T' American Spirit

April 19th, 1999, shiver me timbers, me hearties, t' Ultimate once again saw t' light o' Day, me hearties, launchin' on yet another G80 in Amesbury, Mass, ya bilge rat, arrr, at me first CMASS launch. Begad! Ya scallywag! At t' same launch, me hearties, someone sold me a RMS 29/180 and 240 set for a real good price, and Steven Boy sold me a H97. I loaded it into me Ultimate, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and gained me level 1. T' Ultimate launched again with a G75, me hearties, and then had its final flight… two F25-9W’s and a single G75-10J. Blimey! Begad! Beautiful flight, me bucko, but suffered a sep. Blimey! The payload section drifted away, ya bilge rat, never t' be seen again. Well, blow me down! T' booster section came in ballistic, smashin' t' tubin' up t' t' forward centerin' ring, and knockin' a couple o' t' fins off. Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty!

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

Since t' original fins were still in good shape, I reattached them, shiver me timbers, me bucko, and did the usual epoxy and bondo fillets t' give a good finish. Begad! Avast! 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. Begad! I then took a razor blade, and cut off t' remainin' raised areas o' t' damaged body tube. Then I filled the valleys created with epoxy and bondo. I used t' remainin' 4” tubin' to create t' payload bay, ya bilge rat, which was attached via a standard tube coupler. For the nosecone, ya bilge rat, I use t' NCR cone from me expired Archer. I also used t' parachute from me Archer for its recovery system. Avast! Blimey!

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

First flight o' t' American Spirit took place on t' dark and cold day o' April 19th, 2002. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! I planned t' fly it on a H220-10T… perfect day for a Blue Thunder motor. Begad! Blimey! Then I noticed that both me bucko Ryan Sebastian and I had E23-8T loads. Begad! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! Wanna put them in t' American Spirit? Why Not? So we did. We could nay see t' flames o' t' E23's, 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, 2002. Well, blow me down! Loaded t' bear with more power. Well, blow me down! Ryan Sebastian and I once again collaborated together t' put this beast up on more then one motor. Avast, me proud beauty! In t' center, an H128-10W. Arrr! On t' outboards, two G64-10W’s. Three Magnelites were used t' get t' rocket going, and it was an AWESOME flight. Arrr! Lots o' fire, matey, shiver me timbers, lots o' smoke, and lots o' noise. 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. Blimey! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! This be easily repaired by puttin' some masking tape underneath t' wound, and fillin' t' puncture with epoxy. Ahoy! Blimey! Also, matey, shiver me timbers, since the payload bay was gettin' a little surgery done t' it, matey, matey, 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. Begad! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! T' 4” electronics bay has a $65 Transolve PK altimeter, me hearties, and it has performed flawlessly in my EZI-65 and MEGABLAST L2 rocket. Blimey! Blimey!

Next flight took place on April 19th, matey, arrr, 2003. A central G35-7W surrounded by three G35-7W motors were instantly ignited by Magnelite igniters, and t' resultin' liftoff was very spectacular. Blimey! Arrr! I plugged the ejection wells o' t' G motors, so recovery be 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, me bucko, PA. Well, blow me down! She was loaded t' bare seven G35-7W motors. T' largest cluster I have ever done. Arrr! Aye aye! All seven motors ignited instantly with Magnelite igniters, and t' Transolve altimeter did its job. Avast, me proud beauty! However, matey, t' main chute got tangled, and it landed with a thud in t' tall grass. Fortunately, ya bilge rat, thar was no damage. Arrr! 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, me hearties, clusterin' composite motors can become pricey. Begad! Ya scallywag! Maybe one o' these days, when I have more loot t' burn, I will build a beefed up version, and launch it on a cluster o' seven I200’s. Imagine t' size o' flame that cluster would produce! That will be equivalent t' a K1400! Almost a full K!