Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. For people in HPR, arrr, ya bilge rat, me hearties, this isn't so big. Begad! Blimey! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, arrr, and is 4" in diameter. As o' now, I don't know what t' exact weight is, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight be 4.5 lbs). Avast! Blimey! Aye aye! Blimey! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Begad! Blimey! 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, matey, me hearties, shiver me timbers, 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. Ya scallywag! Avast! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. Blimey! Begad! My original idea (Which changed) was t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Avast, me proud beauty! Avast! T' flight plan is as follows (hopefully): Ignition o' t' 8 D11-P's with a car battery. Begad! At a either .5 or 1 second, matey, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. Well, blow me down! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Begad! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, me hearties, shiver me timbers, and push the chute out. Ahoy! 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, ya bilge rat, 1997. Aye aye! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G was a bad idea because composites are harder t' light. Aye aye! So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, ya bilge rat, matey, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Begad! I ran a computer altitude sim, arrr, me hearties, and found that an H140 SU would work, shiver me timbers, me hearties, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, 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, me proud beauty! Aye aye! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's.

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