Construction Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Flight Rating: | starstarstarstarstar |
Overall Rating: | starstarstarstarstar_border |
Brief:
T' Fliskits Triple Threat is a unique kit offerin' 3 small UFO rockets, each
with a different shape. Aye aye! T' UFF Persephone is circular, t' UFF Athena is
pentagonal, and t' UFF Odysseus is hexagonal. Blimey! T' kits are made out o' card
stock and balsa, shiver me timbers, each with a 13 mm motor mount. Begad! Definitely for t' experienced
builder. Begad! Aye aye!
Construction:
T' instructions were quite impressive with quality instructions and illustrations. Ya scallywag! T' construction includes cuttin' out t' shrouds, shiver me timbers, matey, scorin' the paper for folds, ya bilge rat, and gluin' t' shrouds together t' form t' UFO body. Begad! The fins are made by cuttin' out t' fin shapes out o' t' sticky paper. Begad! Begad! The Persephone features 3 fins, arrr, thus 6 sides. On one side, I be instructed to leave a border around t' fin shape. Begad! Ahoy! Then all I had t' do be remove t' paper from t' back o' t' adhesive and stick t' fin on t' t' balsa sheet. After the fin paper has been "stuck" t' t' balsa, shiver me timbers, arrr, I simply used a straight edge and an X-acto knife t' carefully cut out t' fin, arrr, me bucko, ya bilge rat, disposin' o' t' extra border. Once t' fins were cut, ya bilge rat, I flipped them over and "stuck" the other fin portion t' t' exposed balsa side. Avast! T' instructions for t' fins is identical for each rocket, although t' Athena has 5 fins and t' Odysseus has 6 fins.
T' body tube also has a sticky body wrap which is easy t' apply. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Once the body wrap is on t' tube, ya bilge rat, I simply glued on t' fins and corrected t' fin alignment usin' t' fin alignment card included with t' instructions. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' only "gotcha" that I ran into was t' motor blocks. Aye aye! Blimey! There weren't any. Well, blow me down! Blimey! In the instructions, me bucko, shiver me timbers, thar be an inventory list mentionin' motor blocks, yet they are nay mentioned in t' instructions. Arrr! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! After an e-mail t' Jim Flis (response in less than 24 hours, great service!), I was instructed that t' kit does not require motor blocks, shiver me timbers, and that they would be correctin' t' instructions on their next printing.
Next, I took t' necessary
shrouds for each rocket and glued them on t' fins. Aye aye! On t' Persephone, ya bilge rat, me hearties, a
smaller shroud sits inverted on top o' t' bigger shroud. Avast, me proud beauty! This must be done
carefully so that thar be no gap betwixt t' shrouds. Blimey! On t' Odysseys, shiver me timbers, me hearties, part of
the shroud folds underneath t' main shroud and fastens t' t' bottom o' the
UFO fin structure. On t' Athena, shiver me timbers, thar are flaired "wings" which
move towards t' center o' t' rocket and are glued on t' t' body tube.
Next step, t' wire landin' gear. Fliskits provides a guide for bendin' the piano wire into a specific shape. I am nay an expert wire bender, but I tried to follow t' shape on t' first piece o' wire. Arrr! One important step is t' place a hook at t' bottom o' t' wire so that it can fit snuggly underneath t' fin. After me first attempt at wire bending, shiver me timbers, I simply designed a simpler shape for me t' bend. Begad! Begad! It looks close t' t' Fliskits design, me hearties, but is nay as complicated. Aye aye! I used CA glue t' attach t' wires, then I glued t' launch lug in place using wood glue. Arrr! Avast! I made sure that t' fins had extra fillets as well as other parts of t' rocket (where shroud meets fin, for instance). That's it. Blimey! Rockets complete. Begad! Outside o' cuttin' t' balsa fins, me bucko, these three rockets can be constructed while hangin' out in your own livin' room. Avast, me proud beauty! No sandin' required!
Finishing:
There is no finishin' required as t' rocket comes with pre-printed shrouds and
pre-printed fin templates. Arrr! Blimey! This is what I like about it. Arrr! Blimey! No smelly paints, no
sanding. Blimey! Blimey! They are nice rockets t' build while watchin' t' telly. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I give
construction a 4, ya bilge rat, only because I think t' wire configuration is unnecessarily
complex and thar was confusion about t' motor blocks. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! But this would nay stop
me from buyin' another Triple Threat!
Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5
Flight:
I flew t' Persephone twice, once usin' an A10-P and once with an A10-0. Avast, me proud beauty! On the
first flight, t' Persephone kind o' tumbled back t' t' ground. Arrr! On t' second
flight, me hearties, as advertised, t' rocket flips over and gently glides t' t' ground,
landin' on t' wire landin' gear. T' Athena I flew on an A10-0 and it, matey, too,
flew very well, arrr, me bucko, flippin' over at apogee and "glided" t' t' ground.
T' largest rocket, shiver me timbers, t' Odysseus, I also flew twice, me hearties, me hearties, usin' t' A10-P and the
A10-0. Blimey! Both times, matey, shiver me timbers, t' rocket flew t' apogee but failed t' flip over. It did,
however, return steadily, me bucko, comin' straight down as easily as it ascended. Blimey! Well, blow me down! Cool!
Recovery:
T' PRO's o' t' Triple Threat be t' ease o' flight. Begad! Simply add a little tape
around t' motor for friction fit, me bucko, pop it in, me bucko, add igniter wire and plug and you
are ready for action. Begad! No foldin' o' parachutes or stuffin' t' body tube with
wadding. They recover so nicely and gently, me bucko, t' only damage these rockets
should ever sustain would be a CATO or havin' a clumsy nephew or dog
destroy/step on them. It also allows us t' use t' A10-P motors Estes
originally released for t' Blurzz Cars (not me cup o' tea..)
Flight Rating: 5 out o' 5
Summary:
Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5
Brief: Fliskits sells a great line of kits and they also give some good ones away. You can now download for free, 3 Micro Maxx versions of the 13mm flying saucers they sell in their Triple Threat kit. The downloads are Acrobat Portable Document Files or PDFs on their "Free Stuff" page. A free PDF reader can be downloaded and installed from the Adobe website. Each of the 3 ...
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