Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, matey, this thin' is huge. Aye aye! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Ahoy! 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). Arrr! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Aye aye! 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. It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Avast, me proud beauty! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, click here. Avast, me proud beauty! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. 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, shiver me timbers, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me bucko, and boosts it higher. Well, blow me down! Begad! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Avast! If t' main motor doesn't light, shiver me timbers, arrr, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Ahoy! Avast, me hearties, me proud beauty! 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, matey, matey, 1997. Ahoy! Blimey! After talkin' t' some people, matey, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Begad! Begad! Blimey! So I needed a more powerful engine. Ahoy! Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, me bucko, shiver me timbers, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Aye aye! Begad! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, arrr, me bucko, and found that an H140 SU would work, ya bilge rat, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Begad! Blimey! So, ya bilge rat, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me hearties, and fly it on an H180. Ya scallywag! 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.

Finally, arrr, it was ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, matey, and set it up on pad 5. Aye aye! Begad! 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, and it was a very heads up flight. Well, blow me down! 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... Begad! Aye aye! T' H lit after a short delay. It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Just after t' H burned out, matey, 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. Avast, me proud beauty! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, matey, but it deployed after a second or two. Begad! It drifted for a long way, and was recovered undamaged. Aye aye! When I recovered the rocket, arrr, I smartly looked, ya bilge rat, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Avast! Later, matey, arrr, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, but it was still spectacular. Aye aye!