Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, me hearties, ya bilge rat, this thin' is huge. Ahoy! Blimey! For people in HPR, shiver me timbers, this isn't so big. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, me bucko, and is 4" in diameter. Begad! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! As o' now, matey, I don't know what t' exact weight is, ya bilge rat, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Begad! Blimey! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Begad! Blimey! 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. Ya scallywag! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. Well, blow me down! Begad! My original idea (Which changed) was 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. Well, blow me down! At a either .5 or 1 second, me hearties, me hearties, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, shiver me timbers, and push the chute out. Begad! 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. Begad! Avast, me proud beauty! After talkin' t' some people, me hearties, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G was a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! So I needed a more powerful engine. Ya scallywag! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. I ran a computer altitude sim, me bucko, and found that an H140 SU would work, me bucko, ya bilge rat, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, me bucko, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me hearties, ya bilge rat, and fly it on an H180. Avast! Ya scallywag! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Avast! 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, me hearties, and set it up on pad 5. Ahoy! T' rocket was angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Begad! 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... Arrr! T' H lit after a short delay. Begad! Ahoy! It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Ya scallywag! Aye aye! Just after t' H burned out, ya bilge rat, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! After it coasted for 9 seconds, me bucko, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. Aye aye! Blimey! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, but it deployed after a second or two. Avast! Arrr! It drifted for a long way, me hearties, and was recovered undamaged. Avast, me proud beauty! When I recovered the rocket, I smartly looked, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Begad! Later, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, arrr, me hearties, but it was still spectacular.