Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, me hearties, me hearties, and I built a booster pod for it. It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Avast! Blimey! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, matey, click here. 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. Arrr! Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, matey, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Ahoy! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It better fly right, or I will have a lot o' work t' do! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey!

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

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

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