T' American Spirit

April 19th, me bucko, me bucko, 1999, arrr, t' Ultimate once again saw t' light o' Day, launchin' on yet another G80 in Amesbury, Mass, shiver me timbers, at me first CMASS launch. Avast! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! Blimey! 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. Well, blow me down! Blimey! I loaded it into me Ultimate, 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. Aye aye! Beautiful flight, matey, but suffered a sep. The payload section drifted away, arrr, never t' be seen again. T' booster section came in ballistic, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off.

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

Since t' original fins were still in good shape, me bucko, I reattached them, and did the usual epoxy and bondo fillets t' give a good finish. Arrr! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! 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. Well, arrr, blow me down! Blimey! I used t' remainin' 4” tubin' to create t' payload bay, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, which be attached via a standard tube coupler. Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! For the nosecone, ya bilge rat, arrr, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system. Begad!

Paintin' t' American Spirit was a challenge. Avast, me proud beauty! I wanted t' do an American Flag theme. So I decided t' do t' stripes down t' body, arrr, and put t' stars on the payload section. Aye aye! T' make things simple with t' nose and tail, matey, I decided to paint those gold. Aye aye! Begad! First step be t' paint t' entire rocket white. Avast! Ya scallywag! Then I used maskin' tape t' mask t' stripes, shiver me timbers, thinkin' o' a white and red stripe between each fin (6 fins, me hearties, that equals 12 stripes). Ahoy! Begad! For t' starts, I printed out a bunch o' stars on label paper, arrr, cut them out by hand, me bucko, and painstakingly position them on t' payload tube. Begad! I lined up t' top o' t' “arms” with one of t' fins, so thar are 6 rows o' stars, shiver me timbers, alternatin' betwixt three and four stars per row. Aye aye! There are 21 stars total. Begad! T' booster was then sprayed with red paint, and t' payload section with blue. Then t' fin can, me bucko, and nose was painted Gold. Shortly after this, I learned that Gold Paint does nay take to well t' clear coat. Aye aye! Oh well…

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, 2002. Arrr! I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Aye aye! Then I noticed that both me bucko Ryan Sebastian and I had E23-8T loads. Aye aye! Wanna put them in t' American Spirit? Why Not? So we did. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! We could nay see t' flames o' t' E23's, shiver me timbers, me hearties, but it was cool to hear t' E23's thrustin' for a whole second after t' WHAM o' t' H220’s burn.

Second flight be on July 27th, 2002. Loaded t' bear with more power. Arrr! Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. Avast! In t' center, an H128-10W. Begad! On t' outboards, me hearties, two G64-10W’s. Aye aye! Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, and it was an AWESOME flight. Avast! Lots o' fire, shiver me timbers, me bucko, lots o' smoke, ya bilge rat, and lots o' noise. Aye aye! 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. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! This was easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Also, since the payload bay was gettin' a little surgery done t' it, me bucko, 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. Well, blow me down! 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.

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

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