Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. For people in HPR, me bucko, me bucko, this isn't so big. Avast! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, me bucko, and is 4" in diameter. As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, shiver me timbers, 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. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Ya scallywag! Begad! 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. Blimey! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Avast, me proud beauty! Aye aye! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. Ya scallywag! 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. Begad! At a either .5 or 1 second, ya bilge rat, me bucko, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, ya bilge rat, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Begad! If t' main motor doesn't light, ya bilge rat, matey, shiver me timbers, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, me bucko, and push the chute out. Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! It better fly right, matey, 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, me proud beauty! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! After talkin' t' some people, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G was a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Begad! Blimey! So I needed a more powerful engine. Avast! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Aye aye! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, ya bilge rat, me bucko, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Ya scallywag! Blimey! So, shiver me timbers, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, shiver me timbers, matey, me bucko, and fly it on an H180. Blimey! Blimey! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Arrr! Blimey! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Avast! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey!

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