Brief:
This is a new offering from FlisKits. It is a single stage that uses parachute recovery. I got the rocket as part of their 6th anniversary celebration. It was quickly delivered in a well packaged box.

Construction:
There are 2 body tubes, a BT-55 that transitions down to a BT-50. There are 5 forward swept fins that blend into the transition. They provide toothpicks to add details on the fins.

The instructions are clear, but I did make some changes (such as the order of the build). First, I cut out the shroud for the transition. I cut the tab extra wide, and then cut it off. I use rubber cement applying a layer on the back of each side and onto the tab. While the glue was drying (notice I have not assembled it yet), I marked the tube and glued in the motor block. Unfortunately, since the tube is a BT-50 and the rocket is designed for 24mm motors, there is no engine hook. So the motor will have to be held with a friction fit. I wonder if the kit could have been designed to use a BT-60 to BT-55 so it could have used a BT-50 motor mount with an engine hook. Maybe an idea for an upscale.

Back to the shroud, I applied the tab to one side (using about half the tab), then carefully applied the other side. You have to be careful with this approach as the rubber cement will grab right away and is not forgiving (fortunately, Jim provides a spare shroud if you have an issue). You slide the shroud over the tube and I slid a centering ring over to help keep the shroud round. Since the rubber cement only sticks to itself, you don't have to worry about it sticking to anything.

The fins and strakes had minimal tie points so they were easy to remove. I sanded the edges slightly to get the "burn" off so they would glue better. However, sand lightly as you don't want to change their shape/size.

A piece of Kevlar® is tied around the tube to be the shock cord anchor. The instructions then tell you to glue the BT-55 tube on at this point. Here again, I deviated. First I tied the shock cord to the Kevlar®--it is easier at this point as you have more Kevlar® cord to work with. I then passed the shock cord/Kevlar® back down the BT-50 tube to keep it out of the way for when you glue the BT-55 on. (The instructions have you apply the glue for the BT-55, pass the cord through, and then slide the tube on. I was concerned about the glue starting to set while trying to pass the cord through.) The other change was I cut and glued the toothpicks on and did the glue fillets before I attached the BT-55 tube. I felt the rocket was more manageable this way.

With the cord down through the BT-50, I then applied glue inside the BT-55 and on the lower centering ring and attached the tube. After it dried a bit, I passed the cord back down through the tubes.

A screw eye into the nose cone and the launch lug onto the BT-55 and the build is done. (I did not build the parachute as I have tons of chutes already.) Well, don't forget to tie the shock cord to the screw eye.

Finishing:
I did not fill the spirals on the tube. I thought they were tight enough that the primer would cover them. I did discover that I should have filled them. I did seal the balsa fins and nose cone and then sprayed the rocket with gray Rustoleum primer. I wanted to try something new, so I masked the fins and sprayed the tube with Rustoleum hammered copper. I then gave the fins a coat of silver followed by Testors blue metal flake. I was going to try fluorescent orange on the nose cone, but after I painted it I did not like how it went with the copper. I decided to repaint it to match the fins so I started to paint it silver. After a first light coat, the nose cone looked pretty cool so I decided to keep it that way. However, it still did not match as much as I would like. I then painted the toothpicks with the fluorescent orange and sprayed some of the orange followed by the silver to blend the copper into the orange.

Waterslide decals were provided. I only used the main name decal as the other decals would not go with my color selection

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
I followed Jim's advice and only loaded a B6-4 for my first flight. My field is a bit small. I used an expended D12 as an adapter. Since there is no engine hook, I used tape to secure the B6 in the empty D12 and the D12 to the body. I used "dog barf" for wadding and one of my stock 12" parachutes. The kit comes with a 16". 3-2-1 and a nice straight launch. The rocket seemed to fly somewhat slowly, but then again I was only using a B6 instead of a D12.

Recovery:
About 2 seconds after apogee, the chute ejected. The rocket came down nice and soft with no damage. The distance was not too far away. It definitely would have drifted more with the 16" chute. If you use the stock chute, you may want to cut it down especially if you get it all the way up there with a D12 unless you like a good hike!

Flight Rating: 4 out of 5

Summary:
PROs: This is a nice kit, not too difficult to build. The transitions, strakes, and toothpick highlights make it more than a 3FNC rocket. I'm sure it will be a high flyer, but I will need to wait for a larger field.

CONs: I prefer an engine mount, but I had no problem with the tape. I think the stock chute is oversized but that can always be cut down.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5