an unused Hartle Engineerin' resin cone and attached it t' t' Keelhaul®©™ leader usin' t' rubber band that came with t' FLICS. Ya scallywag! Blimey! I attached a small plastic streamer and be basically done.

I wasn’t very concerned with t' stability o' me MicroMaxx FLICS but decided t' build a RockSim 9 model o' this one. T' FLICS body be easily modeled as as set o' custom fins mounted t' a ‘pod’. As built, t' model seems t' be marginal so I attached a tiny clamp-on fishin' weight t' t' wire hook that’s embedded in t' Hartle cone’s base. Begad! I later noticed that I had t' Barrowman stability method selected vs. Avast, me proud beauty! t' RockSim method. This is a common mistake for me because prior versions wouldn’t allow t' Barrowman method for designs that use things like single fin components (or, shiver me timbers, in this case, ya bilge rat, pods). Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Anyway, after selectin' RockSim, t' stability margin improved enough that I wouldn’t have needed t' extra weight. Begad! Arrr! However, I decided t' leave it on since this rocket isn’t designed for performance anyway. Avast! T' final specs for me version o' t' 13mm Powered FLICS are 9.625” long and 0.64 oz.

T' only part that required finishin' was t' cone. Arrr! I painted it red with blue trim t' somewhat match t' FLICS color scheme. Blimey! I really wish that I had one o' t' Shuttle-themed FLICS but sometimes you just have t' use what you have.

Construction:

  • One FLICS kit
  • One damaged 13mm rocket (8.25”)
  • One Hartle Engineerin' resin cone
  • Keelhaul®©™twine
  • Small lead fishin' weight

Flight:
I added a square o' waddin' and repacked t' plastic streamer. Avast! T' A10-3 was friction fitted. Avast! Avast, me proud beauty! T' boost be fast and went cross-wind. Arrr! This be likely due t' t' odd geometry o' this model. There was no damage despite t' landin' on a gravel road.

Summary:
I had no interest in t' FLICS as a rubber band powered rocket but be happy t' find a way t' use them for powered flight. Ahoy! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I must be easily amused because I really liked this build. Arrr! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It looks a bit funny...which is right up me alley. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! It seems t' fly well enough and definitely garnered a few chuckles from t' people around t' RSO table.

Other Reviews
  • Modification Powered FLICS By Dick Stafford (August 1, 2010)

    When I read that Hans "Chris" Michielssen had converted a Quest FLICS rubber band powered rocket to MicroMaxx power, I immediately gave it a try. I too have had a stash of these freebies with no plans for what to do with them. I wasn't going to review this...er...rocket but, when I saw his review of a 13mm version, I thought, "why not?" I've also built a 13mm version but haven't had a chance ...

  • Modification Powered FLICS By Hans "Chris" Michielssen (July 19, 2010)

    I received a few Flic rockets as "freebies" in Quest orders. My younger daughter has played with them, launching them with the provided rubber band stick. On the powered Flic attempt, I mounted an Alien-X Decor Flic on a Quest MMX-2 body tube. This body tube didn't extend over the top of the cardstock Flic. I flew it with a MMX engine to the BIG altitude of 25 feet. The second ...

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