Fliskits FlisFleet Arrived!

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

hunterdude

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 12, 2014
Messages
45
Reaction score
0
My first micro rocket kit order has arrived today and I must say I am Very impressed with the kits! To be fair, my only previous rocket experience has been a few Estes kits that I believe are now made in China. The Estes have been OK but I have learned to study the kit contents instore...particularly the body tubes as crushed tubes seem a bit common.
My micro Fliskit fleet order (about 14 rockets) arrived in perfect condition and I had no idea such good quality body tubes and laser cutting of the tiny balsa parts was available. I plan to order all the remaining micro kits that did not come in the "fleet deal" as soon as the Saturn V is back in stock (save on shipping)
I hope to start building in the morning...some of the kits are smaller than I imagined!... now to pick one out to start...the Teeny Triskelion seems to be calling my name :)
 
I only have one Micro, the Teeny Triskelion, and I too was and am quite impressed with the Quality.:)
 
Have a Tog and a Crayon, both great flyers and excellent kits. I also have several of the bigger kits,all of which came well packaged with great quality parts. Not to mention interesting designs.
 
As more an airplane and glider builder the little Nanite slide wing boost glider was of great interest to...looking at the skill ratings I choose not to start with that one. I plan to build it stock first and fly it, but with my free flight background I believe I could shave perhaps a gram or more off the build weight (maybe) I would love to know what some of the experienced builders are getting for flying weight?
 
As more an airplane and glider builder the little Nanite slide wing boost glider was of great interest to...looking at the skill ratings I choose not to start with that one. I plan to build it stock first and fly it, but with my free flight background I believe I could shave perhaps a gram or more off the build weight (maybe) I would love to know what some of the experienced builders are getting for flying weight?

I absolutely agree with your choice not to start your micro building with the Nanite. it is a wonderful little kit but very demanding.
I'll second the suggestion to start you building with the Tiny Triskelion; It is not only a super first rate kit but a wonderful flying model as well. My only suggestion is to replace the light weight shockline supplied with a longer (Minimum 30") of 70lb braided Kevlar line.

Don't know if you purchased the mudwasp. if so I strongly suggest building it as a 3 motor in-line cluster. As designed even built as lightly as possilbe this particular kit is just TOO DARN Heavy for a single MMX-II motor. It does however fly just fine on 3:).

Welcome to the smaller side of Rocketry!

MM 341Lp07_Tiny Triskelion on Pad_04-27-13.jpg

MM 341Lp11a_Tiny Triskelion Ready for 11th flt_11-16-13.JPG

MM 342a2_MudWasp 3 motor Cluster Convert_06-01-12.JPG

MM 342Lp02a_MudWasp Clustered HookUp & Relay 1st Flt_10-20-12.jpg

MM 342Lp02c_MudWasp Clustered 1st Countdown_10-20-12.jpg
 
You will have a lot of fun with the Fliskits. They produce great "builders" kits. I love the degree of creativity in their designs. This is true for both the micro maxx as well as the "standard" kits. Even the "three-fins-n-nose-cone" kits have flair!
 
I DO have the Mud Wasp kit!..I ordered the two fleet deals so I ended up with around 14 micro rockets for one low price...now that I have seen the kit quality, I wish I had ordered them all :) .I kind of wanted a few very low flying micros as I have a couple of guys at work slightly interested in rocketry and I am planning to launch some micro Maxx for them at work on lunch...so low flying is desirable for that...However, I want to attempt my first cluster launch before spring, and a cluster motored mud wasp seems like not a bad first
 
If you have the Doo-Hickey in your Flis-fleet, it's a low flier. I get mine out and launch it every so ofter just for giggles. I really like the Buckshot, too.
 
I did not know the strength of the kevlar shock cord supplied with my tiny triskelion so I looked on Fliskits web site...they do not specify but sell 16 lb in the micro Max recovery section...I have never used kevlar as have only built Estes kits but occurred to me that if the kevlar fails it would be difficult to repair! When the stock cord fails is it usually from heat damage? Or abrasion? Or knot failure...I just want to understand what the advantage of kevlar shock cord use is?...my first thought is weight savings.
 
Last edited:
I did not know the strength of the kevlar shock cord supplied with my tiny triskelion so I looked on Fliskits web site...they do not specify but sell 16 lb in the micro Max recovery section...I have never used kevlar as have only built Estes kits but occurred to me that if the kevlar fails it would be difficult to repair! When the stock cord fails is it usually from heat damage? Or abrasion? Or knot failure...I just want to understand what the advantage of kevlar shock cord use is?...my first thought is weight savings.

Kevlar Line (Twisted or Braided) it a heat resistant (NOT FlameProof) material. While it does not burn it degrades each and every time it is subjected to temperatures over 900DegF. Our BP motors ignition temperature is 909degs and goes up for there;) That said: our kevlar shock lines are generally tied to or around our motor mounts. Over time I've discovered that a miminum of 30" of 70lb kevlar has enough length to allow the Nosecone and laundry to deploy and slow down before hitting the end of the line. On really long Micro models I'll add the length of the model body to that magic 30" line length. The less force placed on the kevlar at ejection the longer the line will last.
BUT and I say this Unless using some from of Shock-line protective shield or Stainless Steel Beading wire shockline Anchor you will have to retorfit a new shockline in your models after a few flights. I've fallen in love with 70lb Braided Kevlar from the Kevlar Store on-line. One 100yd spool goes a really long way.

