Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. For people in HPR, arrr, this isn't so big. Begad! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, me bucko, and is 4" in diameter. Aye aye! As o' now, shiver me timbers, I don't know what t' exact weight is, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Avast! 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, arrr, and I built a booster pod for it. Avast! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Arrr! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. Ahoy! My original idea (Which changed) be 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. Ahoy! At a either .5 or 1 second, ya bilge rat, me hearties, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, ya bilge rat, and boosts it higher. Aye aye! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. If t' main motor doesn't light, ya bilge rat, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, ya bilge rat, 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, shiver me timbers, 1997. Blimey! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. So I needed a more powerful engine. Avast, me proud beauty! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, matey, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Avast, me proud beauty! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, matey, me bucko, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, matey, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Aye aye! Aye aye! 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. Begad! Ya scallywag!

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