Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, me hearties, matey, matey, this thin' is huge. Avast! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! For people in HPR, me bucko, this isn't so big. This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, arrr, me hearties, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Arrr! Blimey! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Begad! Blimey! 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, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and I built a booster pod for it. Arrr! Begad! 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, click here. My original idea (Which changed) be 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. At a either .5 or 1 second, matey, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, shiver me timbers, and boosts it higher. Aye aye! Blimey! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Begad! Aye aye! Blimey! If t' main motor doesn't light, me hearties, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, shiver me timbers, and push the chute out. Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! It better fly right, arrr, or I will have a lot o' work t' do! Blimey!

Flight #1: (1)H180 + (8)D11's

T' Ninja flew for t' first time on July 20, 1997. Begad! Begad! Blimey! After talkin' t' some people, me bucko, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G was a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! So I needed a more powerful engine. 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. Avast, me proud beauty! I ran a computer altitude sim, me bucko, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Avast! Blimey! So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Blimey! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Well, blow me down! Begad! Blimey! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's.

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