Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, arrr, this thin' is huge. Ya scallywag! For people in HPR, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, this isn't so big. This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, ya bilge rat, and is 4" in diameter. 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). Arrr! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Well, blow me down! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Arrr! Ya scallywag! 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. It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. My original idea (Which changed) be 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. At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, arrr, ya bilge rat, and boosts it higher. Avast! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Avast! Aye aye! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. It better fly right, me hearties, 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. Ya scallywag! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Avast, me proud beauty! So I needed a more powerful engine. Ahoy! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, matey, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Begad! I ran a computer altitude sim, matey, and found that an H140 SU would work, ya bilge rat, matey, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Well, blow me down! Avast, me bucko, me proud beauty! So, shiver me timbers, me bucko, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Begad! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Begad! Ahoy! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Avast! Ya scallywag!

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