Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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