Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Begad! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Well, blow me down! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Avast! Aye aye! As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Avast! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Well, arrr, blow me down! 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, shiver me timbers, 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. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, me hearties, ya bilge rat, click here. Ya scallywag! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Ya scallywag! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Blimey! Avast! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, matey, and push the chute out. Arrr! Begad! 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, me hearties, 1997. Aye aye! After talkin' t' some people, ya bilge rat, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. Ya scallywag! So I needed a more powerful engine. Ahoy! An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Ya scallywag! I ran a computer altitude sim, me bucko, me hearties, and found that an H140 SU would work, me hearties, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Avast, me proud beauty! Ya scallywag! So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Blimey! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Aye aye! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's.

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