Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Avast! Blimey! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Aye aye! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. 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). Begad! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Avast! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Avast! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, and I built a booster pod for it. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, matey, me bucko, click here. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Blimey! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Ahoy! 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, me hearties, me bucko, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and boosts it higher. Avast! Ahoy! Blimey! 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, shiver me timbers, and push the chute out. Avast! It better fly right, me hearties, arrr, 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, shiver me timbers, me hearties, 1997. Begad! Well, blow me down! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G was a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. Arrr! So I needed a more powerful engine. Blimey! An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Well, blow me down! I ran a computer altitude sim, arrr, and found that an H140 SU would work, ya bilge rat, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Begad! So, ya bilge rat, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, shiver me timbers, and fly it on an H180. Well, blow me down! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Ya scallywag!

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