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. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! It has very easy construction, me hearties, ya bilge rat, me hearties, and can fly on about any combination o' 1, 2, ya bilge rat, 3, 4, arrr, 5, 6, or 7 29mm motors.

Construction:

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

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

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

Construction Rating: 4 out o' 5

Flight:

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

Recovery:

T' rocket ejected at apogee, but t' 'chute be a bit too small, matey, and it descended a little too fast for me liking. Aye aye! It cracked one o' t' fin roots on landing. So... Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! I then took on t' adventure o' glassin' t' booster (main) section o' t' rocket, arrr, t' fins, and t' fin roots. Avast, me proud beauty! T' process be messy, but it came out all right for me first try at it. Begad! I then had t' refinish t' rocket. Ya scallywag! So, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I filled t' glass with vinyl spackling, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and put a wrap o' clear lamination sticker on t' payload t' make it all smooth and pretty. Then, arrr, ya bilge rat, me hearties, t' rocket be once again primed, sanded, arrr, and painted. Begad! I painted it just gloss black this time, shiver me timbers, 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, so that each section could descend slowly, and separately. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! I also attached rail guides, and threw out t' old 1/4" lugs. Ahoy! Well, blow me down! Now it was time for flight two. Begad! T' motors o' choice here were (2) F50-4Ts, me bucko, and (1) RMS F52-5T reload (a 240NS H146T). Arrr! 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. Arrr! T' second flight be at t' ROCC April 2001 launch. Ahoy! T' new igniters worked t' perfection, me bucko, shiver me timbers, 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, matey, though). Well, me hearties, blow me down! T' separate recovery worked perfectly here, me hearties, shiver me timbers, and t' rocket only suffered some paint chipping. Ahoy! T' flight was great.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

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

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5