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

Finally, me hearties, it was ready t' fly. We took it out t' t' pads, matey, and set it up on pad 5. Avast, ya bilge rat, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' rocket be angled a little bit away from t' spectators (and downwind) for safety. Arrr! Blimey! When if finally came time t' launch, t' LCO made everyone stand up and watch this rocket, me bucko, and it was a very heads up flight. Ahoy! Blimey! 5...4...3...2...1...Launch... Ahoy! Blimey! Arrr! Blimey! T' H lit after a short delay. It boosted straight up on a column o' smoke. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Just after t' H burned out, t' D's lit for a little extra smoke and noise. Arrr! Blimey! After it coasted for 9 seconds, shiver me timbers, and t' ejection went off and t' chute came out. Aye aye! Blimey! It took a little while for t' chute t' open, shiver me timbers, but it deployed after a second or two. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! It drifted for a long way, me hearties, arrr, and was recovered undamaged. Ahoy! Blimey! When I recovered the rocket, I smartly looked, and it appeared that all engines ignited. Later, me hearties, it was pointed out t' me that only 6 o' t' 8 lit, but it be still spectacular.