Brief:
The FlisKits ACME Spitfire was a long awaited item from their line of models and was recently introduced at NARAM 45 in Evansville, Indiana. Well, I just had to be first in line to get a couple of these kits, one to save and one to build. I had seen this model debut at NSL 2003 earlier this year as a prototype and it’s a real head-turner. The kit resembles something you would see in a Farside comic or Warner Bros Roadrunner/Coyote cartoon.. As bent up as it is, this 24mm beauty, if you can call it that, is a real stable flier and I see a large following for this model down the road.

Construction:
The kit comes in the standard, colorful FlisKits package and includes a BT70 outer body tube and an inner 24mm body tube, which also is used as the motor mount and nosecone mount. In addition, it comes with a large assortment of templates (four of which are used for cutting the body tubes) along with nosecone, launch spacer, and tail skirt templates. Clay for nose weight and a guide pin are also included, along with the infamous FlisKits very high quality laser-cut black fiber Centering rings — seven rings in all! This is listed as a Level 3 kit, and with the quantity of parts and templates, it is listed appropriately. High quality balsa and heavy duty 3/8-inch shock cord is also included and a website is given that contains down-loadable colored “Skins” for the model. Finally, a very detailed and comprehensive set of instructions, complete with illustrations, compliments the kit.

Construction, although complex, is actually very simple and goes very fast! A motor block is used for 24mm motors, however, I would not recommend using the E9 in this kit nor is it listed by the manufacturer—the model is way too heavy and wind resistant. For you higher power guys, I am willing to bet it would fly great on D15 or E18 RMS and will test it. Back to building; once the motor stop and hook are in place, you start by adding Centering Rings and body tube sections.

A separate cutting template wrap is supplied for each of the body tube sections and FlisKits method of keeping the tubes in alignment is both simple and effective. A centering ring is used at each body tube joint, giving additional support to the model. Note that if you wish to use the “Skins” provided on the website, you print the colored lower tail template wrap and nosecone on card stock using the PDF file from their website. Otherwise, the kit contains a plain white nosecone and tail-cone wrap. What I decided to do was to use the provided wrap, then print the tail and nose on label paper as a Skin and use them as such to cover the two templates with color on both ends. I also printed each of the stock Skins found on the site on Avery label paper. The kits, for cost reasons, do not include colored Skins and that is fine by me. I see many people getting innovative with their own ideas and I even have a few of my own for another Spitfire down the road.

Most of the time during construction was spent building the body tube. You need to cut them out using templates, easy enough, and then they need to be assembled one at a time, using alignment marks you drew earlier. This method works great and the main body tube was done in no time. Cutting the templates, then cutting the tubes took more time than building. Once completed, you can build the nosecone and add weight to the model. Clay is provided for nose weight, but is added to the body tube top instead of the nosecone—this keeps the nosecone light and prevents that separation a heavy nosecone can suffer from after a few launches. The design keeps the stress low and components light.

If you decide to use the Skins, you apply them to the fins and tail before gluing on the fins. I used Epoxy to insure the fins were attached well to the tail. Also, I opted to use Epoxy when coating the inside of the nosecone, which adds strength. Follow the directions and assembly is a breeze. One thing to note, I did fit the nosecone guide pin, then cut it a bit longer, 5/8-inches, to make sure it would engage in the slot on the nosecone. Also, take note to cut and install your upper launch lug in the correct direction on the lug spacer. They tell you twice to do it with the grain on the leading edge and they even provide drawings and notes on the template. Still, I got it wrong and had to cut another spacer from the plentiful supply of balsa.

Finishing:
Finishing for me was a breeze—I printed the “Skins” from the website and applied them like labels. The model was clear coated to waterproof it, then some final touches were made. I edged each fin, then built the standard 16-inch parachute supplied with the kit. I also wound up using the stock 3-fold paper mount for the shock cord as it had worked well and is still holding up fine in my Deuces Wild!. One thing to note—you get a 3/8-inch wide, very stout shock cord for this model—plenty strong and wide enough to prevent zippers. The other end was tied to the “eye” hook on the nosecone and the “Spitfire” was ready for the field.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
Launch time was here and I decided to use a C11-3 for the first flight. The model was prepped and tissue added to the bay. Once all packed, I headed for the field, at a local school and set up my pad for a launch. After everything was ready, I thought, it was a shame no one was around to see this as I had seen the Spitfire demo launched many times by the manufacturer and the looks he always got from the crowd were amazing. Well, The good thing was this one was mine, all mine and I got to push the button. The Acme Spitfire left the rod in a hurry, straight up with no wiggles—what a ride!

