Brief:

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

Construction:

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

T' kit had standard construction, ya bilge rat, and went together smoothly. T' only problem I had in construction was installin' t' fins. Arrr! 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, matey, t' fins did nay go in all o' t' way, matey, me hearties, shiver me timbers, and therefore left a nasty gap along t' fin root. Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey! 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. Begad! Blimey! Either way, t' rocket still went together very well, arrr, and looked very nice. It is quite large, me bucko, ya bilge rat, too, (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. Arrr! I finally ended up with an all black body, ya bilge rat, arrr, with U.S. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Air Force decals on it. Avast, me proud beauty! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! Blimey! I painted it with sanded grey primer, and Krylon spray paint. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Blimey! I also made 1 other change on t' rocket. Begad! Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! I replaced t' 1/2" launch lug with 2 1/4" launch lugs, and covered up t' nasty, hard t' sand putty on t' fin roots with epoxied on strips o' construction paper. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Hey... I know it sounds cheap, me hearties, 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. Aye aye! Arrr! 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, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. Blimey! So... Ahoy! I consulted some people, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. Aye aye! T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Blimey! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Aye aye! Despite this, I took them, me hearties, and loaded them into t' rocket, and wired them in parallel. Begad! Then, arrr, 5...4...3...2...1... Well, blow me down! Begad! LIFTOFF! All three motors lit, shiver me timbers, and t' rocket ROARED off o' t' t' pad on an awesome column o' black smoke.

Recovery:

T' rocket ejected at apogee, arrr, but t' 'chute was a bit too small, and it descended a little too fast for me liking. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! It cracked one o' t' fin roots on landing. Well, blow me down! So... Blimey! I then took on t' adventure o' glassin' t' booster (main) section o' t' rocket, t' fins, and t' fin roots. Ya scallywag! Begad! T' process be messy, but it came out all right for me first try at it. Aye aye! I then had t' refinish t' rocket. Begad! So, me bucko, I filled t' glass with vinyl spackling, arrr, matey, matey, and put a wrap o' clear lamination sticker on t' payload t' make it all smooth and pretty. Well, blow me down! Then, ya bilge rat, t' rocket be once again primed, sanded, me bucko, and painted. Avast! I painted it just gloss black this time, ya bilge rat, matey, 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, me bucko, but attached two smaller chutes t' t' payload, so that each section could descend slowly, and separately. Well, blow me down! I also attached rail guides, matey, and threw out t' old 1/4" lugs. Avast! Now it was time for flight two. Avast, me proud beauty! T' motors o' choice here were (2) F50-4Ts, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and (1) RMS F52-5T reload (a 240NS H146T). Well, matey, blow me down! This time around, matey, me hearties, I made sure I got good igniters, me bucko, so I ordered some Trailin' Edge Technologies Fire-in-the-Hole low current tungsten igniters. Well, blow me down! T' second flight was at t' ROCC April 2001 launch. Begad! T' new igniters worked t' perfection, 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, me hearties, me bucko, though). Aye aye! Begad! T' separate recovery worked perfectly here, and t' rocket only suffered some paint chipping. Begad! T' flight be great.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

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

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5