Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Blimey! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Blimey! Begad! As o' now, matey, I don't know what t' exact weight is, matey, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Avast, me proud beauty! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Begad! Aye aye! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, ya bilge rat, and I built a booster pod for it. Arrr! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, arrr, ya bilge rat, click here. Arrr! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Begad! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me hearties, and boosts it higher. Ahoy! Arrr! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Ya scallywag! If t' main motor doesn't light, me bucko, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Arrr! It better fly right, matey, or I will have a lot o' work t' do!

Flight #1: (1)H180 + (8)D11's

T' Ninja flew for t' first time on July 20, 1997. After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, me hearties, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Begad! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, ya bilge rat, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Begad! So, me bucko, me hearties, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, arrr, and fly it on an H180. Ahoy! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad!

Finally, it was ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, me hearties, and set it up on pad 5. Begad! Blimey! Avast, shiver me timbers, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' rocket was angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Aye aye! Blimey! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! When if finally came time t' launch, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, t' LCO made everyone stand up and watch this rocket, and it be a very heads up flight. Begad! Blimey! 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... T' H lit after a short delay. Begad! Blimey! It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Just after t' H burned out, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. After it coasted for 9 seconds, matey, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, but it deployed after a second or two. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! It drifted for a long way, ya bilge rat, me hearties, and be recovered undamaged. Begad! Blimey! When I recovered the rocket, arrr, I smartly looked, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Later, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, ya bilge rat, me bucko, but it was still spectacular. Begad! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey!