Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, ya bilge rat, this thin' is huge. For people in HPR, ya bilge rat, this isn't so big. Arrr! Arrr! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, ya bilge rat, shiver me timbers, matey, and is 4" in diameter. As o' now, matey, I don't know what t' exact weight is, arrr, but I it is around 3 1/5 lbs (Loaded weight was 4.5 lbs). Avast! Blimey! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Avast! Arrr! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Avast, me proud beauty! Begad! PML nose cone add up t' quite a lot. It has a 36" round chute from.

It has a 29mm motor mount tube, 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. Begad! For a picture or t' back o' t' loaded rocket, me hearties, click here. My original idea (Which changed) be t' following: It will have a timer t' air start t' main G64 Aerotech reload. Begad! 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, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, ya bilge rat, me hearties, and boosts it higher. Ya scallywag! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. If t' main motor doesn't light, me bucko, shiver me timbers, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. 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, arrr, arrr, arrr, 1997. Avast, me proud beauty! After talkin' t' some people, I decided that boostin' on t' D's and airstartin' t' G be a bilge-suckin' idea because composites are harder t' light. So I needed a more powerful engine. An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Begad! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, shiver me timbers, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Blimey! Ya scallywag! So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Aye aye! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. Avast, me proud beauty! He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Begad!

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