Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Aye aye! For people in HPR, shiver me timbers, this isn't so big. Aye aye! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, matey, ya bilge rat, and is 4" in diameter. Avast! Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! As o' now, arrr, I don't know what t' exact weight is, me hearties, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight be 4.5 lbs). Aye aye! Aye aye! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Arrr! Aye aye! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Begad! 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, and I built a booster pod for it. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Begad! Begad! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, me bucko, click here. Arrr! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Begad! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Ahoy! Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me bucko, and boosts it higher. Ahoy! Arrr! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Avast! If t' main motor doesn't light, me bucko, shiver me timbers, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and push the chute out. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! 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, shiver me timbers, matey, 1997. Begad! 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. Aye aye! So I needed a more powerful engine. Well, blow me down! Avast! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, matey, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Blimey! Avast! I ran a computer altitude sim, ya bilge rat, and found that an H140 SU would work, me bucko, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Begad! Aye aye! So, ya bilge rat, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, arrr, and fly it on an H180. 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. Begad! Blimey!

Finally, me hearties, ya bilge rat, it was ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, arrr, and set it up on pad 5. Blimey! T' rocket be angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Ya scallywag! 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. Ya scallywag! 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... Avast! T' H lit after a short delay. Aye aye! Aye aye! It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Well, blow me down! Blimey! Just after t' H burned out, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. Ya scallywag! Begad! After it coasted for 9 seconds, arrr, 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. Avast! It drifted for a long way, and be recovered undamaged. Avast! When I recovered the rocket, I smartly looked, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Begad! Later, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, arrr, but it was still spectacular. Begad! Aye aye!