Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, this thin' is huge. Begad! For people in HPR, shiver me timbers, me bucko, this isn't so big. Blimey! Blimey! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, me bucko, and is 4" in diameter. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! Blimey! As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, me hearties, me hearties, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight be 4.5 lbs). Avast, me proud beauty! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Blimey! Ya scallywag! Blimey! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Begad! 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, and I built a booster pod for it. Begad! Ahoy! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Begad! Blimey! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, me hearties, click here. Avast, me proud beauty! My original idea (Which changed) was 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. Begad! At a either .5 or 1 second, arrr, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, ya bilge rat, and boosts it higher. Well, blow me down! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, matey, and push the chute out. Well, matey, blow me down! 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, me bucko, 1997. Begad! After talkin' t' some people, me bucko, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Blimey! So I needed a more powerful engine. Ya scallywag! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Ya scallywag! Begad! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, shiver me timbers, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, matey, shiver me timbers, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me bucko, and fly it on an H180. Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Avast! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down!

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