Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, and I built a booster pod for it. Begad! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Ahoy! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, me bucko, ya bilge rat, click here. Aye aye! 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. Blimey! Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, me hearties, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. Begad! Aye aye! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Begad! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, ya bilge rat, and push the chute out. It better fly right, 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. Avast! Arrr! After talkin' t' some people, me bucko, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Begad! So I needed a more powerful engine. Avast! An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, matey, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Begad! Well, blow me down! I ran a computer altitude sim, ya bilge rat, and found that an H140 SU would work, me hearties, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Avast, me proud beauty! So, ya bilge rat, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, arrr, and fly it on an H180. Avast! 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. Ahoy!

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