Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Aye aye! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Blimey! As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, shiver me timbers, arrr, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight be 4.5 lbs). Aye aye! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Begad! Blimey! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Ahoy! Avast, matey, me proud beauty! 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. Begad! 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, shiver me timbers, click here. Ahoy! Well, me hearties, blow me down! My original idea (Which changed) was 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. Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, ya bilge rat, matey, ya bilge rat, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Blimey! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and push the chute out. Well, blow me down! 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, 1997. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! 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. Begad! So I needed a more powerful engine. Avast! Aye aye! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, me bucko, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. I ran a computer altitude sim, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and found that an H140 SU would work, matey, me hearties, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me bucko, and fly it on an H180. Aye aye! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Aye aye! Avast! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Begad!

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