Descon American Spirit

Scratch - American Spirit {Scratch}

Contributed by Douglas Gardei

Manufacturer: Scratch

T' American Spirit

American Spirit with Seven G35 White Lightning motors.
by Douglas Gardei
updated 8/27/04
holding my American Spirit which is loaded with four G35 White Lightning motors. T' American Spirit started life as a LOC Ultimate. Ahoy! I received it as a Christmas gift in 1997, buildin' it that winter, ya bilge rat, arrr, and launched it once in Denver, PA with a G80-4T. Arrr! Mr. Begad! Aye aye! Reed, arrr, one o' t' Technology teachers in my High school borrowed it for his families Memorial Day picnic, matey, matey, and flew it on a G80. Begad! Then me Ultimate made t' journey t' me new home in New Hampshire.

April 19th, 1999, shiver me timbers, t' Ultimate once again saw t' light o' Day, matey, launchin' on yet another G80 in Amesbury, Mass, ya bilge rat, arrr, at me first CMASS launch. Well, blow me down! 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. I loaded it into me Ultimate, and gained me level 1. T' Ultimate launched again with a G75, me bucko, matey, shiver me timbers, and then had its final flight… two F25-9W’s and a single G75-10J. Blimey! Beautiful flight, but suffered a sep. Ya scallywag! Begad! The payload section drifted away, arrr, never t' be seen again. Ya scallywag! T' booster section came in ballistic, shiver me timbers, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off.

i am standing next to my American Spirit. After the events o' 9-11, I decided that I wanted t' build a patriotic rocket. Havin' no money t' buy a new large rocket, me hearties, I decided t' repair use what was left o' the fin can o' t' Ultimate, and created a new rocket, me hearties, which I called t' American Spirit. Arrr! Begad! I took t' fin can, ya bilge rat, and removed t' remainin' attached fins, matey, ya bilge rat, matey, and sanded down all t' epoxy. Ahoy! 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, blow me down! Well, blow me down!

Since t' original fins were still in good shape, I reattached them, and did the usual epoxy and bondo fillets t' give a good finish. Aye aye! 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. Arrr! I then took a razor blade, and cut off t' remainin' raised areas o' t' damaged body tube. Avast, me proud beauty! Then I filled the valleys created with epoxy and bondo. Avast, me proud beauty! I used t' remainin' 4” tubin' to create t' payload bay, which be attached via a standard tube coupler. Aye aye! For the nosecone, ya bilge rat, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system.

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

my American Spirit takes off with a H220-10T and dual E23's. First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, 2002. Aye aye! I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Aye aye! Begad! Then I noticed that both me bucko Ryan Sebastian and I had E23-8T loads. Arrr! Wanna put them in t' American Spirit? Why Not? So we did. Ahoy! Blimey! 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 be on July 27th, 2002. Loaded t' bear with more power. Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. In t' center, an H128-10W. On t' outboards, matey, two G64-10W’s. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, and it was an AWESOME flight. Lots o' fire, lots o' smoke, matey, and lots o' noise. 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. Begad! This was easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, ya bilge rat, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Ahoy! Also, matey, since the payload bay be gettin' a little surgery done t' it, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, 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. Well, blow me down! Avast! T' 4” electronics bay has a $65 Transolve PK altimeter, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket. Blimey!

american Spirit flies with a H128 and two G64's. Next flight took place on April 19th, 2003. Well, blow me down! A central G35-7W surrounded by three G35-7W motors were instantly ignited by Magnelite igniters, matey, and t' resultin' liftoff was very spectacular. Well, me bucko, blow me down! I plugged the ejection wells o' t' G motors, ya bilge rat, so recovery was provided by t' altimeter. Once again, it function flawlessly.

T' most recent flight o' t' American Spirit took place durin' NSL 2003 in Clarks Summit, PA. Ahoy! She be loaded t' bare seven G35-7W motors. Ahoy! T' largest cluster I have ever done. Begad! All seven motors ignited instantly with Magnelite igniters, and t' Transolve altimeter did its job. However, t' main chute got tangled, shiver me timbers, and it landed with a thud in t' tall grass. Avast, me proud beauty! Fortunately, me hearties, arrr, thar was no damage. 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. Maybe one o' these days, shiver me timbers, when I have more loot t' burn, ya bilge rat, I will build a beefed up version, and launch it on a cluster o' seven I200’s. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! Imagine t' size o' flame that cluster would produce! That will be equivalent t' a K1400! Almost a full K!

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