Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Ya scallywag! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Arrr! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, me hearties, and is 4" in diameter. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, 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. Ahoy! 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, shiver me timbers, and I built a booster pod for it. Ya scallywag! Blimey! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Blimey! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, matey, click here. Aye aye! Blimey! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Begad! Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, ya bilge rat, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me hearties, and boosts it higher. Well, blow me down! Blimey! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, shiver me timbers, and push the chute out. Ahoy! Blimey! Ya scallywag! 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, ya bilge rat, ya bilge rat, 1997. Avast, me proud beauty! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Arrr! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Arrr! Arrr! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Ya scallywag! Ahoy! Blimey! So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me bucko, and fly it on an H180. Ya scallywag! Blimey! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Aye aye! Blimey! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Blimey!

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