Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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