Superscale Ninja
(Contributed - by Eric Speckman)  

For someone who is used t' Estes kits, me hearties, me hearties, this thin' is huge. Begad! For people in HPR, shiver me timbers, this isn't so big. Avast, me proud beauty! This rocket stands 4' 9.4" tall, ya bilge rat, and is 4" in diameter. 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! Blimey! A lot o' t' weight is in t' payload section. Arrr! T' heavy bulkhead and t' 10 oz. Avast, me proud beauty! Arrr! Blimey! 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. Avast! Blimey! 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, 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. Ya scallywag! Begad! At a either .5 or 1 second, t' timer (or thermalite) ignites t' G64, and boosts it higher. Arrr! T' main motor's ejection will hopefully deploy t' chute. If t' main motor doesn't light, t' timer will ignite an ejection charge, and push the chute out. Arrr! 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. Arrr! 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. Well, blow me down! Ya scallywag! So I needed a more powerful engine. Aye aye! Begad! An announcement was made askin' if anyone could help me, and Frank Noble was willin' t' help me with me project. Avast! I ran a computer altitude sim, and found that an H140 SU would work, arrr, me hearties, but t' motor dealer did nay have any. Begad! So, I was able t' borrow a reload casing, and fly it on an H180. Blimey! Frank loaded t' motor, and explained how t' drill t' delay t' t' right length. He showed me how to use teflon tubes and thermalite t' ignite t' D11's. Aye aye!

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