Recovery:
The model slowed vertically to a hover, then the parachute deployed right at apogee. It never nosed over, just up…stop…pop…and down for a landing, very cool! I cannot wait to try it at our club launch this weekend and am glad I finally had the chance to own one. I packed up the car and headed home to prep for the weekend and will update my flight logs then.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
The FlisKits ACME Spitfire is an amazingly stable, absolutely cool model that is a MUST-HAVE for everyone’s silo. The looks on peoples’ face when you approach the launch line will be priceless and now that it’s a real “FlisKits” model, the LCO will say, “oh, I see they’ve been at it again—yea, you can launch it.” And FlisKits has been at it again, burning the midnight oil to bring you probably the most unique model rocket kit ever to be mass produced—The FlisKits “ACME Spitfire!”

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
This is yet another review of this unique, crooked rocket. Hopefully, this provides another perspective on its construction, finishing/decoration, and flight.

Construction:

The FlisKits kits are professionally packaged and this is no exception. The printed face includes is in full color, includes photos and specs, and a serial number--mine is #87. The small parts are contained in a small Zip-loc bag. My only minor complaint is that the cardstock sheet with the bottom shroud was rolled in the BT-70 tube, and the curve on the shroud was backwards. It took a little more work to roll it, but this didn't really hurt anything. There are eight pages of detailed instructions.

The rocket consists of a full length BT-50 tube that also serves as the motor tube. Around this is a series, of shrouds, sections of custom cut BT-70 tubing, and centering rings, which form the crooked outer shell. The highlight of the components are the seven laser cut rings, which include alignment tabs. The middle six rings also include a hole that allows you to align the ring set using a standard launch rod; this is an simple, but well thought out feature.

Templates are provided for all the cutting, and I recommend you take your time. Assembly is a bit tricky as you are told to insert the thin centering rings halfway into each angular tube. I failed to accomplish this. Thus, the intersection of the BT-70 sections is not as clean as they could be, but the rocket still went together and is quite sturdy.

Motor retention is accomplished with both a cardboard ring and a motor hook. The motor itself is recessed into the base of the rocket which I think gives it a cool look.

For the nose cone, I formed the shroud that came with the instructions (shortened a bit so it wouldn't hang out) and glued it into an outer shroud that I decorated and printed myself. I used Devcon 2-ton, 5-minute epoxy, which is the same epoxy recommended by Art Applewhite  on his kits and will not bleed through the cardstock. While I was at it, I glued in the nose cone's centering ring using the 5-minute epoxy. The nose cone's shoulder consists of a BT-50 sized balsa coupler that is glued into a pre-cut hole in the nose cone's centering ring. A eyehook completes the cone. There is a chunk of clay to provide stability, but unlike most rockets it doesn't go in the nose. Instead, to fill the top of the rocket between the top centering ring, the BT-70, and the inner BT-50 tubes.

The fins are all uniquely shaped and complete the odd looks of the kit. These are glued directly to the bottom cardstock shroud. I used white glue and added several layers of fillets. The fins still seem loose, as the shroud does not provide a firm base. If I was to build it gain, I'd make a second shroud and epoxy it into the first, similar to what I did on the nose cone. I just wasn't thinking at the time.

While I was assembling the body, I ran a section of Kevlar® twine through the BT-50 tube, tied it around the tube, and epoxied it to a centering ring. I tied the stock elastic cord to this leader, and to the hook-eye installed in the cone. I haven't yet assembled the plastic chute that was provided with the kit.

Finishing:
The Spitfire requires finishing like most rockets. FlisKits does have a set of 'skins' that can be downloaded for free from their site. I printed the skins on the recommended Avery 5265 full-page label paper using my OfficeJet printer. The sizing of the skins was a bit off, but it was easy to fill the gaps with strips of similarly colored stickers, which I conveniently had leftover since I didn't check the printer setting the first time through. One thing about FlisKits is that they actually LISTEN to their customers. By the time of this posting, the wraps will be updated.

I decided to make my own nose cone shroud with Wile E. Coyote on it. Since blank skin templates weren't yet available, I scanned the template from the kit. I had found a front view of Wile E on the net, but knew he wouldn't look right if he was simply pasted onto the shroud. Therefore, I used a distortion filter in Adobe Photo Deluxe to wrap Wile E over a sphere. Thus, when the cone is formed, he was more-or-less straightened back out. I "borrowed" a few bits of graphics from FlisKits to complete my shroud, which I printed directly onto cardstock.