My Tiny Triskelion broke the supplied very light-weight line on the first flight. I Replaced it with a very short .018"dia. 26lb test 49strand Stainless steel Beading wire shock-line anchor with 30" of 70lb kevlar. Haven't had any more trouble with it at all.

Bead Stringing Wire and tiny crimp sleeves are a Beadalon product you'll find in most any Hobby arts or Craft stores like Micheals or AC Moore. The stuff is NOT Cheap (last I bought was 13.49/30ft roll) but you only need a few inches so the roll goes a long way.

Another approach is to use a heavier shock-line of 90-100lb kevlar using the same 30" length. Yes it's very possible to stuff 30 inches of 100lb kevlar in a Micro Minimum diameter model with a recovery streamer and still have room to put the nosecone on:)

On a related note! To cut down on the bulk and need for FP Wadding or dog-Barf wadding. I now use nothing but TEFLON Plumbers Tape or a bit thicker Military Grade PTFE Plumbers sealing tape for my Micro model Streamers. Why? Teflon or PTFE is FlameProof eliminating the need for any other wadding so the Streamer surves both as FP Wadding and Recovery Streamer. The only trick to using Plain Old 1/2" or 3/4" White Teflon Plumbers tape is that it must be talc baby powdered well on both sides before the first fold/rollings or stuffing. This helps keep the teflon from sticking to itself. Re-powder these teflon streamers after every other flight or as needed. Military grade PTFE tapes come in a variety of widths from 1/4" to 2" and in muted colors Yellow, Green, Red, & Orange. PTFE sealing tapes are availble from just about any industrial supply (McMaster-Carr is where I get mine) on 43ft rolls. Current Cat. No's 44945K11, K12, K13, K14, K15 and 44945K16 from 3.48/roll to 15.93/roll. I've found 1/4", 3/8", 1/2" and 3/4" are the most useful widths for micro models. 3/8" and 1/2" getting most of the work.

So to answer your question a bit more directly:
Supplied Kevlar shock-lines will NOT last very long. they can either be strengthened by using heavier Kevlar, a kevlar/Stainless combination or adding additional length and LB test to the lines. That said Any Kevlar shock-line is bettery then any other single shockline source out there.

To Replace a broken shock-line isn't all that difficult but does require adding another anchor point from the forward end of the model. This can be a bit of a headache but I have pictorials of how to do it if needed:)

Hope all this isn't to much info at one time.

Beading wire Shockcord MMT-f_5pic page(128dpi)_07-08-06.jpg

Beading wire Shockcord MMT-a_The Parts (128dpi)_07-08-06.jpg

Kevlar lines-a_28lb to 138lb (128dpi)_06-05.jpg

Kevlar Lines-c_70lb Braided (tubular)_08-12.jpg

Teflon Tapes-sm_.5in to 2in Streamer tapes_06-02-04.jpg

MM 294c-b_Mosquito show RearEject Pod & Streamer_03-14-14.jpg

MM 294a-Lp08b_Mosquito-a After recovery_06-16-07.JPG
 
Last edited:
That was exactly the kind of info I wanted, of particular interest was the temps that kevlar can withstand, the burn temps of black powder motors, and the amount of kevlar that CAN fit in min dia BT...Thanks!!
 
Glad you're enjoying your micro fleet :). What I love (John can confirm) is being able to walk out to the range with a small box (I use a show box) and have a very large fleet of rockets to fly, right at yer finger tips :)
 
My 14-Year-Old sister was never interested in rocketry, up until she got a Diminutive Deuce for her birthday (from me of course!)
She may not like it but her friends do!!! Micro maxx may be far from HPR, but if it gets kids into rocketry I LIKE IT!!
 
Glad you're enjoying your micro fleet :). What I love (John can confirm) is being able to walk out to the range with a small box (I use a show box) and have a very large fleet of rockets to fly, right at yer finger tips :)

I sure will Jim:
I have about 206 different Micro Models in my Micro Flyable fleet at the moment. Generally when I go to the range I will have all but two of those models with me to select from right there on the field. I do generally per-prepare models the day before but carry the rest in a roll-around tote and plastic box for show & tell. over 200 models at anyone time:) You just can't do that with even Standard size models.

I've said this before I'll say it again. 100, 1000 or 10,000 feet- Out of sight flight is out of sight! Micro model can and do deliver all the building and flying Joy without having to walk miles for recovery. We can put as much detail into micro models was any other size requiring far less power to fly the model.
I can also say without hesitation ANYTHING being done in any other branch of rocketry can and ARE being done with micros. even RC/RG and other on-board electronics. the Limiting factor currently is size of the power supply needed to run the on-boards. This makes it necessary to cluster most of these more complex models but that just makes it More fun!
 
Last edited:
Back
Top