Brief:

T' Night Hawk is an awesome (yet simple) 7x29mm cluster rocket made by THOY. Aye aye! I received this rocket as a Christmas present a few years back. Well, blow me down! Arrr! It has very easy construction, ya bilge rat, matey, and can fly on about any combination o' 1, me hearties, me hearties, 2, matey, 3, 4, 5, shiver me timbers, 6, or 7 29mm motors.

Construction:

T' rocket came in a plastic bag with (1) long 3.9" airframe tube, ya bilge rat, (1) short 3.9" payload tube, (2) centerin' rings, (7) 29mm motor tubes (3 long, ya bilge rat, 4 short), shiver me timbers, (3) plywood fins, shiver me timbers, a steel cable shock cord mount, me bucko, a 36" fluorescent orange 'chute, ya bilge rat, arrr, me hearties, a 1" wide black elastic shock cord, an ACE 3.9" nose cone, a 3.9" booster/payload coupler, me bucko, a 1/2" launch lug, and a plywood bulkhead with an eye hook for shock cord attachment. Begad! Arrr! Blimey! T' airframe tubin' was thick paper (like LOC tubing), and all o' t' parts were undamaged, me hearties, and o' good quality.

T' kit had standard construction, matey, and went together smoothly. T' only problem I had in construction be installin' t' fins. Ahoy! T' rocket has through-the-wall fin mounting, and each fin tab is intended t' slip through t' slot in t' body tube, arrr, and fit betwixt two o' t' seven motor tubes. Well, blow me down! When I did this, t' fins did nay go in all o' t' way, and therefore left a nasty gap along t' fin root. I solved t' problem by fillin' t' gap with putty, but I do nay know if I aligned t' tubes incorrectly, or if t' tabs were cut too long. Avast, me proud beauty! Either way, me bucko, matey, t' rocket still went together very well, and looked very nice. Aye aye! It is quite large, shiver me timbers, me bucko, too, (about 5 feet tall) so it stands out.

Finishing:
In t' year betwixt construction and t' first flight o' this rocket, matey, it went through three different paint schemes. Begad! I finally ended up with an all black body, me hearties, with U.S. Avast, me proud beauty! Air Force decals on it. I painted it with sanded grey primer, and Krylon spray paint. I also made 1 other change on t' rocket. Well, blow me down! I replaced t' 1/2" launch lug with 2 1/4" launch lugs, shiver me timbers, and covered up t' nasty, hard t' sand putty on t' fin roots with epoxied on strips o' construction paper. Blimey! Blimey! Hey... Well, blow me down! I know it sounds cheap, but it worked!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:

T' first flight o' t' Night Hawk be at t' ROCC (Rocketry O' Central Carolina) November, 2000 launch. I chose t' fly it on a three-in-line cluster o' (1) G38-4FJ, me bucko, and (2) F23-4FJs (a 206NS H94-4FJ equivalent). Blimey! T' motors were friction fitted into place, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. Ahoy! So... Arrr! I consulted some people, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Begad! Ahoy! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Despite this, I took them, and loaded them into t' rocket, me bucko, and wired them in parallel. Blimey! Avast! Then, 5...4...3...2...1... LIFTOFF! All three motors lit, and t' rocket ROARED off o' t' t' pad on an awesome column o' black smoke.

Recovery:

T' rocket ejected at apogee, but t' 'chute be a bit too small, shiver me timbers, matey, and it descended a little too fast for me liking. Ya scallywag! Avast! It cracked one o' t' fin roots on landing. Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! So... Avast! I then took on t' adventure o' glassin' t' booster (main) section o' t' rocket, ya bilge rat, t' fins, me hearties, me hearties, and t' fin roots. Arrr! T' process be messy, but it came out all right for me first try at it. I then had t' refinish t' rocket. Avast, me proud beauty! So, ya bilge rat, I filled t' glass with vinyl spackling, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and put a wrap o' clear lamination sticker on t' payload t' make it all smooth and pretty. Then, t' rocket was once again primed, sanded, matey, and painted. Aye aye! I painted it just gloss black this time, and put no decals on it (but I will someday soon :-) Lastly, t' slow down recovery speed, I left t' 36" 'chute on t' main body, but attached two smaller chutes t' t' payload, so that each section could descend slowly, and separately. Avast, me proud beauty! I also attached rail guides, me bucko, and threw out t' old 1/4" lugs. Blimey! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Now it was time for flight two. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! T' motors o' choice here were (2) F50-4Ts, matey, and (1) RMS F52-5T reload (a 240NS H146T). Well, blow me down! This time around, I made sure I got good igniters, so I ordered some Trailin' Edge Technologies Fire-in-the-Hole low current tungsten igniters. T' second flight be at t' ROCC April 2001 launch. Ya scallywag! T' new igniters worked t' perfection, matey, ya bilge rat, and t' Night Hawk roared off o' t' rail into t' sky on a light trail o' Blue Thunder smoke with a little blue flame at ignition (I had t' look hard, though). Aye aye! Blimey! T' separate recovery worked perfectly here, and t' rocket only suffered some paint chipping. Aye aye! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! T' flight was great.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

PROS: T' Night Hawk looks sharp, me bucko, matey, is easy t' build, arrr, matey, and flies great on about any motor combination you can think of... Begad! Ya scallywag! but make sure you build it strongly! CONS: T' chute is a bit too small, you must make sure you line t' motor tube gaps with t' fin slots, me bucko, arrr, matey, and t' flight cost is goin' t' be more than single motor flights.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5