T' American Spirit

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

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

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! 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. Well, me hearties, blow me down! Blimey! I then took a razor blade, matey, and cut off t' remainin' raised areas o' t' damaged body tube. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Then I filled the valleys created with epoxy and bondo. Begad! Blimey! I used t' remainin' 4” tubin' to create t' payload bay, matey, which was attached via a standard tube coupler. Begad! Blimey! For the nosecone, arrr, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. Begad! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system. Ahoy! Blimey!

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

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

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

T' most recent flight o' t' American Spirit took place durin' NSL 2003 in Clarks Summit, PA. She was loaded t' bare seven G35-7W motors. Avast! Blimey! T' largest cluster I have ever done. All seven motors ignited instantly with Magnelite igniters, me hearties, and t' Transolve altimeter did its job. Avast! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! However, me bucko, t' main chute got tangled, matey, and it landed with a thud in t' tall grass. Fortunately, thar be 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, me hearties, clusterin' composite motors can become pricey. Maybe one o' these days, me bucko, when I have more loot t' burn, I will build a beefed up version, and launch it on a cluster o' seven I200’s. Aye aye! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Imagine t' size o' flame that cluster would produce! That will be equivalent t' a K1400! Almost a full K!