T' American Spirit

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

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, 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. Blimey! I took t' fin can, ya bilge rat, and removed t' remainin' attached fins, shiver me timbers, and sanded down all t' epoxy. Well, blow me down! Then I cut off t' damage tubin' above t' forward launch lug, me hearties, which left about three inches o' damaged tubin' beyond t' forward centerin' ring. Well, blow me down! Blimey!

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

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

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

Next flight took place on April 19th, me hearties, 2003. A central G35-7W surrounded by three G35-7W motors were instantly ignited by Magnelite igniters, and t' resultin' liftoff be very spectacular. Avast, me proud beauty! I plugged the ejection wells o' t' G motors, so recovery be provided by t' altimeter. Once again, arrr, it function flawlessly.

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