Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, and I built a booster pod for it. 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, arrr, click here. Ya scallywag! Avast, arrr, me proud beauty! 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! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Aye aye! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, matey, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, ya bilge rat, and push the chute out. Ya scallywag! It better fly right, shiver me timbers, 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, me bucko, me hearties, 1997. 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! Begad! So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Ahoy! I ran a computer altitude sim, me hearties, and found that an H140 SU would work, matey, matey, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Ya scallywag! Blimey! So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Ahoy! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Blimey!

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