I also added a bunch of random stickers: band-aids, extra metal patches/hatches, dripping green ooze (stole the idea from Carl Tulanko), and even my own "no BATF" sticker. I sealed the edges of the stickers with white glue, as recommended and shot two coats of clear enamel over the whole thing.

Construction Rating: 4 out of 5

Flight:
There is nothing out of the ordinary about the prep of this unique rocket. The C11-3 gave an arrow-straight flight with ejection at apogee - perfect! The ejection went off with an extra loud POP, since I guess there was a lot of shock cord and chute to eject.

Recovery:
I used an Estes 12in chute that I already had assembled. This was a hard decision. On one hand I was worried about the fins, on the other hand the BT-50 doesn't leave much room for a chute. However, the recovery was fine with no fin damage.

Flight Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Summary:
FlisKits is proving to be a highly innovative kit manufacturer. The Spitfire is about the most unique kit I've seen. It is not the easiest build, but the instructions are great. Plus, as someone on TRF commented, looking a bit dilapidated may actually *help* the looks of this kit! :-) Despite its crooked, funny-looking profile, the Spitfire flies as well as it looks. I can't wait to see what custom skins people come up with. The only concern I have is the attachment of the fins to a paper shroud. In conclusion, this would be a great addition to anyone's fleet!

Overall Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Brief:
Absolutely the most INNOVATIVE commercial kit I've ever seen in rocketry, this rocket looks like Wyle E. Coyote has built and flown it a few too many times. You won't believe it flies nor will anyone else at the pad, yet you'll all be laughing your fannies off when you witness its perfect flight path. I witnessed the prototype of this kit in action at NSL this May and have been chomping at the bit ever since then to get my hands on one. While #4 sits in my private collection (this is a signed/numbered limited edition), #51 was quickly built for flight.

Construction:

• BT-70 (highly butchered)
• BT-50 motor tube
• Fin pattern sheet
• Shroud & nose cone template sheet
• Body tube cutting patterns
• 16" plastic chute
• misc recovery supplies, centering rings (highly customized), weight, lugs, etc.

There are no especially difficult skills required to build this kit, but if you've got experience building model rockets (and I've built around 250 now), then you might find yourself at a significant disadvantage. Every step of the way my experience was telling me, "That can't be right!" Trust in the force (and the very clearly detailed instructions) and you'll be fine. Don't expect centering rings to be centered, fins to balance, etc. right away.

Before beginning construction, I highly recommend making a critical finishing decision. FlisKits has free "skin" downloads available on their website which can be used instead of painting but these skins should be applied before bonding the tube sections. You will find that they cover up all the alignment marks you make if you follow the instructions so you need to mark the INSIDE of the tubes to use the wraps. You can certainly express your creativity by painting this on your own, but personally I think Jim Flis  has expressed his creativity extremely well and the wraps offer a wonderful visual style to this rocket, complete with weld marks, bullet holes, and duct tape. You can save yourself the fin sanding/finishing if you go with the wraps.

Construction, as noted, is fairly easy if you forget the customary alignment practices. You cut the BT-70 into 4 odd pieces using provided templates, carefully marking two different alignment lines on each, along with a top & bottom mark. Flis recommends using red and black markers, which is a good way of mistake-proofing. The tubes are then stacked and bonded one-by-one around a 24mm motor tube that runs the length of the rocket using custom laser cut centering rings. And if you're very careful and pay attention to the instructions and the alignment lines, you will find everything fits very well (well, "fit" for a rocket like this takes on a different meaning). There's also a shroud transition at the bottom that is intentionally long, to be glued then trimmed resulting in a stronger bond to the centering ring. Flis has called this the "Tulanko tail" and it's a new technique I'd never tried before.

Fins are cut from heavy 1/8" balsa stock from 4 custom patterns. You read that right: no two fins are alike. In fact, one of the fins is actually angled to bond across the bend between tube #1 and tube #2.

The nose cone is rolled from a custom template, and has a balsa plug that fits into the 24mm motor tube. Shock cord is 1/2" elastic using an Estes-style motor mount, which was my biggest disappointment about this kit. Using D power I would much rather see Kevlar® mounted to a centering ring, and most other Fliskits I've built have featured Kevlar®. I finished up by making the 16" plastic chute (Fliskits standard chutes are patterned for 9, 12, or 16" configurations).

There are two launch lugs. One is mounted on the edge of a fin and the other is mounted with a balsa offset to an upper tube. If you follow the directions carefully, you'll find there really is one straight line on the outside of the tubes for the lugs. In my case, I blew the orientation of the shroud, resulting in fins that weren't quite where they were supposed to be, and had to customize the mounting of the lugs a bit, as my rocket has NO straight surfaces. Of course, with a rocket like this, who's going to notice my goof?

