T' American Spirit

April 19th, me hearties, 1999, t' Ultimate once again saw t' light o' Day, launchin' on yet another G80 in Amesbury, ya bilge rat, me hearties, Mass, at me first CMASS launch. Aye aye! Blimey! At t' same launch, someone sold me a RMS 29/180 and 240 set for a real good price, and Steven Boy sold me a H97. Blimey! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! I loaded it into me Ultimate, arrr, and gained me level 1. T' Ultimate launched again with a G75, me bucko, and then had its final flight… two F25-9W’s and a single G75-10J. Avast! Blimey! Beautiful flight, arrr, but suffered a sep. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Well, blow me down! Blimey! The payload section drifted away, me bucko, never t' be seen again. Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' booster section came in ballistic, matey, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off. Begad! Blimey!

After the events o' 9-11, I decided that I wanted t' build a patriotic rocket. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Havin' no money t' buy a new large rocket, arrr, I decided t' repair use what was left o' the fin can o' t' Ultimate, and created a new rocket, matey, me bucko, which I called t' American Spirit. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I took t' fin can, me bucko, and removed t' remainin' attached fins, matey, and sanded down all t' epoxy. Blimey! Blimey! Then I cut off t' damage tubin' above t' forward launch lug, which left about three inches o' damaged tubin' beyond t' forward centerin' ring. Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey!

Since t' original fins were still in good shape, shiver me timbers, matey, I reattached them, and did the usual epoxy and bondo fillets t' give a good finish. Blimey! Then I epoxied a tube coupler into t' airframe above t' centerin' ring, and then attached a two foot section o' LOC 4” dia tube t' it. Ahoy! I then took a razor blade, arrr, me hearties, and cut off t' remainin' raised areas o' t' damaged body tube. Avast! Then I filled the valleys created with epoxy and bondo. Aye aye! I used t' remainin' 4” tubin' to create t' payload bay, me hearties, which be attached via a standard tube coupler. Ahoy! For the nosecone, ya bilge rat, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. Well, blow me down! Begad! I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system. Ahoy! Avast!

Paintin' t' American Spirit be a challenge. I wanted t' do an American Flag theme. Aye aye! So I decided t' do t' stripes down t' body, me bucko, arrr, arrr, and put t' stars on the payload section. Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' make things simple with t' nose and tail, me hearties, I decided to paint those gold. Ahoy! First step was t' paint t' entire rocket white. Well, blow me down! Then I used maskin' tape t' mask t' stripes, shiver me timbers, matey, thinkin' o' a white and red stripe between each fin (6 fins, shiver me timbers, that equals 12 stripes). For t' starts, I printed out a bunch o' stars on label paper, cut them out by hand, arrr, and painstakingly position them on t' payload tube. Begad! Begad! I lined up t' top o' t' “arms” with one of t' fins, me hearties, so thar are 6 rows o' stars, me bucko, alternatin' betwixt three and four stars per row. Aye aye! There are 21 stars total. Begad! T' booster was then sprayed with red paint, ya bilge rat, and t' payload section with blue. Ya scallywag! Then t' fin can, shiver me timbers, and nose was painted Gold. Begad! Shortly after this, me bucko, I learned that Gold Paint does nay take to well t' clear coat. Blimey! Oh well…

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, 2002. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Then I noticed that both me bucko Ryan Sebastian and I had E23-8T loads. Aye aye! Wanna put them in t' American Spirit? Why Not? So we did. Aye aye! We could nay see t' flames o' t' E23's, but it was cool to hear t' E23's thrustin' for a whole second after t' WHAM o' t' H220’s burn.

Second flight was on July 27th, 2002. Avast! Blimey! Loaded t' bear with more power. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. Ahoy! Blimey! In t' center, an H128-10W. On t' outboards, arrr, matey, arrr, two G64-10W’s. Ahoy! Begad! Blimey! Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, and it was an AWESOME flight. Blimey! Blimey! Lots o' fire, matey, lots o' smoke, and lots o' noise. Well, blow me down! It is also very interestin' t' see t' reduction o' t' fire and smoke once t' shorter burnin' H128 ran out o' fuel.

Some minor repairs were required after t' last flight; one o' t' fins stabbed t' payload section. Arrr! This was easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Aye aye! Ahoy! Also, since the payload bay was gettin' a little surgery done t' it, I decided t' drill the holes and cut t' panels in t' aft end so it can accept me 4” electronics bay t' incorporate dual deployment into this rocket. Avast! T' 4” electronics bay has a $65 Transolve PK altimeter, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

Next flight took place on April 19th, 2003. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! A central G35-7W surrounded by three G35-7W motors were instantly ignited by Magnelite igniters, and t' resultin' liftoff was very spectacular. Ahoy! Ya scallywag! I plugged the ejection wells o' t' G motors, shiver me timbers, so recovery was provided by t' altimeter. Once again, me bucko, shiver me timbers, it function flawlessly.

T' most recent flight o' t' American Spirit took place durin' NSL 2003 in Clarks Summit, matey, me bucko, PA. She be loaded t' bare seven G35-7W motors. Avast! T' largest cluster I have ever done. Well, blow me down! Blimey! All seven motors ignited instantly with Magnelite igniters, arrr, and t' Transolve altimeter did its job. However, t' main chute got tangled, and it landed with a thud in t' tall grass. Avast, me proud beauty! Fortunately, arrr, thar was no damage. Arrr! Blimey! T' video o' this flight made it on t' NSL 2003 DVD.

I do plan t' fly t' American Spirit again in t' future, but as you can imagine, clusterin' composite motors can become pricey. Ahoy! Begad! Maybe one o' these days, when I have more loot t' burn, shiver me timbers, I will build a beefed up version, and launch it on a cluster o' seven I200’s. Imagine t' size o' flame that cluster would produce! That will be equivalent t' a K1400! Almost a full K!