Review: Thing-a-ma-Jig by FlisKits
[The larger rocket is the Thing-a-ma-Jig. The three small rockets are Whatchamacallits.]The Thing-a-ma-Jig is a nice, moderately sized, skill level 1 rocket from FlisKits. With my help my three (now four) year old son was able to build it. I really like the fin design. They lock together in such a way that aligning them on the rocket is very simple and does not require any sort of jig. We just used a little tape to hold them together while the glue was drying.
To make the kit a little easier for my son I replaced the parachute with a party streamer.
This rocket has a 24mm (BT-50) body tube and an 18mm (BT-20) motor mount. It flies on standard 18mm engines such as the B6-4 and C6-5. As I mentioned above, it includes a parachute as the recovery device.
Matthew launched this rocket at the CMASS launch in Amesbury. It flew very well on the B6-4 and C6-5 and it was recovered safely with no damage every time.
I think this is a very nice, well designed, clever kit and great for the beginner. If you are going to give it to a young child I suggest you assemble the pieces once or twice by yourself first to make sure you understand how they go together and to make sure they fit. On the similar Whatchamacallit kits I’ve found several centering rings that did not fit properly. I got them to fit by removing a layer on the inside and/or the outside, but it is better to have everything just right before your child attempts to assemble it themselves.
This is a video of the Thing-a-ma-Jig flying on an Estes C6-5.
And here it is again in slow motion (I love this new video camera)…