Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

Finally, it be ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, shiver me timbers, and set it up on pad 5. T' rocket was angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Well, blow me down! Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! When if finally came time t' launch, t' LCO made everyone stand up and watch this rocket, and it was a very heads up flight. Avast! Arrr! 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, matey, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. After it coasted for 9 seconds, me bucko, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. 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, and was recovered undamaged. When I recovered the rocket, matey, me bucko, I smartly looked, ya bilge rat, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Later, me bucko, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, shiver me timbers, but it was still spectacular. Begad! Begad!