Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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