[F8] Simulated 3d text flip without actionscript??

First post and new to this but aggressively trying to learn....

Can this be done without actionscript? http://www.entropyweb.com/fliptext1.htm

I know how to do the standard flip (not rotation) using 4 tweens but the only way I could figure out how to make this simulated 3d version work was frame by frame animation.

For those interested in how I did the above (not recommended as is VERY tedious). There has got to be an easier way. Which is why I ask....

1. Typed some text, scaled it to 200x40 and converted to symbol "front"
2. Typed same text, scaled it to 200x40, changed color and then tranform>flip horizontal and then converted to symbol "back"
3. Inserted 40 blank keyframes on timeline
4. First 21 frames, inserted an instance of "front" symbol
5. Broke Apart symbol in each frame so I could distort
6. Frame 1, distorted top left corner up 10 px, bot left corner down 10 px, top right corner down 10 pix, bot right corner up 10 px.
7. Frame 2, distorted top left corner up 9 px, bot left corner down 9 px, top right corner down 9 px, bot right corner up 9 px.
8. And so on until Frame 11 which I left alone and then switched the distort direction for the next 9 frames.
9. Converted Frame 1-10 and Frame 12-21 to symbols, so I could scale proportionately.
10.Scaled Frame 1 = 0 px wide, Frame 2 = 20 px wide, Frame 3 = 40 px wide and so on increasing by 20 px until Frame 11 (left alone) and then decreased Frame 12-21 by 20 px until back to 0 px
11. Repeated the above steps using the "back" symbol, just reversing the distort and scaling procedures

Now I tried to do this by tweening but could not get it right. I could not seem to get the transition to work, especially as it neared Frame 11. If this can only be done with actionscript, I'd appreciate an explanation for future reference as AS is still beyond me.

Any help, explanations, how-to-links greatly appreciated.

EW