Brief:

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

Construction:

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

T' kit had standard construction, and went together smoothly. Begad! Avast! Blimey! T' only problem I had in construction be installin' t' fins. Avast! Blimey! T' rocket has through-the-wall fin mounting, me hearties, and each fin tab is intended t' slip through t' slot in t' body tube, and fit betwixt two o' t' seven motor tubes. Ahoy! When I did this, t' fins did nay go in all o' t' way, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and therefore left a bilge-suckin' gap along t' fin root. Ya scallywag! Avast! Blimey! I solved t' problem by fillin' t' gap with putty, but I do nay know if I aligned t' tubes incorrectly, or if t' tabs were cut too long. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Either way, ya bilge rat, t' rocket still went together very well, and looked very nice. It is quite large, ya bilge rat, too, ya bilge rat, 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. I finally ended up with an all black body, with U.S. Air Force decals on it. Ahoy! I painted it with sanded grey primer, and Krylon spray paint. Aye aye! Blimey! I also made 1 other change on t' rocket. Begad! I replaced t' 1/2" launch lug with 2 1/4" launch lugs, and covered up t' nasty, ya bilge rat, me bucko, hard t' sand putty on t' fin roots with epoxied on strips o' construction paper. Hey... Aye aye! 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. Blimey! Begad! I chose t' fly it on a three-in-line cluster o' (1) G38-4FJ, me bucko, me bucko, and (2) F23-4FJs (a 206NS H94-4FJ equivalent). Arrr! Well, blow me down! T' motors were friction fitted into place, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. So... I consulted some people, me hearties, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. Blimey! Ahoy! T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Avast, me proud beauty! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Begad! Despite this, arrr, I took them, matey, and loaded them into t' rocket, and wired them in parallel. Avast! Then, ya bilge rat, 5...4...3...2...1... Avast, me proud beauty! LIFTOFF! All three motors lit, shiver me timbers, and t' rocket ROARED off o' t' t' pad on an awesome column o' black smoke.

Recovery:

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

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

PROS: T' Night Hawk looks sharp, me hearties, me bucko, is easy t' build, and flies great on about any motor combination you can think of... Aye aye! Begad! but make sure you build it strongly! CONS: T' chute is a bit too small, arrr, me bucko, 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