Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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

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

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

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