Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, matey, and I built a booster pod for it. Avast! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Blimey! Avast! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, matey, click here. Begad! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Well, blow me down! At a either .5 or 1 second, 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. Begad! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, me hearties, 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, shiver me timbers, 1997. Ya scallywag! Blimey! 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. Aye aye! So I needed a more powerful engine. Well, blow me down! Blimey! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Ahoy! So, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Blimey!

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