Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Begad! For people in HPR, ya bilge rat, this isn't so big. Ahoy! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Avast! As o' now, ya bilge rat, I don't know what t' exact weight is, ya bilge rat, matey, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Aye aye! Begad! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Arrr! Begad! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Well, blow me down! 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 bucko, and I built a booster pod for it. Blimey! Blimey! Avast! Blimey! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Begad! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, click here. 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. Begad! Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, me bucko, me bucko, and boosts it higher. T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! Blimey! If t' main motor doesn't light, matey, arrr, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, ya bilge rat, and push the chute out. Aye aye! Blimey! It better fly right, 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, 1997. 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. So I needed a more powerful engine. Aye aye! Blimey! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, ya bilge rat, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Ahoy! Blimey! I ran a computer altitude sim, shiver me timbers, and found that an H140 SU would work, matey, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, 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. Arrr! Blimey! Well, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Blimey! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Avast! Blimey!

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