Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. For people in HPR, ya bilge rat, this isn't so big. Well, blow me down! Begad! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Begad! As o' now, shiver me timbers, I don't know what t' exact weight is, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Blimey! Begad! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Arrr! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, arrr, and I built a booster pod for it. It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Well, matey, blow me down! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, me bucko, me hearties, click here. My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Well, blow me down! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Well, ya bilge rat, blow me down! At a either .5 or 1 second, me hearties, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, shiver me timbers, shiver me timbers, and boosts it higher. Avast, me proud beauty! 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, me bucko, and push the chute out. Aye aye! 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. Well, blow me down! 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. Begad! So I needed a more powerful engine. Aye aye! Aye aye! An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Begad! I ran a computer altitude sim, matey, shiver me timbers, and found that an H140 SU would work, me hearties, ya bilge rat, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Avast! Ahoy! So, me bucko, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Blimey! Ahoy! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Blimey! Ya scallywag!

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