Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

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

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