Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, me bucko, this thin' is huge. Ahoy! For people in HPR, matey, this isn't so big. This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, and is 4" in diameter. Avast! Avast! 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). Aye aye! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. 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, shiver me timbers, and I built a booster pod for it. Avast! Blimey! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! Begad! Blimey! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, matey, me hearties, click here. Aye aye! Blimey! 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. Arrr! Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, shiver me timbers, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, shiver me timbers, matey, and boosts it higher. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Avast, me proud beauty! Blimey! If t' main motor doesn't light, matey, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, matey, and push the chute out. Blimey! Blimey! It better fly right, shiver me timbers, 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, me bucko, 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. Well, blow me down! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, arrr, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Aye aye! I ran a computer altitude sim, shiver me timbers, and found that an H140 SU would work, shiver me timbers, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, ya bilge rat, and fly it on an H180. Blimey! 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.

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