T' American Spirit

April 19th, 1999, arrr, t' Ultimate once again saw t' light o' Day, launchin' on yet another G80 in Amesbury, matey, Mass, me hearties, at me first CMASS launch. Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! At t' same launch, someone sold me a RMS 29/180 and 240 set for a real good price, me bucko, arrr, and Steven Boy sold me a H97. Ahoy! I loaded it into me Ultimate, ya bilge rat, 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. Ahoy! Aye aye! Beautiful flight, but suffered a sep. Arrr! Aye aye! The payload section drifted away, never t' be seen again. Aye aye! T' booster section came in ballistic, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off. Ahoy! Begad!

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

Since t' original fins were still in good shape, matey, I reattached them, matey, 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, me bucko, and then attached a two foot section o' LOC 4” dia tube t' it. Arrr! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I then took a razor blade, ya bilge rat, and cut off t' remainin' raised areas o' t' damaged body tube. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Then I filled the valleys created with epoxy and bondo. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I used t' remainin' 4” tubin' to create t' payload bay, me bucko, which was attached via a standard tube coupler. For the nosecone, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system.

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

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, me hearties, me bucko, 2002. I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Then I noticed that both me bucko Ryan Sebastian and I had E23-8T loads. Arrr! Ya scallywag! Wanna put them in t' American Spirit? Why Not? So we did. Begad! We could nay see t' flames o' t' E23's, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, 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 bucko, shiver me timbers, 2002. Loaded t' bear with more power. Begad! Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. In t' center, ya bilge rat, an H128-10W. Ya scallywag! On t' outboards, me hearties, two G64-10W’s. Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, and it was an AWESOME flight. Avast, me proud beauty! Lots o' fire, shiver me timbers, lots o' smoke, matey, and lots o' noise. Begad! 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! 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, arrr, 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. T' 4” electronics bay has a $65 Transolve PK altimeter, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket. Avast!

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

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