First Flis

[nomopbo]

Hi all,
I ended up not staying at work to long tonight. (family got the flu)
So between assisting sick kids, I needed something to do.
Here it is... my first Flis. (and just cause it's paper didn't make this a pre-school project!)

Very fun, kept me occupied, and looking forward to flying it!
Now do I move on to the Drake, Tres, or the massive RR?

 

[Austin]

nomopbo...

Nice rocket man...ya gotta love the freebee's! You will also be amazed how well and fast they fly; don't try a C6 right away as you do want to get it back for at least another launch.

Welcome to the Rocketry forum and thanks for the pic...you caught on fast!

Once again, nice job,

Carl

 

[jflis]

Great job!

Several folks who have built the Midnight Express have been surprised at how much there is to constructing it. I love that folks can download it and then be pleasently surprised that they have a real *builders* kit in their hands and not, as you commented, some pre-school simple project.

I've also gotten from folks that they've gone on to design some of their own paper rockets after learning new things from the M.E. that's what it's all about

Take Carl's advice though... launch it first on an A, then a B and then have a last meal with it before launching on a C

She **scoots* even on the A8-3. Actually, you may even consider an A8-5...

jim

 

[mkmilion]

I lost mine on a B6-4. Oh well it's not like I can't get another one.

 

[prowlerguy]

I've got a couple of questions/comments for Jim, since he is active in this thread.

1) I love my Midnight Express. In fact, I like it so much I was very excited that your order letter indicated that you had created a TDD commemorative edition. Where is it? I have looked and looked, and I can't find it (although I did see a photo in the TDD area with one on the pad next to the TDD Duece).

2) You should add a suggestion for every person building an ACME Spitfire to download and build a ME to get experience working with cardstock, especially the nosecone. I have found it to be invaluable while building mine. I have submitted this to EMRR.

3) Where do you get the material that you make your centering rings out of? It is perfect for a project I am currently working on.

Thanks again for the great rockets!

 

[Elbmod]

I second the TDD Midnight |Express question - I got my birthday present (a Tres) this week (Jim - exceptionally cool!!!!) and the same note - but no link? Help please

 

[jflis]

whoops! forgot about that one! I will try to get it online tonight and post a status.

thanx for the reminder
jim

 

[Larry]

Nomopbo,
Welcome to TRF. The Midnight Express is a fun rocket. I've built four so far. Flies great, and its free. My first two are faded real bad. I think a coat of clear would help keep it from fading.

The other Fliskits you mentioned are nice choices, but then again you really can't go wrong with any of the Fliskits line.
Larry

 

[eugenefl]

Originally posted by prowlerguy
I've got a couple of questions/comments for Jim, since he is active in this thread.
- snip -
3) Where do you get the material that you make your centering rings out of? It is perfect for a project I am currently working on.

Thanks again for the great rockets!

That's a trade secret! You might get whacked for asking that! Not sure if you've browsed the parts category lately, but FlisKits has some really cool new motor mount assemblies (even cluster mounts!). They also have loose centering ring packs you can pick up. Maybe these will work with what you have in mind.

 

[prowlerguy]

Originally posted by eugenefl
That's a trade secret! You might get whacked for asking that! Not sure if you've browsed the parts category lately, but FlisKits has some really cool new motor mount assemblies (even cluster mounts!). They also have loose centering ring packs you can pick up. Maybe these will work with what you have in mind.

Nope, I'm not making centering rings. Let's just say that I am interested in building a rocket made in England with which I have an intimate and personal relationship, and said rocket involves large, flat, black surfaces. Jim will get plenty more of my money once I finish my Duece, Tres, and Spitfire (as if he was actually worried about it).

 

[jflis]

prowlerguy,

1) I found some free cycles and hope to have the TDD Midnight Express up tonight

2) Great idea and I will do that!

3) Other than saying that it's .050" thick fiber board, I really can't say ... (sorry!)

It's not that we have any *big* trade secrets, per-say, but we made a company decision way back at inception that we don't discuss or reveil our sources nor specifics on any of our material. We feel that it is just good busniess.

jim

 

[gladiator1332]

I'm going to build a new Midnight Express tonight. I built mine when I wasn't to great at cardstock yet, so I want give it another try. The only problem I found was that the "body-tube" of my Midnight Express has a more oval shape to it, how do I prevent this?

 

[gladiator1332]

I think I found the solution to my problem, forgot the BT-5 when I made it. I'll have to remember it for this time. I am also planning 6 custom Midnight Express rockets, a Mercury-Redstone derived, an Gemini-Titan derived, an Apollo derived, a Vostok derived, Soyuz derived, and a Delta derived. When I say derived I mean in their paint and graphics.

 

[jflis]

now, THAT should be cool!

Also, for those of you who have been asking

The Tour de Deuce commemorative Midnight Express patterns have been uploaded. Just go to the Midnight Express page and scroll down to the downloads and you will see the link.

There is also a link from the Tour de Deuce website.

Or, just click here: https://fliskits.com/products/rocketkits/free_dl/fps_fretdd.pdf

File is about 450KB pdf file.

enjoy!

jim

 

[nomopbo]

The kids were feeling a little better today. They saw the Midnight Express sitting there and thought it was cool. I asked them if they wanted to make one and received a courus of "YEAHHHHHHHH"

I printed them out, broke out the water colors and let them go for it.
They cut them out with scissors and we taped them together, put stickers on them, and off they went making whooshing sounds to the upstairs.

