Brief:

T' Night Hawk is an awesome (yet simple) 7x29mm cluster rocket made by THOY. Blimey! Ahoy! I received this rocket as a Christmas present a few years back. Avast! It has very easy construction, me bucko, arrr, and can fly on about any combination o' 1, 2, 3, matey, me hearties, ya bilge rat, 4, me hearties, 5, me hearties, 6, arrr, matey, 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, shiver me timbers, (2) centerin' rings, (7) 29mm motor tubes (3 long, me bucko, 4 short), 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, shiver me timbers, a 3.9" booster/payload coupler, a 1/2" launch lug, and a plywood bulkhead with an eye hook for shock cord attachment. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! T' airframe tubin' be thick paper (like LOC tubing), matey, and all o' t' parts were undamaged, ya bilge rat, and o' good quality.

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

Finishing:
In t' year betwixt construction and t' first flight o' this rocket, me hearties, it went through three different paint schemes. Arrr! I finally ended up with an all black body, with U.S. Well, blow me down! Air Force decals on it. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! I painted it with sanded grey primer, and Krylon spray paint. Avast! I also made 1 other change on t' rocket. Avast! I replaced t' 1/2" launch lug with 2 1/4" launch lugs, shiver me timbers, arrr, and covered up t' nasty, hard t' sand putty on t' fin roots with epoxied on strips o' construction paper. Aye aye! 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 be 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, shiver me timbers, matey, and (2) F23-4FJs (a 206NS H94-4FJ equivalent). Aye aye! Begad! T' motors were friction fitted into place, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. So... Arrr! I consulted some people, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. Arrr! T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Aye aye! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Despite this, I took them, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and loaded them into t' rocket, and wired them in parallel. Then, me bucko, ya bilge rat, 5...4...3...2...1... LIFTOFF! 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, but t' 'chute was a bit too small, ya bilge rat, and it descended a little too fast for me liking. Ahoy! It cracked one o' t' fin roots on landing. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! So... I then took on t' adventure o' glassin' t' booster (main) section o' t' rocket, t' fins, and t' fin roots. Arrr! Begad! T' process was messy, ya bilge rat, but it came out all right for me first try at it. Avast! I then had t' refinish t' rocket. Ya scallywag! 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. Ya scallywag! Then, me bucko, t' rocket be once again primed, ya bilge rat, matey, sanded, me hearties, and painted. Begad! 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, arrr, ya bilge rat, I left t' 36" 'chute on t' main body, ya bilge rat, but attached two smaller chutes t' t' payload, me hearties, so that each section could descend slowly, matey, arrr, and separately. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! I also attached rail guides, me hearties, and threw out t' old 1/4" lugs. Now it was time for flight two. Blimey! T' motors o' choice here were (2) F50-4Ts, and (1) RMS F52-5T reload (a 240NS H146T). Well, blow me down! This time around, I made sure I got good igniters, matey, me hearties, so I ordered some Trailin' Edge Technologies Fire-in-the-Hole low current tungsten igniters. Blimey! T' second flight was at t' ROCC April 2001 launch. Blimey! Aye aye! T' new igniters worked t' perfection, matey, 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, arrr, matey, though). T' separate recovery worked perfectly here, me bucko, matey, and t' rocket only suffered some paint chipping. Arrr! T' flight was great.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

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

Overall Rating: 4 out o' 5