Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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