Brief:

T' Night Hawk is an awesome (yet simple) 7x29mm cluster rocket made by THOY. I received this rocket as a Christmas present a few years back. Arrr! Blimey! It has very easy construction, arrr, and can fly on about any combination o' 1, 2, matey, ya bilge rat, 3, 4, ya bilge rat, 5, matey, 6, me bucko, me hearties, or 7 29mm motors.

Construction:

T' rocket came in a plastic bag with (1) long 3.9" airframe tube, arrr, (1) short 3.9" payload tube, shiver me timbers, (2) centerin' rings, arrr, shiver me timbers, arrr, (7) 29mm motor tubes (3 long, 4 short), arrr, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, (3) plywood fins, a steel cable shock cord mount, a 36" fluorescent orange 'chute, shiver me timbers, a 1" wide black elastic shock cord, an ACE 3.9" nose cone, a 3.9" booster/payload coupler, shiver me timbers, a 1/2" launch lug, ya bilge rat, arrr, and a plywood bulkhead with an eye hook for shock cord attachment. Begad! T' airframe tubin' was thick paper (like LOC tubing), and all o' t' parts were undamaged, shiver me timbers, and o' good quality.

T' kit had standard construction, and went together smoothly. Blimey! Arrr! T' only problem I had in construction was installin' t' fins. Aye aye! T' rocket has through-the-wall fin mounting, matey, and each fin tab is intended t' slip through t' slot in t' body tube, matey, and fit betwixt two o' t' seven motor tubes. Blimey! When I did this, matey, me hearties, t' fins did nay go in all o' t' way, arrr, and therefore left a nasty gap along t' fin root. I solved t' problem by fillin' t' gap with putty, but I do nay know if I aligned t' tubes incorrectly, me bucko, or if t' tabs were cut too long. Ya scallywag! Either way, t' rocket still went together very well, matey, shiver me timbers, and looked very nice. Ya scallywag! It is quite large, too, shiver me timbers, (about 5 feet tall) so it stands out.

Finishing:
In t' year betwixt construction and t' first flight o' this rocket, it went through three different paint schemes. Ya scallywag! I finally ended up with an all black body, matey, with U.S. Blimey! Blimey! Air Force decals on it. I painted it with sanded grey primer, ya bilge rat, and Krylon spray paint. Arrr! Begad! Blimey! I also made 1 other change on t' rocket. Ahoy! Blimey! I replaced t' 1/2" launch lug with 2 1/4" launch lugs, and covered up t' nasty, hard t' sand putty on t' fin roots with epoxied on strips o' construction paper. Hey... I know it sounds cheap, but it worked!

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:

T' first flight o' t' Night Hawk was at t' ROCC (Rocketry O' Central Carolina) November, 2000 launch. I chose t' fly it on a three-in-line cluster o' (1) G38-4FJ, arrr, and (2) F23-4FJs (a 206NS H94-4FJ equivalent). Avast! T' motors were friction fitted into place, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. Begad! So... I consulted some people, me bucko, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. Ahoy! T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Avast! Ya scallywag! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Ahoy! Despite this, matey, me hearties, I took them, and loaded them into t' rocket, me bucko, me bucko, and wired them in parallel. Then, ya bilge rat, 5...4...3...2...1... LIFTOFF! All three motors lit, me bucko, me bucko, and t' rocket ROARED off o' t' t' pad on an awesome column o' black smoke.

Recovery:

T' rocket ejected at apogee, matey, but t' 'chute be a bit too small, and it descended a little too fast for me liking. Blimey! It cracked one o' t' fin roots on landing. Ya scallywag! Avast! So... Ya scallywag! I then took on t' adventure o' glassin' t' booster (main) section o' t' rocket, me hearties, t' fins, shiver me timbers, and t' fin roots. T' process was messy, but it came out all right for me first try at it. Well, blow me down! I then had t' refinish t' rocket. Begad! Blimey! So, I filled t' glass with vinyl spackling, arrr, and put a wrap o' clear lamination sticker on t' payload t' make it all smooth and pretty. Ahoy! Then, t' rocket be once again primed, me bucko, sanded, and painted. I painted it just gloss black this time, me hearties, and put no decals on it (but I will someday soon :-) Lastly, arrr, t' slow down recovery speed, me hearties, I left t' 36" 'chute on t' main body, me bucko, but attached two smaller chutes t' t' payload, me hearties, so that each section could descend slowly, arrr, and separately. Begad! I also attached rail guides, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and threw out t' old 1/4" lugs. Well, blow me down! Now it was time for flight two. Begad! T' motors o' choice here were (2) F50-4Ts, and (1) RMS F52-5T reload (a 240NS H146T). Avast, me proud beauty! This time around, matey, shiver me timbers, I made sure I got good igniters, so I ordered some Trailin' Edge Technologies Fire-in-the-Hole low current tungsten igniters. Avast, matey, me proud beauty! T' second flight was at t' ROCC April 2001 launch. Arrr! Blimey! T' new igniters worked t' perfection, and t' Night Hawk roared off o' t' rail into t' sky on a light trail o' Blue Thunder smoke with a little blue flame at ignition (I had t' look hard, though). Begad! Arrr! T' separate recovery worked perfectly here, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and t' rocket only suffered some paint chipping. Well, blow me down! T' flight be great.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

PROS: T' Night Hawk looks sharp, me hearties, is easy t' build, arrr, and flies great on about any motor combination you can think of... but make sure you build it strongly! CONS: T' chute is a bit too small, ya bilge rat, you must make sure you line t' motor tube gaps with t' fin slots, and t' flight cost is goin' t' be more than single motor flights.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5