Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Blimey! Avast! For people in HPR, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, this isn't so big. This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, shiver me timbers, and is 4" in diameter. As o' now, me hearties, me bucko, I don't know what t' exact weight is, me bucko, me bucko, 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. Begad! Begad! 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, matey, 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! Ahoy! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, matey, click here. Begad! Ahoy! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Well, blow me down! 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, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, ya bilge rat, matey, shiver me timbers, and boosts it higher. Aye aye! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! If t' main motor doesn't light, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, ya bilge rat, and push the chute out. Begad! Ahoy! It better fly right, me bucko, ya bilge rat, 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, me bucko, ya bilge rat, 1997. Well, blow me down! Ahoy! 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. Begad! So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, ya bilge rat, me bucko, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Well, blow me down! Aye aye! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, shiver me timbers, ya bilge rat, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Aye aye! So, shiver me timbers, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Begad! Ya scallywag! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Well, me bucko, blow me down! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Blimey!

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