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. It has very easy construction, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and can fly on about any combination o' 1, 2, 3, me bucko, 4, me hearties, shiver me timbers, 5, 6, ya bilge rat, 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, (7) 29mm motor tubes (3 long, ya bilge rat, 4 short), (3) plywood fins, ya bilge rat, me bucko, a steel cable shock cord mount, a 36" fluorescent orange 'chute, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, a 1" wide black elastic shock cord, an ACE 3.9" nose cone, me bucko, a 3.9" booster/payload coupler, shiver me timbers, arrr, a 1/2" launch lug, shiver me timbers, and a plywood bulkhead with an eye hook for shock cord attachment. Arrr! T' airframe tubin' be thick paper (like LOC tubing), and all o' t' parts were undamaged, arrr, arrr, and o' good quality.

T' kit had standard construction, ya bilge rat, arrr, and went together smoothly. Aye aye! T' only problem I had in construction be installin' t' fins. 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. Arrr! When I did this, t' fins did nay go in all o' t' way, and therefore left a nasty gap along t' fin root. Blimey! Ahoy! I solved t' problem by fillin' t' gap with putty, shiver me timbers, matey, but I do nay know if I aligned t' tubes incorrectly, shiver me timbers, or if t' tabs were cut too long. Begad! Either way, me bucko, t' rocket still went together very well, matey, me bucko, and looked very nice. Ahoy! It is quite large, too, me hearties, arrr, (about 5 feet tall) so it stands out.

Finishing:
In t' year betwixt construction and t' first flight o' this rocket, me bucko, matey, it went through three different paint schemes. Begad! Ya scallywag! I finally ended up with an all black body, arrr, with U.S. Air Force decals on it. Begad! I painted it with sanded grey primer, and Krylon spray paint. Avast! I also made 1 other change on t' rocket. I replaced t' 1/2" launch lug with 2 1/4" launch lugs, and covered up t' nasty, me bucko, hard t' sand putty on t' fin roots with epoxied on strips o' construction paper. Avast! Hey... Ahoy! Begad! 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, me hearties, 2000 launch. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! I chose t' fly it on a three-in-line cluster o' (1) G38-4FJ, and (2) F23-4FJs (a 206NS H94-4FJ equivalent). T' motors were friction fitted into place, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. Ahoy! Blimey! So... I consulted some people, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. Ahoy! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Ya scallywag! Blimey! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Aye aye! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! Despite this, I took them, and loaded them into t' rocket, and wired them in parallel. Then, matey, 5...4...3...2...1... Ahoy! Blimey! LIFTOFF! Blimey! All three motors lit, arrr, and t' rocket ROARED off o' t' t' pad on an awesome column o' black smoke.

Recovery:

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

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

PROS: T' Night Hawk looks sharp, matey, is easy t' build, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, me hearties, 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, you must make sure you line t' motor tube gaps with t' fin slots, ya bilge rat, and t' flight cost is goin' t' be more than single motor flights.

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5