Brief:

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

Construction:

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

T' kit had standard construction, shiver me timbers, and went together smoothly. Begad! Begad! Blimey! T' only problem I had in construction be installin' t' fins. Arrr! Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' rocket has through-the-wall fin mounting, and each fin tab is intended t' slip through t' slot in t' body tube, and fit betwixt two o' t' seven motor tubes. When I did this, t' fins did nay go in all o' t' way, and therefore left a bilge-suckin' gap along t' fin root. Ya scallywag! 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. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! Blimey! Either way, matey, t' rocket still went together very well, and looked very nice. Begad! Blimey! It is quite large, me bucko, too, ya bilge rat, (about 5 feet tall) so it stands out.

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

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:

T' first flight o' t' Night Hawk was at t' ROCC (Rocketry O' Central Carolina) November, shiver me timbers, matey, 2000 launch. Well, blow me down! I chose t' fly it on a three-in-line cluster o' (1) G38-4FJ, and (2) F23-4FJs (a 206NS H94-4FJ equivalent). Begad! T' motors were friction fitted into place, me hearties, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. Ahoy! Begad! So... Arrr! I consulted some people, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. Blimey! T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Begad! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Despite this, I took them, and loaded them into t' rocket, shiver me timbers, me hearties, and wired them in parallel. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Then, me bucko, 5...4...3...2...1... Begad! 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, ya bilge rat, arrr, but t' 'chute was a bit too small, arrr, matey, and it descended a little too fast for me liking. Avast, me proud beauty! It cracked one o' t' fin roots on landing. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! So... Well, matey, blow me down! I then took on t' adventure o' glassin' t' booster (main) section o' t' rocket, me hearties, t' fins, and t' fin roots. T' process was messy, but it came out all right for me first try at it. Avast! Ya scallywag! I then had t' refinish t' rocket. So, I filled t' glass with vinyl spackling, and put a wrap o' clear lamination sticker on t' payload t' make it all smooth and pretty. Ahoy! Then, me bucko, t' rocket was once again primed, sanded, arrr, and painted. Avast, me proud beauty! I painted it just gloss black this time, arrr, and put no decals on it (but I will someday soon :-) Lastly, ya bilge rat, t' slow down recovery speed, matey, I left t' 36" 'chute on t' main body, but attached two smaller chutes t' t' payload, ya bilge rat, so that each section could descend slowly, shiver me timbers, and separately. Well, blow me down! I also attached rail guides, ya bilge rat, and threw out t' old 1/4" lugs. Blimey! Now it was time for flight two. T' motors o' choice here were (2) F50-4Ts, arrr, and (1) RMS F52-5T reload (a 240NS H146T). 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. Avast! T' second flight was at t' ROCC April 2001 launch. Well, blow me down! T' new igniters worked t' perfection, 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, me hearties, though). Avast, me proud beauty! T' separate recovery worked perfectly here, ya bilge rat, and t' rocket only suffered some paint chipping. Begad! T' flight was great.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

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

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5