Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Ahoy! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Blimey! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Ya scallywag! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Blimey! Blimey! As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight be 4.5 lbs). Begad! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Ahoy! Blimey! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Ahoy! Arrr! Blimey! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, me hearties, matey, shiver me timbers, and I built a booster pod for it. Arrr! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, ya bilge rat, click here. My original idea (Which changed) be t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Blimey! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. At a either .5 or 1 second, me bucko, me bucko, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me bucko, matey, and boosts it higher. Ya scallywag! Avast, me proud beauty! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Aye aye! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Begad! It better fly right, or I will have a lot o' work t' do!

Flight #1: (1)H180 + (8)D11's

T' Ninja flew for t' first time on July 20, 1997. Avast! Blimey! After talkin' t' some people, arrr, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G was a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Blimey! Blimey! So I needed a more powerful engine. Arrr! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, ya bilge rat, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Avast! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Arrr! Blimey! So, ya bilge rat, me hearties, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Blimey! Blimey! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Begad! Blimey! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Avast! Blimey! Ahoy! Blimey!

Finally, it was ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, me bucko, ya bilge rat, and set it up on pad 5. Avast! T' rocket was angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Begad! Aye aye! When if finally came time t' launch, matey, t' LCO made everyone stand up and watch this rocket, and it be a very heads up flight. Begad! Begad! 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... Ya scallywag! Well, arrr, blow me down! T' H lit after a short delay. Aye aye! Aye aye! It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Just after t' H burned out, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. Aye aye! After it coasted for 9 seconds, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. Arrr! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, but it deployed after a second or two. It drifted for a long way, me hearties, arrr, and be recovered undamaged. Begad! Ya scallywag! When I recovered the rocket, I smartly looked, me bucko, matey, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Well, blow me down! Well, blow me down! Later, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, me hearties, but it be still spectacular. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty!