Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

Finally, it be ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, and set it up on pad 5. Ahoy! Blimey! T' rocket was angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Aye aye! Blimey! When if finally came time t' launch, ya bilge rat, t' LCO made everyone stand up and watch this rocket, and it was a very heads up flight. 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... T' H lit after a short delay. Well, blow me down! It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Blimey! Just after t' H burned out, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. Begad! After it coasted for 9 seconds, arrr, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. Avast, me proud beauty! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, but it deployed after a second or two. Avast! Begad! Blimey! It drifted for a long way, me hearties, and was recovered undamaged. When I recovered the rocket, matey, ya bilge rat, I smartly looked, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Later, shiver me timbers, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, me bucko, but it was still spectacular.