Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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