The cutest thing was my 2 yr old took hers to bed with her. It will probably be a pancake tomorrow, but I didn't realize what it meant to her till I saw it when I told her good night.

How cute is that???

Nomo

 

[jflis]

oh man, I would LOVE to get photo's of those very special Midnight Expresses!!!!

 

[nomopbo]

Well Here you go Jim.
I doubt you will want to make these downloadable designs. But we sure had fun!
Blue one is by my eight yr old, orange by my 2 yr old, and red by my 4 yr old.

 

[jflis]

oh man! I gotta tell you, I am *loving* this

I'll tell you another thing. If at *all* possible, save these rockets. I have both Jen's and Joe's first rockets (i'll post pix later when I get home). I've been saving them all these years. I figure they'll make great wedding gifts

Seriously, years from now you'll look back on these, as your college kids or married kids "go back home", and you'll be glad you did. You will vividly remember this past week...

good stuff. With your permission (assuming i *ever* find the time), I would love to post these in the Midnight Express photo album

 

[nomopbo]

You are more than welcome to use them in your album! We would be honored.
Nomo

 

[jflis]

thanx!

 

[powderburner]

Originally posted by prowlerguy
Let's just say that I am interested in building a rocket made in England with which I have an intimate and personal relationship, and said rocket involves large, flat, black surfaces.

hey prowlerguy,

Have you considered using matte-board (sp?) like the picture-framing shops sell? That stuff is available in large sheets, is fairly stiff, can be made stronger by soaking with CA or thin epoxy. Cuts rather easily (with a good sharp utility knife) and takes many different glues well. A bit on the heavy side, at least compared to card stock paper.

A step down from that, have you looked at posterboard-type cardboard? You can get a sheet (about 24 x 30?) at W-world for like 39 cents. It cuts with a scissors, and glues together very well. Lots of colors available (including black).

 

[prowlerguy]

That matte board might be a viable option, but not posterboard. Weight isn't really an issue, but rigidity is. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it on my next Michael's trip.

 

[slim_t]

Hey guys. Here's a pic of some of my Midnight Expresses.
Like Nomopbo, I let the kids build some. There are 5 paper rockets in the pic. 2 are my daughters, 2 are my nephews, and the oddball is my nieces. The 2 older kids built their own with my help. The 3 younger children colored theirs with crayons, then I built them for them. Lots of fun. I'm still waiting for a good day to get them all together and launch them.

Tim

 

[slim_t]

Oh, the oddball one on the left is a C.A.P. rocket I found through a link on EMRR (search for free or paper rocket). The rest are Midnight Expresses.

Jim, if you would like a hi-res version of this pic for your site, just let me know and I'll email it to you.

Tim

 

[slim_t]

Here's another paper rocket I made using the techniques learned from the Midnight Express.
It is a 3/4 scale Commanche III, that is only 2 stage, both 18mm.
The top 2 sets of fins are both attached to the sustainer.

I built an Estes Commanche almost a year ago and have still not flown it. Conditions just haven't been right yet.
But not having flown a stager yet, I had to do something. So I built this and it was my first staged rocket, and it flew perfectly. It did have a nose cone, but it seperated at ejection. I didn't expect to recover it, but my friends son was retrieving the booster and the sustainer landed right by him. So what you see here is what was left after the flight. The body tube is crimped, but it is just card stock that came in ballistic. So knowing that, it actually fared pretty well. That cardstock is quite durable once built into a rocket.
The only thing odd about it was that you could hear the flutter of the fins as it took off, probably due to the number of fins and poor alignment, but it still flew great.

Tim

 

[jflis]

Slim, great job on the paper commanche III !

and I LOVE that pix of the ME's. Yea, if you could please email me the hi-res version! thank you!

Also, if you could include in the email the names of those who built which ones (just first name and relation) thanx!

jim

 

[nomopbo]

Cool Paper Commanche! I have a Commanche but havent built it. I just have this baaaaaaaad feeling I'm not gonna get it all back.
Name of the game I guess. People loose much more costly rockets than that...

 

[gladiator1332]

Nice Commanche!

I was working on the Midnight Express and ran into some trouble. I did all of the steps to shape the body tube, and when I went to glue it together with B engines inside I couldn't get the body tube to meet up. I had about a 1/4" gap before the other end met the glue tab. Am I using the wrong size of engine?

Oh yea, I got my first issue of Sport Rocketry today, the January/February issue and in the background of the cover I thought noticed someone familiar, the FlisKits t-shirt and the yellow and blue Duece convinced me that it is you Jim. If anyone has a scanner and the cover post it.

 

[jflis]

It sounds like you may have printed the ME in the wrong scale. When you print, check to see if it is set to "Scale to paper". If so, uncheck that.

When printed properly, the body tube should be 10.0" long. You should be able to check that easily.

hope this helps!

yea, that's my mug in the background on this issue of Sport Rocketry

jim

 

[gladiator1332]

Hmm, I orignally had scale to fit selected and when I unclicked it I get a body tube length of 9 3/8". What other settings can I change to fix this?