Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, ya bilge rat, this thin' is huge. Aye aye! For people in HPR, ya bilge rat, this isn't so big. Begad! Arrr! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Arrr! Begad! As o' now, shiver me timbers, I don't know what t' exact weight is, shiver me timbers, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight be 4.5 lbs). Aye aye! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Begad! 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. Begad! Begad! Blimey! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Begad! Blimey! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. Begad! Blimey! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Arrr! Avast! Blimey! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Ya scallywag! At a either .5 or 1 second, me hearties, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Well, blow me down! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Ya scallywag! It better fly right, me bucko, ya bilge rat, 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, me bucko, arrr, 1997. Avast, me proud beauty! 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. So I needed a more powerful engine. Begad! An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. I ran a computer altitude sim, arrr, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, arrr, and fly it on an H180. Well, arrr, blow me down! 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. Well, blow me down!

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