T' American Spirit

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

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

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

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

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

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