Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, me hearties, matey, this thin' is huge. Arrr! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, ya bilge rat, arrr, and is 4" in diameter. Begad! 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). Begad! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Arrr! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, me bucko, matey, 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, ya bilge rat, click here. Aye aye! Arrr! My original idea (Which changed) be t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Aye aye! Begad! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Aye aye! At a either .5 or 1 second, arrr, arrr, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me hearties, and boosts it higher. Ahoy! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. If t' main motor doesn't light, me hearties, ya bilge rat, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, me hearties, and push the chute out. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! It better fly right, arrr, 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, ya bilge rat, 1997. Ahoy! Blimey! After talkin' t' some people, me bucko, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. Ahoy! So I needed a more powerful engine. Begad! An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, me bucko, 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. Begad! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Blimey! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Avast, me proud beauty!

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