Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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