Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, ya bilge rat, and I built a booster pod for it. Ahoy! Ahoy! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Begad! Begad! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. Avast! Ahoy! My original idea (Which changed) be 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. Aye aye! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, matey, and boosts it higher. Begad! Avast! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Begad! Blimey! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, me hearties, and push the chute out. Blimey! Ahoy! It better fly right, me hearties, 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, 1997. Avast! Avast! After talkin' t' some people, arrr, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. Begad! Begad! So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, arrr, arrr, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Ahoy! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Blimey! So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, shiver me timbers, and fly it on an H180. Begad! 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. Ya scallywag!

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