Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Ya scallywag! Ya scallywag! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Aye aye! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. As o' now, matey, arrr, 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. Avast! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Begad! 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, 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. For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, ya bilge rat, 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. Aye aye! At a either .5 or 1 second, arrr, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Avast! If t' main motor doesn't light, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! Blimey! It better fly right, matey, me bucko, or I will have a lot o' work t' do! Blimey!

Flight #1: (1)H180 + (8)D11's

T' Ninja flew for t' first time on July 20, me bucko, 1997. Blimey! Blimey! After talkin' t' some people, matey, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G was a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. Begad! Aye aye! Blimey! So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Blimey! Begad! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, me bucko, me hearties, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, shiver me timbers, arrr, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, ya bilge rat, and fly it on an H180. Arrr! Blimey! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! Blimey! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Well, blow me down!

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