Finishing:
As previously mentioned, you can either choose to paint this, or go with free wraps. I chose the wraps, printed them using an inkjet printer onto cardstock (shroud/nose cone) and white label paper (tube & fin wraps). This covered just about every inch of the surface with very slight seams on the wraps. Some edges of fins were not covered (an easily corrected issue with the wrap if Jim's looking for improvement on this) and there's about a 1/4" gap between the shroud and the edge of the tall side of body tube #1. These were colored with magic markers.

One finishing tip I'd suggest, though I wimped out and didn't try it, would be to "weather" the inkjet wraps with a fine mist of water. Jim's prototype was inadvertently weathered this way, and the inkruns and fading actually improve the visual effect for this rocket.

One note on the finished product: my rocket, built using sparing amounts of white & yellow glue and the clay provided for nose weight, came in at 4.3 ounces versus the manufacturer's spec of 2.9 ounces.

Construction Rating: 4 ½ out of 5

Flight:
For it's maiden flight, I chose to drag race with another ACME built by Carl Tulanko. I chose a D12-3 and he flew on a D12-5. (Carl had already flown on a D12-3 which he felt was too short a delay.) The drag race was very close but I think Carl got first motion, I reached almost double his altitude (I'd guess I hit around 450 feet) but I managed to beat Carl back down when two of my shroud lines came unstuck and my chute turned into a streamer. Carl's weathercocked a bit in our 8 mph winds but mine flew straight up without even a spin. Unfortunately, I hit the frame of my canopy/tent and broke two fins. After a quick repair, I flew it later the same day on another D12-3 with a slight spin but great flight. Flight #2 suffered some significant damage--the ejection kicked the motor retaining clip completely out (along with the motor), the balsa plug in the nose cone got burned, leading to separation, and the shock cord while still intact was charred enough to warrant replacement before I attempted another flight. The nose cone separation seems to be a problem on this kit, as Carl's also separated after his second or 3rd flight. I'd recommend a strong epoxy fillet when bonding this unless a more reliable retention method is introduced.

Recovery:
Flights with this are incredible. It's got to be an optical illusion because there's no way this thing should be stable! It flies as well as (or better) than most of my normal rockets. The only con would be the Achilles heel of the elastic shock cord and nose cone plug.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
I have built more than 250 model rockets at this point, including just about everything in the Estes/Quest lines and have scoured every available archive of plans and designs for "classic" kit ideas to clone. Let me tell you that there's NOTHING like this on the market. No company has ever introduced as radical a design as this, and I am absolutely awed by the innovation and creativity of Jim Flis. I can't imagine how in the world he's going to follow up on this design, but can't wait to see what's next.

Give yourself a whack on the head, get out of the 3fnc standard mode, and build yourself an ACME!

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5

Brief:
This is one bizarre rocket that looks like it should not fly.

Construction:
The rocket is made from a BT-50 inside pieces of BT-70 with 6 centering rings, balsa nose cone, and 4 fins (all are a different shape) mounted to a paper transition piece.

The instructions were very precise and easy to follow with lots of useful illustrations.

It is my opinion that the difficulty level should be raised to a 4 from a three as getting the centering rings into the proper positions was very challenging and proved to be a patience tester.

Finishing:
Let your imagination be your guide when it's time to decorate this rocket. Mine is decorated to look like tin cans duct taped together complete with a Hormel chili label on one section.

Construction Rating: 5 out of 5

Flight:
After a conservative estimate of 50 flights, it is one of my favorite pieces in my fleet. The one word of caution I would offer when it comes to flight is to only use the 3/16" rod that is recommended as a 1/8" rod is not strong enough to give the rocket proper support.

It is very susceptible to weathercocking and I lost mine to a tree for a week long rain storm, and after a thorough drying, it flew just as well as before.

I like to use the D12-5 in it as I have found the extra delay time allows it to deploy the chute just after apogee. However, if the motor is mislabeled and a 7 second delay occurs, it will eject at about a foot from impact and will cause internal damage. I have never flown it on a C11 motor.

Recovery:
When launched off of a proper rod with a D12-5 motor it will most always be a short recovery as it weathercocks and then drifts back near the launch rod. I used it in the club spot landing contest.

Flight Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary:
The attention this thing gets just setting on the table waiting to fly is well worth the build. Everyone will be amazed that it really does fly straight. After it pranged due to a slow ejection charge, the comments were "How would you know if it was damaged? It's already bent!"

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5