Brief:

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

Construction:

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

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

Finishing:
In t' year betwixt construction and t' first flight o' this rocket, arrr, it went through three different paint schemes. I finally ended up with an all black body, with U.S. Air Force decals on it. Arrr! I painted it with sanded grey primer, and Krylon spray paint. Begad! I also made 1 other change on t' rocket. I replaced t' 1/2" launch lug with 2 1/4" launch lugs, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and covered up t' nasty, hard t' sand putty on t' fin roots with epoxied on strips o' construction paper. Begad! Begad! Hey... Ahoy! Avast! 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. Avast! Begad! I chose t' fly it on a three-in-line cluster o' (1) G38-4FJ, matey, and (2) F23-4FJs (a 206NS H94-4FJ equivalent). Avast, me proud beauty! T' motors were friction fitted into place, and I then ran into t' problem o' nay havin' good low current igniters. Begad! So... I consulted some people, matey, and I ended up with some igniters called "Firestarter" (not Firestar) igniters. Arrr! Ahoy! T' man that donated them said they were pretty good- especially when he first used them. Begad! Aye aye! He said he had had some misfires lately with them. Begad! Despite this, I took them, and loaded them into t' rocket, matey, and wired them in parallel. Avast, me proud beauty! Then, matey, 5...4...3...2...1... Ya scallywag! LIFTOFF! All three motors lit, ya bilge rat, 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, ya bilge rat, and it descended a little too fast for me liking. Aye aye! Blimey! It cracked one o' t' fin roots on landing. Begad! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey! So... I then took on t' adventure o' glassin' t' booster (main) section o' t' rocket, t' fins, and t' fin roots. Aye aye! Blimey! T' process was messy, shiver me timbers, me bucko, but it came out all right for me first try at it. I then had t' refinish t' rocket. Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! So, me bucko, 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. Then, shiver me timbers, t' rocket was once again primed, sanded, and painted. Well, blow me down! Blimey! 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, matey, ya bilge rat, I left t' 36" 'chute on t' main body, me bucko, but attached two smaller chutes t' t' payload, shiver me timbers, arrr, so that each section could descend slowly, me hearties, and separately. Begad! Blimey! I also attached rail guides, shiver me timbers, me hearties, matey, and threw out t' old 1/4" lugs. Ahoy! Blimey! Now it be time for flight two. T' motors o' choice here were (2) F50-4Ts, me bucko, and (1) RMS F52-5T reload (a 240NS H146T). Blimey! Blimey! This time around, I made sure I got good igniters, shiver me timbers, me hearties, 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. Well, blow me down! 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). Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! T' separate recovery worked perfectly here, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and t' rocket only suffered some paint chipping. T' flight was great.

Flight Rating: 3 out o' 5

Summary:

PROS: T' Night Hawk looks sharp, arrr, is easy t' build, me hearties, and flies great on about any motor combination you can think of... Well, blow me down! Begad! but make sure you build it strongly! CONS: T' chute is a bit too small, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, matey, 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