Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, this thin' is huge. Arrr! For people in HPR, this isn't so big. Blimey! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, me hearties, and is 4" in diameter. Aye aye! As o' now, me hearties, me bucko, I don't know what t' exact weight is, matey, arrr, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Avast! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Begad! Well, me hearties, 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, me bucko, and I built a booster pod for it. Aye aye! It consists o' a rin' o' 8 24mm engine tubes glued t' t' inside o' a coupler. Arrr! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, matey, shiver me timbers, me bucko, 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. Blimey! Blimey! At a either .5 or 1 second, arrr, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. Avast! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. Avast, me proud beauty! Ahoy! If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, shiver me timbers, and push the chute out. Well, blow me down! 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, 1997. After talkin' t' some people, matey, 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. An announcement be made askin' if anyone could help me, ya bilge rat, arrr, arrr, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Well, blow me down! I ran a computer altitude sim, matey, arrr, and found that an H140 SU would work, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. So, matey, me hearties, me hearties, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, me bucko, and fly it on an H180. Aye aye! Blimey! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Begad! Ya scallywag! Blimey! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Begad! Blimey!

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